Gender
the role of hormones
Testosterone: male hormone which controls the development of male sex organs. Produced around 8 weeks of foetal development.
Oestrogen: female hormone that determines female sexual characteristics and menstruation. Can cause pre menstrual tension or menstrual syndrome.
Oxytocin: a hormone which women produce larger amounts than men due to giving birth. Evidence suggests that both sexes produce oxytocin in roughly equal amounts during kissing and sex.
A typical chromosome sex patterns
klinefelters syndrome: affects males in which an individual has an extra X chromosome in addition to the normal XY
Physical Characteristics: reduced body hair compared to a normal male, breast development at puberty, increased body contours, under developed genitals, general clumbsiness
Psychological characteristics: poorly developed language skills, passive shy and lack of interest in sexual activity, may not cope well in stressful situations
Turners syndrome: A chromosomal disorder that affects women who only have one X chromosome causing developmental abnormalities and infertility
Physical Characteristics: do not have a menstrual cycle, do not develop breasts, have a webbed like neck, hips are not much bigger than the waist, physically immature
Psychological Characteristics: higher than average reading ability, performance on mathematical, memory and spatial tasks is usually quite poor, socially immature and find it hard to relate to their peers
AO3 for A Typical Chromosome sex patterns
contribution to the nature nurture debate: by comparing these individuals with those who have chromosome typical individuals it is clear to see the comparision between psycholgical and behavioural differences between the groups. May be seen that these differences have a biological basis and therefore link to the nature debate
environmental explanation: may be that environmental and social differences have a bigger relationship between chromosome abnormalities and the different syndromes. This could be responsible for their behaviour instead. For example females with turners syndrome may be immature as they are being treated that way. The behavioural differences cannot be assumed it is all nature.
practical application: Australian study of 87 individuals with Klienfelters syndrome showed that those who have been identified and treated from a young age had significant benefits compared to those who were diagnosed later on. Suggests that an increased awareness of these conditions increases PA
SRY gene (sex- determining region Y gene): causes the testes to develop in an XY embryo. Produce androgens which cause the embryo to become male.
AO3 for the role of hormones
supporting evidence: influence of chromosomes on gender identity shown in the case of David Reimer who was born a boy but was raised as a girl. Dabs et al found that in a prision population offenders with high testosterone have committed violent/ sexually motivated crimes. Van Goozen et al studied transgender individuals undergoing hormone treatment and found women transitioning to men has increased aggression and visuospatial skills whereas men transitioning to women showed the opposite.
contradictory evidence: Tricker et al conducted a double blind study in which 43 males were given either a weekly injection of testosterone or placebo and found that there was no significant difference in aggression between the two groups.
small samples: many studies of biological factors include small samples and unusual people and it can be conducted on animals therefore it is difficult for generalisations to be made
Objections to pre menstrual syndrome: Rodin claims that PMS is a social construction a way of privileging certain groups over others. Not a biological fact.
Cognitive explanation of gender Kohlberg
Stage 1: Gender Identity. from the age of 2 most children will be able to identify their own gender, from the age of 3 most children will be able to identify other peoples gender however there is little understanding of what gender is
Stage 2: Gender Stability. from the age of 4 most children recognise that you retain your gender for life. However children will get confused if they see a male with long hair
Stage 3: Gender Constancy. From the age of 6 most children are aware that gender remains constant across time and situations they apply this to their own gender e.g if a man is wearing a dress they may see it as strange but recognise them as a man
AO3
evidence supports the sequence of stages: Slaby and Frey where children were presented with split screen images of males and females performing the same tasks. Children in the gender constancy stage spent longer looking at the model who was the same sex as them
cultural evidence: Munroe et al found cross cultural evidence of Kohlbergs theory in countries as far as Kenya
Constancy not supported: Bussey and Bandura found that children aged 4 reported feeling good about playing with gender appropriate toys. This contradicts with what Kohlberg would predict but may impact gender scheme theory which suggests that children absorb gender appropriate infomation as soon as they identify as male or female
methodological issues: Kohlbergs theory was developed using interviews with children aged 2 or 3 therefore they may have not acknowledged that children do not have the vocab yet to express their understanding of gender
Gender Schema Theory
Martin and Halverson: explanation based on cognitive development that children understand the concept of gender as they get older
M&H use Kohlbergs stage 1 Gender Identity, then they start exploring the environment for other information that enhances gender schema. Once the schema has been created then the child tends to have fixed strereotypes of what behaviourist characteristics are suitable for their gender
If a child encounters something that does not fit with their schema they tend to disregard the info or remember it incorrectly
ingroups: schemas that are appropriate to their own gender. This is here to help boost self esteem
Outgroups: schemas of the opposite gender
Gender Script
Gender schema
Once children have developed these schemas + scripts they pay more attention to activity associated with their own sex
Girls behaviour
Boys behaviour
Future information consistent with gender schema?
Yes: carry on behaviour
No: Failure to encode that information e.g info is rejected
Yes carry on behaviour
AO3
supporting evidence: