Gender Flashcards

Question

Describe Kohlberg's 'Gender Identity' Stage

Answer 1

Age of 2 - can identify if girl or boy Age of 3 - can identify other people's gender. However understanding is limited to external appearence. They are not aware that sex is permanent across time and situations.

Answer 2

Age of 4 - realise gender is consistent over time. However do not think gender is consistent over different situations for others. Perception of other people's gender still dominated by external appearance. They believe people change gender if they do activities or wear clothes typically associated to a particular gender.

Answer 3

Age of 6 - recognise that gender remains constant and consistant across time and situations - in themselves and others. No longer affected by external appearance. Start to learn gender appropriate behaviours.

Answer 4

Psychodynamic - gender identity comes AFTER identification with role model. SLT - sees children as passive observers of role models at any age. Biological - sees progress through stages due to biological maturation - heavily influenced by changes to the brain and cognitive capacity.

Answer 5

+ EVIDENCE - 76% of 2 year olds and 90% of 3 year olds labelled their own gender - supports gender identity occurs developmentally and that accuracy increases with age. H: not 100%. + MORE EVIDENCE - children under the age of 5 judged a doll who had visible male genitals but was wearing a dress as female - supports gender stability judging gender by external appearance. - QUESTIONABLE TEMPORAL VALIDITY - evidence that age of gender constancy is younger today - internet, social media etc - low temporal validity - ISSUES WITH THE WAY KOHLBERG ASSESSED CHILDREN - Kohlberg's theory was developed using interviews with young children - limited vocabulary to express their understanding - may have complex understanding but just could not express it.

Answer 6

Kohlberg's Cognitive Explanation for gender and Gender Schema Theory

Answer 7

Kohlberg thought that children don't seek out gender role models until gender constancy (age 6). But GST believes that children aquire gender relevant information when they can label their gender (gender identity stage).

Answer 8

Halverson and Martin, like Kohlberg believed that children learn gender by structuring their own learning (rather than passively observing and imitating role models - SLT).

Answer 9

Children learn gender appropriate behaviour through schemas (mental frameworks). Schemas focus on things which help us to confirm our pre-existing ideas, often leading to stereotypes. They lead to children holding fixed gender attitudes. Schemas become more complex over time. 1) GENDER SCHEMAS AFTER IDENTITY - once a child has gender identity (2-3) they begin to search their environment for info about their gender schema and ignore toys, games etc that do not relate to their group. 2) GENDER SCHEMA DETERMINES BEHAVIOUR 3) INGROUP SCHEMA REMEMERED BETTER Info that doesn't fit into a schema is ignored and so schemas are rarely altered and having enduring effects of our perception of our world. Children have a better and more positive understanding of schemas associated with their ingroup (thought to boost self-esteem). At age of 8 children start to pay attention to elaborate schemas of both genders.

Answer 10

+ EVIDENCE - Children <6 were more likely to remember gender consistent behaviour in photos tested a week later. Info outside of their schema was ignored or misremembered e.g. switching genders to fit their schema for the behaviour shown. + EXPLANITARY POWER - can explain many aspects of children's thinking about gender, e.g. inflexible gender attitudes and strong ingroup bias - children pay more attention to info that fits their schemas. - OVEREMPHASISES THE ROLE OF THE INDIVIDUAL - does not focus enough on other important factors e.g. social factors - parenting - rewards and punishment for gender behaviour - incomplete and oversimplified - reductionist. - CONTRADICTORY EVIDENCE - 3-year olds reacted in gender stereotypical ways to peer's behaviour that didn't conform to their gender, even though the children hadn't yet attained gender identity (let alone gender constancy).

Answer 11

Freud believed that: - Children pass through 5 psychosexual stages. - Gender development in the Phallic stage (age 3-6) due to libido focus on genitals. - Prior to this stage chidren had no concept of gender identity. Freud called them bisexual (neither masculine or feminine). - Gender identity develops due to resolution of the oedipus/electra complex. IDENTIFICATION - a desire to be associated with a particular person or group due to their desirable characteristics - e.g. children both identify with same sex parent to resolve their complex. Freud thought identification for girls was less strong because there was less reason to identify with a woman - e.g. lower status etc. INTERNALISATION - individual adopts attitudes and behaviours of another person. e.g. child taking on (internalising) gender identity and behaviours of the same sex parent.

Answer 12

5 year old with fear of being bitten by a horse which stemmed from a horse collapsing and dying in front of him. Freud thought that Hans developed gender identity through oedipus complex and that Hans identified the horse with his father and his fear of horses was due to castration anxiety displaced onto horses (defence mechanism).

Answer 13

Boy sexually desires his mother. Boy sees father as a rival for his mother and fears that his father will castrate him if he find out about his desires towards his mother (Castration Anxiety). To resolve the conflict, boy identifies with his father and displaces feelings towards his mother onto other women.

Answer 14

Girls notice they don't have a penis and begin to sexually desire their father (penis envy). They believe their mothers have castrated them and see them as a rival. To resolve this conflict they identify with their mother in order to have their father and eventually substitute penis envy for the desire to have children.

Answer 15

+ CASE STUDY - Little Hans - supports oedipus complex + RESEARCH EVIDENCE - 22/32 mental patients appeared to be suffering with an unresolved Electra complex and 12 had regressed to earlier stages of development. Supports electra complex - unresolved = mental health issues. H: Subjective, Unfalsifiable - LACK OF SCIENTIFIC RIGOUR - Unconscious complexes - unfalsifiable - lack of empirical evidece - H: Freud's theory similar to Gender Schema Theory -e.g. similar age of aquiring gender identity and ingroup attitudes being preferred - CONTRADICTORY EVIDENCE - household with homosexual or single parents develop much in the same way as heterosexual parent households - would expect children from non-nuclear families to have difficulties forming gender identity L: _lacks predictive validity_ - not supported through actual empirical evidence

Answer 16

The rules, morals, customs and practices that bind a group of people together.

Answer 17

Tribal groups of New Guinea studied: - in one tribe men were passive and decorative, women were dominant leaders - in another tribe, both men and women were aggressive and hostile - and in another tribe both men and women were gentle and responsive Suggests gender roles are different cross culturally - supporting nurture. However possible researcher bias as tribal people could've told researcher what they wanted to hear.

Answer 18

Consistent patters found in mate preference in 37 countries woldwide - e.g. women sought men that could offer wealth and resources and men sought attractive young partners. Supports that gender roles/mate preferences are biological (nature).

Answer 19

- IMPOSED ETIC - when researchers use research methods and measuring tools relevant and applicable to their own culture. Issues because could be hard to apply to other cultures and can lead to faulty conclusions/interpretations of behaviour. Can be avoided by including at least one member of the local population into the research team - enabling local customs and traditions to be respected and any needed changes to measuring tools. - VERY DIFFICULT TO CONCLUDE NATURE VS NURTURE from any research. - it is most likely an interaction of the two that produces gender roles - no amount of cross-cultural influence can completely rule out influence of the environment.

Answer 20

The media provides role models with whom children can identify with and immitate - more likely those of same sex, high status, likeable etc. The media provides clear gender stereotypes -e.g. men are independent, ambitious and advice givers. women are dependent, unambitious and emotional. Men are often portrayed in occupational roles and women in domestic familial roles Media also shows the outcomes of performing behaviours - vicarious reinforcement. Seeing others succeed increases self-efficacy.

Answer 21

+ SUPPORTING RESEARCH - children who watched more than 25 hours of media per week held more sex-stereotyped perceptions than those who watched less than 10 hours per week. + PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS - program makers could be encouraged to alter stereotypical attitudes and behaviours shown. H: research shows that some male adolescents develop even stronger stereotypes after watching counter-stereotype material. - METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES - lack of control comparisons as media use is so widespread - lack of validity and difficult to draw conclusions. Media could just reflect norms, not be the cause of norms. H: not impossible - tribal and very isolated groups, but low pop validity.

Answer 22

A condition where individuals experience an incogruence between their biological sex and gender they 'feel' they are. GD affects male more than females and estimated 1 in 4000 receive treatment for the condition. Early indications include: children unhappy wearing clothes of their bio sex or playing with gender appropriate toys. Many GD individuals identify as transgender and may opt for gender reassignment surgery.

Answer 23

DSM-5: - feel a strong sense of discomfort with their own biological sex - must experience ongoing identification with the opposite sex - experience will affect ability to function in everyday life. - not related to a physical intersex condition (e.g. klinefelter's)

Answer 24

Statistical Infrequence - 1 in 4000 - <2% Deviation from social norms - classed as 'atypical' gender development

Answer 25

Biological: Genetics, Brain Sex Theory, Cross Wiring Social-psychological: Psychodynamic and Cognitive

Answer 26

Research: Examining genetics of M to F transgender individuals - difference found in Angrogen Receptor Gene compared to controls. Effect would be a reduction of the male sex hormone testosterone which could make the brain less masculinised. TWIN STUDIES: MZ: 39%, DZ 0% (however small sample available).

Answer 27

Gender Identity is encoded in the brain during foetal development due to hormones. One area investigated is the BED NUCLEAUS OF THE STRIA TERMINALIS (BSTc) which is located near the thalamus. This area is larger in men than women and has been found that size tends to reflect preferred sex rather than biological sex. Post Mortem Studies: found that in M to F transgender individuals the BST is smaller than normal - gender identity may be hardwired biologically.

Answer 28

Argued that GD is a form of Phantom Limb Syndrome. The image of sex organs is innately hardwired into the brain and so sometimes biological females feel that they should have a penis (due to their brain being cross-wired due to plasticity). Research: 2/3rds of female to male transsexuals report the feeling of having a penis.

Answer 29

MALE TO FEMALE TRANSGERERISM - possibly caused by separation anxiety from mother before gender identity can form. - child fantasises of a 'symbiotic fusion' with their mothers to relieve the anxiety. - consequence is that child becomes the mother and adopts a female gender identity. Alternatively, Recker links GD in boys to an absence of a father figure. FEMALE TO MALE TRANSGENDERISM - caused by paternal rejection in early childhood - unconsciously become males in order to gain acceptance from father

Answer 30

An extension of Gender Schema Theory. A child's personal interests may affect the gender schema and then eventually gender identity. e.g. a boy who plays with dolls comes to believe that playing with dolls is for boys, leading to an atypical gender schema. In most people this leads to androgynous behaviour, in some though it can lead to the formation of an oppositve gender identity.

Answer 31

PSYCODYNAMIC: - out of 36 gender disturbed boys, 75% had no father figure. - 64% of GD boys were also diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder. (Supporting research for other explanations mentioned in previous flashcards) LIMITATIONS - Psychodynamic - unfalsifiable - unconscious - unscientific - Biological - reductionist - overly simplified - incomplete explanation - Socially sensitive - blame on parents

Gender Flashcards

(55 cards)