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Page 1: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization
Page 2: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Gender Differences

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Costs of Gender Polarization

Gender-TypingGender-Typing

Gender Gender PolarizationPolarization

Page 3: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Gender PolarizationGender Polarization

Page 4: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Sandra BemSandra Bem

• Bem (1993) writes that there are three common beliefs about men and women in western society and that these beliefs have lead to gender polarization.

• 1. Women and men have basically different psychological and sexual natures.

• 2. Men are the superior, dominant gender.

• 3. Gender differences and male superiority are “natural.”

Page 5: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Gender Role StereotypesGender Role Stereotypes

• Gender Polarization: The cultural tendency to see males and females as psychological and sexual opposites.

• Women: Warm, emotional, dependent, gentle, helpful, mild, patient.

• Men: Independent, competitive, tough, protective, logical, competent.

Page 6: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Adjustment and AndrogynyAdjustment and Androgyny

• Many psychologists look upon masculinity and femininity not as opposite ends of a continuum, but rather, as independent dimensions.

• People who possess both stereotypically masculine and feminine traits are said to show psychological androgyny.

• People who are low in both stereotypical masculine and feminine traits are “undifferentiated” according to masculinity and femininity.

• Undifferentiated people seem to encounter distress while those who are androgynous may be more resistant to stress.

Page 7: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Psychological AndrogynyPsychological Androgyny

Page 8: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Androgyny, Well-Being and Androgyny, Well-Being and Personal DevelopmentPersonal Development

• Androgynous individuals:

• Tend to be more creative than masculine or feminine-typed individuals.

• Are more likely to show a firm sense of who they are and what they stand for.

• Show “masculine” independence under group pressure to conform and “feminine” nurturance in interactions with a baby.

• Feel more comfortable performing a wider range of activities in different contexts.

• Show greater self-esteem and ability to bounce back from failure.

Page 9: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Gender DifferencesGender Differences

Page 10: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Cognitive AbilitiesCognitive Abilities

• It was once assumed that men were more intelligent than women.

• We now know that it had more to do with the exclusion of women from world affairs, science, and industry.

• Tests of intelligence show no differences in overall intelligence between the genders. However, there are some differences in specific skills.

Page 11: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Differences in Cognitive Differences in Cognitive AbilitiesAbilities

• Girls are somewhat superior to boys in verbal abilities, such as verbal fluency, ability to generate words that are similar in meaning to other words, spelling, pronunciation, foreign languages, etc.

• Men seem to be somewhat superior in the ability to manipulate visual images in working memory.

• Males generally obtain higher scores on standardized math tests than females, but females excel in computational ability in elementary school.

Page 12: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Rotating figures in SpaceRotating figures in Space

Page 13: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Cognitive Abilities Cognitive Abilities (cont.)(cont.)

• Even though gender differences appear to exist, psychologists note that:

• In most cases, the differences are small.

• These gender differences are group differences.

• Some differences may largely reflect sociocultural differences.

• The gender gap in standardized math test scores is narrowing.

Page 14: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Gender Differences in Social BehaviorGender Differences in Social Behavior

• Women exceed men in extraversion, anxiety, trust, and nurturance. Women are also more emotionally expressive and cooperative.

• Men exceed women in assertiveness and tough-mindedness. Men tend to be more competitive.

• Men’s friendships with other men tend to be shallower and less supportive than women’s friendships with other women.

• Women tend to interact at closer differences than men do.

• Women are more likely to want to combine sex with a romantic relationship whereas men express more interest in casual sex and in multiple sex partners.

Page 15: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Gender-TypingGender-Typing

Page 16: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Gender-TypingGender-Typing

• Gender typing: The process or processes by which males and females develop psychological gender differences.

• Gender identity: One’s sense of being male or female.

• Gender identity disorder: A psychological disorder characterized by cross-gender identification.

Page 17: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Biological Influences on Gender Biological Influences on Gender TypingTyping

• Evolutionary psychology holds that gender differences were fashioned by the process of natural selection in response to problems in adaptation. These differences may expressed through structural differences in males and females (such as the brain), through differences in body chemistry and the endocrine system.

Page 18: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Brain OrganizationBrain Organization

• Contemporary researchers find evidence that brains of men and women are organized somewhat differently.

• Brains of males appear to be more highly specialized for certain kinds of visual-spatial skills. Women tend to have better-developed verbal skills.

• It is believed that sex hormones have a masculinizing or feminizing effect on the brain.

Page 19: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Psychosocial Influences on Psychosocial Influences on Gender TypingGender Typing

• There are three primary psychosocial perspectives on gender typing:

• Psychodynamic Theory

• Social-Cognitive Theory

• Gender-Schema Theory

Page 20: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

PsychodynamicPsychodynamic

• Freud believed that boys come to act “like boys” and girls “like girls” via the process of identification.

• Identification: The process of incorporating within the personality elements of others.

• Boys come to identify with their fathers while girls identify with their mothers.

Page 21: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Social-CognitiveSocial-Cognitive

• Children learn much of what is considered masculine or feminine by observational learning, or modeling.

• Socialization: The fostering of “gender appropriate” behavior patterns by providing children with information and using rewards and punishments.

• For example, girls are given dolls and encouraged to use dolls to rehearse caretaking behaviors. In terms of aggression, girls’ aggressive behavior is discouraged via punishment and withdrawal of affection. Therefore, girls usually feel anxious about the possibility of acting aggressively.

Page 22: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Aggression and SocializationAggression and Socialization

• Richardson Study (1979).

• Contest between men and women. Winner administers shock.

• Women in three conditions: Private, public, or supportive other.

• Women gave lower shocks in presence of public observation.

Page 23: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Gender-Schema TheoryGender-Schema Theory

• The view that one’s knowledge of the gender schema in one’s society guides one’s assumption of gender-typed preferences and behavior patterns.

• In other words…by the age of 3, children have developed a sense of being male and being female and begin to actively seek out information about their gender-schema via observational learning.

Page 24: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Costs of Gender PolarizationCosts of Gender Polarization

Page 25: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Costs in Terms of EducationCosts in Terms of Education

• Only as of the 20th century have girls been integrated into the public schools.

• While intelligence tests show no overall difference between girls and boys, there are differences in expectations. Thus, girls excel in reading because they are expected to. However, they don’t excel as much as boys in men (due to lowered expectations). This leads to fewer women in the fields of math, science and engineering.

Page 26: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Costs in Terms of CareersCosts in Terms of Careers

• Women are less likely than men to enter higher-paying careers in math, science, and engineering due to being dissuaded as girls.

• There are inequalities in the workplace. Women’s wages average only 76.5% of men’s. Women physicians and college professors earn less than men in the same position.

• Women are less likely to be promoted to high-level managerial positions.

• Women in the business world who employ the same behaviors as men (such as aggressiveness) may be viewed negatively.

• Women also feel pressure to be careful about their appearance and have to fill the dual role of worker and “caretaker” at home.

Page 27: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Costs in Terms of Psychological Costs in Terms of Psychological Well-Being and RelationshipsWell-Being and Relationships

• Compared to women who identify with more flexible gender roles, women who adopt traditional feminine gender roles:

• Appear to have lower self-esteem.• Find stressful events more aversive than women who

also show some masculine-type traits.• Are less capable of bouncing back from failure

experiences.• Are more likely to believe that women are to be seen

and not heard.• Are more likely to conform to group pressure.

Page 28: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

Costs in Terms of Psychological Costs in Terms of Psychological Well-Being and RelationshipsWell-Being and Relationships

• Compared to men who identify with more flexible gender roles, women who adopt traditional masculine gender roles:

• Are more likely to be upset if their wives earn more money than they do.

• Are less likely to be comfortable with child care.• Are less likely to ask for help when they need it.• Are less likely to be sympathetic and tender.• Are less likely to be tolerant of their wives’ or lovers’

faults.

Page 29: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

To the Instructor:To the Instructor:

• The preceding slides are intended to provide you a base upon which to build your presentation for Chapter 10 of Nevid’s Psychology and the Challenges of Life.

• For further student and instructor resources including images from the textbook, quizzes, flashcard activities and e-Grade plus, please visit our website: www.wiley.com/college/nevid

Page 30: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization
Page 31: Gender Differences Gender Roles and Gender Differences Costs of Gender Polarization Gender-Typing Gender Polarization

CopyrightCopyright

Copyright 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY. All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner.