What is sex
Biological differences between males and femals including: chromosomes, hormones and anatomy
What is gender
The psychological, social nd cultural differences between men and women including: attitudes, behaviours and social roles
Sex role stereotypes
A set of shared expectations that people in society/culture hold about what is acceptable or usual behaviour for men/women. Learnt and reinforces through: parents, peers, media etc.
Evidence for sex role stereotypes
Ingalhalikar (2014)
Scanned 949 young men and women using an mri discovered women’s brains make more connections across the right and left side of the brain whereas men make more connections within one side of the brain
One side of brain- linked to motor skills
Across the brain- multitasking
Defining androgyny
The balance of masculine and feminine characteristics in one’s personality
Sandra Bem develop idea ps surrounding androgyny and described the more androgynous a persons traits are the more psychologically healthy the individual is. This is as you are suited to more situations
Measuring androgyny
The bem sex role inevrtory (BSRI)
20 feminine 20 masculine and 20 neutral traits. Respondents rated 5emselfves on a likely scale of 1-7
High masc low fem = masculine
High fem low masc = feminine
High masc and high fem= androgynous
Low masc low fem= undifferentiated
Strength of androgynous research - quantative
Numerical approach useful for research purposes. Easy to compare and analyse gender
