Exploring Hot Topics in Sexuality and Gender
Plmilano
ppt_ch05_genderdifferencesandinfluences2.pptx
Chapter 5: Gender
Adolescent Development
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
Gender: refers to characteristics related to femininity and masculinity based on social and cultural norms (not the same as Sex or Sexual Orientation) Gender identity: involves a sense of one’s own gender, including knowledge, understanding, and acceptance of being a boy/man (male), a girl/woman (female), or another gender. Gender roles: expectations that prescribe how girls/women or boys/men should think, feel, act, and feel
Gender Terminology
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
Social Influences on Gender (1)
Many social scientists argue that psychological gender differences are due mainly to social experiences.
Eagly: social role theory—the idea that gender differences mainly result from the contrasting roles of females and males, with females having less power and status and controlling fewer resources
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
3
Social Influences on Gender: Parents
By their action and example, parents influence their children’s and adolescents’ gender development
Parents allow boys more independence than girls
Parents may also have different achievement expectations for their adolescent sons and daughters, especially in academic areas such as math and science
Mothers and fathers often interact differently with their sons and daughters
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
4
Social Influences on Gender (3)
Social cognitive theory has been especially important in understanding social influences on gender; emphasizes that children’s and adolescents’ gender development is influenced by:
Their observation and imitation of others’ gender behavior
The rewards and punishments they experience for gender-appropriate and gender-inappropriate behavior
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
5
Social Influences on Gender: Siblings
Siblings can play a significant role in gender socialization
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
6
Social Influences on Gender: Peers
Although parents provide the first models of gender behavior, before long, peers become important
Peers respond to and model masculine and feminine behavior
Adolescents spend increasing amounts of time with peers
Peer approval or disapproval is a powerful influence on gender attitudes and behavior
Peers can socialize gender behavior partly by accepting or rejecting others on the basis of their gender-related attributes
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
7
Social Influences on Gender: Schools
There are many factors to consider in the roles that schools and teachers play
One area of special concern is whether schools and teachers have biases against both boys and girls
Compliance, following the rules, and being neat and orderly are valued and reinforced in many classrooms, and these are behaviors that usually characterize girls more than boys
Is same-sex education better for children than coed education?
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
8
Social Influences on Gender: Mass Media)
The messages about gender roles carried by the mass media also influence adolescents’ gender development
Television shows directed at adolescents are extremely stereotyped in their portrayal of the sexes, especially teenage girls
Another highly stereotyped form of programming that specifically targets teenage viewers is music videos
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
Cognitive Influences on Gender
According to social cognitive theory, observation, imitation, rewards, and punishment are the mechanisms by which gender develops; the importance of cognition has been ignored
Gender schema theory: gender-typing emerges as children and adolescents gradually develop gender schemas of what is gender-appropriate and gender-inappropriate in their culture.
A gender schema organizes the world in terms of males and females
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
10
Gender Stereotyping
Gender stereotypes: broad categories that reflect our impressions and beliefs about females and males
Findings from recent research:
gender stereotypes are pervasive, and to a great extent, still present in today’s world, in the lives of both children and adults
boys’ gender stereotypes are more rigid than girls’
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
Gender Similarities and Differences
What is the reality behind gender stereotypes?
When examining the differences between the sexes, keep the following in mind:
The differences are average and do not apply to all females or all males.
Even when gender differences occur, there is often considerable overlap between males and females, especially in cognitive and socioemotional development.
The differences may be due primarily to biological factors, to sociocultural factors, or to both.
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
Physical Similarities and Differences
Obvious physical differences: women have twice the body fat of men; while on average, men grow to be taller and have greater physical strength
Brain differences: Although some gender differences in brain structure and function have been found, in many cases these are small or research findings are inconsistent
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
Cognitive Similarities and Differences (1)
No gender differences occur in overall intellectual ability—but in some cognitive areas, gender differences do appear
Boys tend to outperform girls on visuospatial skills (really only one kind of these tasks)
Girls tend to outperform boys in reading and writing
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
14
FIGURE 1 VISUOSPATIAL SKILLS OF MALES AND FEMALES
Notice that although an average male’s visuospatial skills are higher than an average female’s, scores for the two sexes almost entirely overlap. Not all males have better visuospatial skills than all females do—the overlap indicates that, although the average male score is higher, many females outperform most males on such tasks.
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
Cognitive Similarities and Differences (2)
Measures of achievement in school or scores on standardized tests may reflect many factors besides cognitive ability
Gender differences characterize U.S. dropout rates, with males more likely to drop out than females
Beginning in 1996, women were more likely to enroll in college than their peers
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
Socioemotional Similarities and Differences (1)
Differences have been observed for
Aggression
Communication in relationships
Prosocial behavior and empathy
Emotion and its regulation
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
Gender Controversy (1)
David Buss: gender differences are extensive and caused by the adaptive problems men and women have faced across their evolutionary history
Alice Eagly: gender differences are substantial, but they are due to social conditions that have resulted in women having less power and controlling fewer resources than men
Janet Shibley Hyde: gender differences have been greatly exaggerated, especially fueled by popular books
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
Gender in Context
Gender behavior often varies across contexts
Contextual variations regarding gender in specific situations are found not only within a particular culture but also across cultures
©McGraw-Hill Education.
© McGraw-Hill Education
‹#›
