Psychology Chapter 12 Can Learn Acceptable Behaviors Effective Intervention Involving

Chapter 12

12

GENDER ROLES AND SEXUALITY

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading and studying the material in this chapter, the student should be able to understand

the following ideas/concepts.

12.1 SEX AND GENDER

• Distinguish between the concepts of sex and gender.

12.2 THE INFANT

12.3 THE CHILD

• Analyze how children acquire gender stereotypes and how they are influenced by these

12.4 THE ADOLESCENT

• Describe the typical path of gender-role development in adolescence.

12.5 THE ADULT

• Explore changes in gender roles across adulthood.

• Evaluate the pros and cons of androgyny.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE

I Sex and Gender

A. Differentiating Sex and Gender

1. Biological sex – physical characteristics that define male and female

2. Gender – all features that a society associates with or considers appropriate for

3. Zygote receives sex chromosome from each parent

a. Genetically, XX is female and XY is male

4. Gender roles – patterns of behavior for males and females expected by society

a. Gender-role norms – societal expectation standards (what males and females

B. Gender Roles and Stereotypes

1. Feminine gender role

2. Masculine gender role

a. Agency – orientation toward individual action (e.g., independence,

3. Gender stereotypes still exist

a. Boys more likely to endorse traditional stereotypes

b. Males and females continue to define themselves differently

C. Gender Differences or Similarities?

1. Gender similarities hypothesis (Hyde and others) – males and females are similar

on most psychological variables

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tasks

c. Historically, males outperformed females on average tests of mathematical

ability, but difference has disappeared in U.S. and many other countries

i. Males and females perform similarly on most standardized math tests

d. Girls display greater memory abilities than boys

i. Female advantage at remembering object location and recalling facial

features

ii. Women have advantage in odor recognition

e. Males engage in more physical and verbal aggression than females, starting

as early as 17 months

i. Effect found in nearly all countries

3. Differences tend to be small and in “average” levels of behaviors between females

and males

a. Impossible to accurately predict a behavior if all you know about someone is

their sex

b. Most sex differences small

4. Gender stereotypes bias our perceptions (notice behaviors confirming our

perceptions)

5. Eagly’s social-role hypothesis – different roles males and females play in society

create and maintain gender-role stereotypes

6. Although many gender stereotypes are unfounded, they still have a great impact

on the way we perceive ourselves and others

7. Society does steer each sex toward different goals

a. In childhood, boys and girls conform to gender roles, segregating themselves

Checking Mastery

1. What is the central feature of agency and of communion?

➢ Answer: The main components of agency are an orientation toward

2. What are four differences between males and females, two that favor females and

two that favor males, and how large or meaningful are these differences?

➢ Answer: On average, females may demonstrate greater verbal skills, particularly

3. How does Eagly’s social-role theory explain gender differences?

➢ Answer: According to Eagly’s social-role hypothesis, most gender stereotypes

II The Infant

A. Initial Differences Between Boys and Girls

1. Other than the obvious anatomical ones, few differences between males and

females

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adults tend to perceive boys as strong and coordinated while girls as perceived as

weaker and more awkward

anger, but when infant introduced as “Dana,” same reaction seen as fear

3. Stereotypic treatment may partly be part of the cause of differences between the

sexes

C. Early Learning

1. Young infants actively trying to know the social world

a. Three- to eight-month old infants: males look longer at trucks while females

look longer at dolls

4. Begin early categorization of the sexes and begin to figure out which sex they are

5. Development of gender identity, awareness that you are a boy or girl, by age two-

and-a-half to three years

6. Gender identity awareness accompanied by differences in behavior (e.g., toy

selection)

D. The Beginnings of a Sexual Self

1. Freud championed idea of infant sexuality (a seemingly outrageous claim)

2. Infants in oral stage are biologically equipped and derive pleasure from oral

grown-ups

Checking Mastery

1. What is gender identity, and what evidence shows understanding of this concept

during infancy?

➢ Answer: Gender identity is an awareness of self as boy or girl, man or woman.

III The Child

A. Early Gender-Role Development

1. Young children rapidly acquire gender stereotypes (ideas about what males and

females are supposed to be like) and show tendencies to favor “gender–

appropriate” activities and behaviors through the process of gender-typing

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B. Acquiring Gender Stereotypes

1. Child learns gender stereotypes around the time they become aware of their basic

gender identities

a. Three-year-olds understand masculine stereotype (boys play with GI Joe

dolls) and feminine stereotypes (girls play with Barbie dolls)

2. Four- to six-year-olds understand masculine (car mechanic) and feminine

3. Rigid adherence to gender norms and stereotypes at ages four to six years may be

followed by more flexibility in thinking by age eight or nine

4. Young children may exaggerate gender roles to help cognitively clarify them;

once gender identity more firmly established, they can be more flexible in their

thinking about what is “for boys” or “for girls”

5. Some believe that rigidity about a gender-role violation may depend on how

C. Gender-Typed Behavior

1. Behaving in “gender–appropriate” manner often precedes establishment of clear

sense of own identity (e.g., a baby has a preference for “boy toys” before having

clearly established a clear male identity)

a. In childhood, gender-congruent toy preference still evident, but rules are

violated (e.g., girl prefers a “boy toy”)

2. Young children tend to prefer and form friendships with same-sex partners

a. Gender segregation – strong preference for interactions with same-sex peers

i. Gender-segregation occurs in a variety of cultures

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3. Sexual behavior

a. Phallic stage (Freud) is time of genital interest (including masturbation)

i. Sexual interest quite common

ii. Latency stage (Freud) time when sex drive is repressed

by age 13 and some are engaging in “light” sexual activity)

b. Around 10, children often experience first sexual attraction (can be

heterosexual or homosexual)

i. May be influenced by adrenal gland development and release of

c. Societal differences contribute to diversity in sexual attitudes and behaviors

i. Teens less likely to use condoms if sexually active friends do not use

D. Explaining Gender-Role Development

1. Nature/nurture of gender

a. Taylor study on perceptions on nature of gender

i. Children told story of Chris, girl raised on an island of all men and boys;

children asked about Chris’s toy preferences

2. Biosocial theory (Money and Ehrhardt)

a. Chromosomes (male XY or female XX), hormones, and social labeling

i. Presence of genes on Y chromosome leads to the development of testes

(otherwise you get ovaries)

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gender identity and role behavior

b. Evidence of biological influences

i. Evolutionary psychologists notice that most societies socialize males to

have agentic traits and females to have communal traits; also suggest

organs that resemble a male

iv. Money and Ehardt found that androgenized females display more male-

like actions (e.g., toy preference)

v. As adolescents, androgenized females dated later, felt marriage should

be delayed, and described themselves as homosexual or bisexual

vi. Androgenized females may outperform other females on tests of spatial

ability

vii. Testosterone levels and levels of other male hormones may affect

lasting effect on its development and on sexual behavior, aggression,

and cognitive abilities

xi. While influential, biological factors alone do not dictate gender-role

development, but rather gender-role development evolves from a

complex interaction between biology, social experience, and the

individual’s behavior

c. Evidence of social-labeling influences

i. How a child is labeled and treated can considerably affect gender

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3. Sexual morality

a. In adolescence, sex with affection in the context of a committed relationship

is often viewed as acceptable

i. Males may have a slightly more permissive attitude concerning casual

sex

4. Sexual behavior

a. Rate of teen sexual activity climbed between 1960s and 80s, leveled off, and

is now declining

b. Percent of teens having intercourse increased steadily in twentieth century

c. Sexual behavior of females changing faster than males

d. Cognitive schema for “having sex” may not include oral sex as defined by

high school students

i. May explain increasing rate of oral sex

e. Risk for early sexual activity/antecedents of early sexual behavior

i. Early sex more likely in children of unmarried mother

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f. Lack of contraception use partially related to cognitive immaturity of

adolescent couples and not taking seriously the potential long-term

consequences of one’s actions

i. Condom use is increasing but is still lower than what health care

professionals would like to see

fear it will encourage sexual activity and it would be too embarrassing

E. Childhood Sexuality

1. Young children construct their own understandings of reproduction before being

told:

a. By assimilating and accommodating information into their existing cognitive

structures

F. Sexual Abuse

1. Prevalence and reporting

a. Estimates of prevalence vary, but may be widespread (one study found that

2. Impact

a. No one distinct “syndrome” for all abuse victims, but rather many common

problems like anxiety, depression, aggression, withdrawal, and school

learning problems

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b. Many aftereffects involve a lack of self-worth and difficulty trusting

3. Recovery factors

a. High-quality relationship with mom and friends may lead to better recovery

b. Psychotherapy aids in treatment of abuse victims

4. Some offenders are juveniles taking advantage of peers or somewhat younger

children

a. Can learn acceptable behaviors

5. Sexually transmitted infections

Checking Mastery

1. At what age are children likely to be most concerned about adhering to traditional

gender-role behaviors? Why?

➢ Answer: Children seemed most concerned about gender roles during the

2. What are two factors that contribute to gender segregation during childhood?

➢ Answer: Gender segregation is obvious as children enter elementary school, with

3. What are gender schemas, and what role do they play in gender typing?

➢ Answer: Gender schemas are organized beliefs about males and females that

a nonmember of the group in her schema.

4. What are some of the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse?

➢ Answer: Long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse include depression,

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IV The Adolescent

A. Adhering to Gender Roles

1. Adolescents tend to continue to be highly intolerant of certain gender-role

violations

a. Tend to make negative judgments about peers who violate rules by engaging

in cross-sex behavior or cross-sex interests

i. Study on boy wearing a barrette or girl with a crew haircut;

2. Gender intensification – sex differences are magnified by increased pressure to

conform around the time of puberty (linked to hormonal changes)

a. Higher levels of “femininity” found in teen girls vs. teen boys

b. Teen boys and girls report similar levels of “masculinity”

B. Not Adhering to Gender Roles: Transgender Youth

1. Being transgender can exacerbate challenges of adolescence

2. Transgender is a multifaceted concept

a. Different people have different definitions of transgender

b. Being transgender does not determine sexual preference

3. Two thirds of trans-youth report being bullied or harassed by peers or adults (can

even be their own parents)

a. Social support is helpful but doesn’t completely alleviate risk or impact of

bullying

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i. Characterized by confusion

ii. Unable to meet expectations of society regarding gender norms

iii. May not understand or be able to articulate feelings about their gender

b. Coming out

d. Intimacy

i. Tends to be easier for heterosexual transgender people to navigate than

homosexual transgender people

ii. Tends to be easier for transgender men to navigate than transgender

6. Loved ones of transgender individuals similarly require support and resources as

they go through their own journey of acceptance

C. Attaining Sexual Maturity

1. Sexual orientation – preference for sex partner as same, opposite, or either sex

a. Continuum of sexual orientation, although our culture tends to recognize

only three: heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual

b. Most teens establish heterosexual orientation

c. Establishing homosexual orientation more difficult

d. Sexual experimentation with same sex may be common, but only about 5-6%

establish an enduring homosexual or bisexual orientation

e. Homosexuality influenced by genetic and environmental factors

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iv. Lesbian and bisexual orientation tends to be an enduring characteristic

Checking Mastery

1. What do we know about the sexual beliefs of many of today’s teens?

➢ Answer: Most teens today believe that sex in the context of a committed romantic

2. Are there differences in sexual behavior of males and females?

➢ Answer: Males are more likely than females to engage in risky sex behaviors

3. What factors likely contribute to one’s sexual orientation?

➢ Answer: Sexual orientation is probably determined, in part, by biological events

V The Adult

A. Changes in Gender Roles

1. In early adulthood, male and female gender roles differ little because both sexes

play similar roles (i.e., single and in school or working)

2. Roles tend to become more distinct in adulthood, especially in married couples

with children

3. Roles tend to become more similar starting in middle age (when children are grown

and the nest empties)

B. Androgyny

1. Early assumption that masculine and feminine traits were at opposite ends of a

single continuum and were mutually exclusive

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i. Masculine gender-type – many agentic traits and few communal traits

ii. Feminine gender-type – many communal traits and few agentic traits

iii. Androgynous gender-type – both agentic and communal traits

iv. Undifferentiated gender-type – lacking both agentic and communal traits

c. Generational changes in gender roles

i. In the 1970s, about one-third of adults were androgynous and another third

e. Disadvantages of androgyny

i. In childhood, expressing too many traits viewed as appropriate to the

opposite sex may result in peer rejection and low self-esteem

scores higher on mental health measures

C. Changes in Sexuality

1. Parental imperative – gender-role distinctions often adopted by parents to

successfully raise their children

a. Young and middle-aged men often must emphasize masculine qualities to

2. Androgyny shift – don’t give up old traits in middle age, simply retain old and

add traditional qualities associated with the other sex (more androgynous)

a. Some support for this hypothesis in grandparents

3. Adult sex lives quite varied

a. Some many partners, some few

b. Small decline in quality of sex life for married couples

4. Tend to stereotype older individuals as sexless or asexual

a. Most people are sexual beings throughout the lifespan

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5. Longer and healthier lifespans have increased sexual activity in middle and older

adults with some unexpected consequences

a. STD rates in those 45 and older have doubled

6. Explanations for declining activity

a. Physical changes

i. Male sexual peak responsiveness is in teens and 20s (i.e., more intense

organism and shorter refractory period—period of time before one is

again capable of sexual activity)

ii. Older male is slower to arouse, ejaculate, and recover after ejaculation

b. Concerns about social attitudes (e.g., sex in old age is ridiculous) may

contribute to a reduction in sexual activity

i. Elderly stereotyped as sexless or sexually unappealing (“dirty old men”)

Checking Mastery

1. How do gender roles shift during adulthood?

➢ Answer: Gender roles seem to become more sharply defined after couples have

2. What is androgyny? Is it beneficial to be androgynous?

➢ Answer: Androgyny refers to combining both agentic (masculine) and communal

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3. How do sexual behaviors change across adulthood?

➢ Answer: Desire for sex declines in older adults, but certainly does not disappear.

across our entire lifespan.

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSIONS OR PROJECTS: To develop critical thinking skills

and enhance learning with exercises that support the course learning objectives.

1. Gender Roles: Broverman and colleagues asked trained clinicians about their definitions of

healthy adults, healthy males, and healthy females. They found that if women lived up to their

2. Stereotypes and the Media: Gender roles and stereotypes are easily apparent in the media,

especially in advertising. Bring in (and ask students to bring in) advertisements from magazines

3. Sex-Role Inventory: If possible, obtain a copy of the BEM Sex-Role Inventory. The BEM has

20 items that are feminine stereotyped (e.g., affectionate, sympathetic, warm), 20 items that are

masculine stereotyped (independent, assertive, dominant), and 20 items that are gender neutral.

4. Gender Traits: In order to examine gender-role stereotypes, have students respond to the

following statement: “Suppose that you are going to meet someone for the very first time and all

5. Differential Treatment: One argument for the development of gender roles involves

differential treatment by parents and others during the first years of life. Have students observe

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the manner in which individuals interact with infants in their family and document ways in

6. Sexual Behavior: Have students discuss what they would consider “appropriate” sexual