1. Sex Differences and
Gender-Role Development
Chapter 13

2. Definitions
 Sex = biological identity
 Gender = social and cultural identity as
male/female
 Gender-role standard = a behavior, value,
or motive that society deems more
appropriate for males/females

3. SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS
ABOUT SEX DIFFERENCES
 Actual Psychological Differences Between
the Sexes
– Verbal Ability – girls are superior
– Visual/Spatial Abilities – boys are superior
 Evident by 4, persists across life span
– Mathematical Abilities
 In adolescence, boys better at arithmetic reasoning
 Girls better at computational skills

4. SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS
ABOUT SEX DIFFERENCES
– Aggression
 Boys  physically and verbally
 Girls  covert

5. SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS
ABOUT SEX DIFFERENCES
– Other Sex Differences
 Activity level – boys are more physically
active (even before birth)
 Fear, timidity, and risk-taking – girls are
more fearful, timid, and take fewer risks
– No difference in cognitive impulsivity
 Developmental vulnerability – boys are
more vulnerable to prenatal and perinatal
hazards and disease

6. SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS
ABOUT SEX DIFFERENCES
 Conclusions
– Differences reflect group averages
– Differences are small
– Differences are most apparent at
the extremes
– Males and females are much more
psychologically similar than they
are different

7. SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS
ABOUT SEX DIFFERENCES
 Emotional expressivity / sensitivity
– Beginning in toddlerhood
 Boys  anger
 Girls  other emotions
 Compliance – girls are more
compliant

8. Gender Differences in Social
Behavior
 Gender segregation
 Play styles
 Social Influence Styles
– Charlesworth
– 4 children, playing with movie viewer
designed so only one child could watch at a
time

9. Gender Differences in Social
Behavior
 Forms of Verbal Influence
 Social Interaction
– Jacklin & Maccoby
– Pairs of neutrally dressed, unacquainted 33
m/o brought to playroom
 Group Structure

10. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING
AND GENDER ROLE
DEVELOPMENT
 Evolutionary Theory
– Males and females face different
evolutionary pressures

11. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING
AND GENDER ROLE
DEVELOPMENT
– Criticisms of the Evolutionary Approach
 Applies to differences that apply
cross-culturally
 Ignores differences limited to cultures
or historical periods
 Social roles hypothesis
– Cultures assign roles based on gender
– Socialization practices

13. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING
AND GENDER ROLE
DEVELOPMENT

Evidence for Social-Labeling Influences
– Cultural influences
 Mead’s study of tribal societies
– Arapesh – both males and females were
taught to be expressive
– Mundugumor – both genders were
taught to be “masculine”
– Tchambuli – from Western standards,
males more feminine, females more
masculine

14. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING
AND GENDER ROLE
DEVELOPMENT
 Evidence for Social-Labeling Influences
– Condry & Condry
 Saw film of 9 m/o presented with jack-inthe-box
 Half told male, half told female
 “boy” was described as angry
 “girl” was described as afraid

15. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING
AND GENDER ROLE
DEVELOPMENT
 A psychobiosocial viewpoint
 Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
 Social Learning Theory
– Direct tuition/reinforcement
– Observational learning

16. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING
AND GENDER ROLE
DEVELOPMENT
 Kohlberg’s Cognitive-Developmental
Theory
–
–
–
Basic gender identity
Gender stability
Gender consistency
 Gender Schema Theory (Martin &
Halverson)

18. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING
AND GENDER ROLE
DEVELOPMENT
 Martin & Halverson
– Show 5-6 y/o pictures:
 Boy engaging in traditional masculine activity
 Girl engaging in traditional masculine activity
 Boy engaging in traditional feminine activity
 Girl engaging in traditional feminine activity
– One week later, show pictures…

19. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING
AND GENDER ROLE
DEVELOPMENT
 Martin
–
–
–
4-10 y/o told story
Character in story was either a boy or girl
Description was neutral, stereotyped, or
counterstereotyped

20. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING
AND GENDER ROLE
DEVELOPMENT
 An Integrative Theory
– Biological theories account for major
biological developments
– Social-theories account for differential
reinforcement processes
– Cognitive development explains the growth of
categorization skills
– Gender schemas are also important as are
models as children age

21. Androgyny – Bem
 Historically, masculinity and femininity
were at opposite ends of a single
dimension
 Androgyny – sees them as 2 separate
dimensions, allowing individuals to be high
in both masculine and feminine traits

23. Scoring for BEM
 Use the scoring guide to tally up scores for
a and b answers
 A answers: tally scores, divide by 20 (as
long as you didn’t omit any “a” answers),
place number in the box at the bottom of
your sheet labeled R.S. and a.
 B answers: tally scores, divide by 20 (as
long as you didn’t omit any “b” answers),
place number in box labeled R.S. and b.

24.  Do Androgynous People Really Exist?
– In a college student sample
 33% were masculine men or feminine
women
 30% were androgynous
 37% undifferentiated or gender-type
reversed

25.  Are There Advantages to Being
Androgynous?
–
–
–
–
More highly adaptable to the situation
Higher self-esteem
More likeable
Perceived as better adjusted
 The masculine traits are more important for
adjustment
– Advantages may differ across lifespan