Sex- Whether a person is biologically male or female ( what sex organs and chromosomes they have )
Gender - Whether a person is psychologically masculine or feminine ( how they act and what they identify as)
Sex-role stereotypes are cultural and social expectations of how males and females should behave.
*Women are more nurturing than men
*Men are more aggressive than women
*Men like football women don'y
* Pink is a girls colour but blue is a boys colour
androgyny is when a person of both masculine and feminine traits
Bem (1974) created the Bems sex-role inventory to measure a persons masculine and feminine traits. It is a self report method that asks participants to rate themeselves on a scale of 1-7 for 60 items (20 m, 20 f, 20 n) .
Bem (1977) described 4 broad personality types
*Masculine: Low femininity and high masculinity
*Feminine: High femininity and low masculinity
* Androgynous: High femininity and High masculinity
*Undiffereniated: Low femininity and Low masculinity
Bem argues that androgyny -scoring highly both in masculinity and femininity- is psychologically healthy and advantageous. One reason why androgyny may be advantageous is that having a mix of masculine and feminine traits enables a person to adapt and excel in more situations whereas a person who scores highly one way but not the other is likely to have a more limited skillset
Chromosomes determine a persons biological sex, which influences their natural hormome levels. In addition to physical effects these biological factors have physchological effects that influencd gender development
Each cell in the body has chromosomes which carry genetic information. Humans have 46 chromosomes so 23 pairs. The 23rd chromosome pair determines a persons biological sex
Females have two pairs of X chromosomes whereas males have one X chromosome amd one Y chromosome.
It is genes in the Y chromosome that are responsible for male development such as the formation of testes and higher levels of the hormone testosterone
When a person has a 23rd chromosome that is something other than the typical XX pattern for females or XY pattern for males. These atypical sex chromose patterns cause differences in development compared with typical sex chromosome patterns
Hormones are chemicals produced in the body by glands
Men produce much higher levels of testosterone whereas women produce much more oestrogen. At puberty, hormone levels increase causing the devopment of secondary sex characterisitcs. for example breasts in women and growth of facial hair in men
*Genes in the Y chromosome cause testes rather than ovaries to form.
Around 8 weeks testes start producing testosterone
*Testosterone causes physical changes such as development of male sex organs and also physiological ones such because prenatal testosterone causes masculinisation of the brain.
After birth, testosterone is associated with stereotypical male behaviours such as aggression and competitiveness.
For example: Albert et al (1989) found that injecting female rats with testosterone made then act more aggressively,
Females have 10x as much oestrogen than males. Having an X chromosome instead of a Y chromosome means ovaries form instead of testes.These higher levels of oestrogen have feminising effects on the brain.
Oestrogen is associated with stereotypical female behaviours such as compassion and sensitivity. After puberty, oestrogen also regulates the menstrual cycle in women
Sometimes called the love hormone because it is associated with bonding, Nurture, trust and sociability higher in women
*oxytocin causes contractions
*oxytocin stimulates lactation to enable breastfeeding
*oxytocin helps form an emotional bond between mother and baby
*gender identity
*gender stability
*gender constancy
Gender Identity-18months-3years
The child identifies themselves as male or female and can categorise others as female and male
However thr childndoes not recognise the stability of the gender e.g girls will grow up to be women and boys will grow up to be men
3-5years - The child realises that their gender is stable. However they do not apply this same stability for other people for example if a women cuts her hair short (male activity) they might think she is a man
6years+The child realises that their gender and others genders are permanant even if a women does a male activity
Gender schema theory - martin and bem argue that chikdren start developing gender schema mental frameworks to understand gender at around 2-3 years of age.E.g boys develop a schema that dolls are a girls toy so the boy would most likely play with "trucks"
Gender schema theory states that children behave in gendered ways from a much earlier age.Kohlberg argues that children start imitating gender appropiate role models at around 6 years of age ( resching gender constancy)however the gender schema theory states that children start developing gender schemas at age of 2
The id , the ego, and the superego
Phallic stage (3-5years) The child develops a sexual attraction to their opposite parent and a dislike to their same sex parent. The boy develops an unconscious sexual desire for his mother. this leads to unconscious feelings of jealousy and hatred towards his father because the father has what the boy desires which is the mother. The boys id which is the unconscious part of the mind that is only concerened with pleasure wants to kill the father in order to have mother for himself
the practical part of the mind that mediates between the desires of the id and reality recognises that the father is stronger than him. This leads to fear of father. The boy thinks that if his father discovers that he desires his mother for himself the fathed wilk removd his penis