PSY 211 Module 6 Notes
sexual identity and sexuality All the characteristics that a society associated with or deems
proper for men and women are included in the concept of gender. communality (or communion),
an attitude that places an emphasis on relationships with others and entails emotionality and
social sensitivity Girls who take on communal characteristics are likely to be ready to fulfill the
duties of wife and mother. The agency orientation toward individual action and accomplishment,
which stresses attributes of dominance, independence, assertiveness, and competition, is a key
component of the masculine gender role. According to the "gender similarities theory," most
psychological factors between men and women and women are comparable.
According to the social-role hypothesis, gender stereotypes are mostly created and maintained by
inequalities in the roles that men and women play in society. Male and female infant differences
at birth are negligible and erratic. By the time they are between the ages of two and three, almost
all kids can verbally demonstrate that they have developed a rudimentary sense of gender
identification or are aware that they are either a boy or a girl. Male infants are often a little
angrier than female newborns, while female newborns are more awake than masculine neonates.
The Child: Male dominance, in which children divide themselves into boys' and girls' peer
groups and interact with members of their own sex far more frequently than members of the
other sex, occurs during the toddler and preschool years. Gender typing, which refers to the
motives, values, and behavioral patterns that their culture considers appropriate for members of
their biological sex, also takes place during this time. "Explaining Gender-Role Development"
