The chapter discusses sex and gender differences and how gender roles develop. It notes that while there are some average differences between males and females, there is also a lot of overlap and differences are generally small. Gender roles are influenced by both biological and social/cultural factors. Children begin learning gender roles at a young age through parental socialization, labeling, and observing same-sex models, and gender role conformity increases during adolescence due to social pressures. Theories propose both evolutionary and social influences on gender development.

1. Chapter 13
Sex Differences and Gender-Role Development

2. INTRODUCTION
• Sex – person’s biological identity
– Chromosomes; physical manifestations of
identity; hormonal influences
• Gender – person’s social and cultural identity
as male or female
• Gender typing – process of acquiring a
gender identity and the motives, values, and
behaviors considered appropriate for their
biological sex

3. CATEGORIZING MALES AND FEMALES:
GENDER ROLE STANDARDS
• Gender role standard – value, motive, or
behavior considered more appropriate for
members of one sex than the other
– Expressive role – female – kind, nurturing,
cooperative, sensitive to others’ needs
– Instrumental role – male – dominant,
assertive, independent, and competitive

4. • Table 13.1 Sex Differences in the Socialization of Five Attributes in 110 Societies. NOTE: The
percentages for each attribute do not add to 100 because some of the societies did not place
differential pressures on boys and girls with respect to that attribute. For example, 18% of the
societies for which pertinent data were available did not differentiate between the sexes in the
socialization of nurturance. SOURCE: Adapted from BARRY, BACON, & CHILD, 1957.

5. 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

6. • Figure 13.1 A spatial task for which sex differences in performance have been found.
FROM LINN & PETERSEN, 1985.

7. SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS ABOUT SEX
DIFFERENCES
– Aggression
• Beginning at age 2, boys are more
physically and verbally aggressive
• Girls more likely to display covert
aggression

8. 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

9. SOME FACTS AND FICTIONS ABOUT SEX
DIFFERENCES
• Emotional expressivity / sensitivity
–Beginning in toddlerhood
»Boys express more anger
»Girls express most other emotions
more frequently
• Compliance – girls are more compliant

10. 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

11. • Figure 13.2 These two distributions of scores-one for males, one for females-give some idea of the
size of the gap between the sexes in abilities for which sex differences are consistently found.
Despite a small difference in average performance, the scores of males and females overlap
considerably. APAPTED FROM HYDE, FENNEMA, & LAMON, 1990.

12. CULTURAL MYTHS
• Most gender-role stereotypes are “cultural
myths”
– No basis in fact
• Due to well-ingrained cognitive schemas
–Interpret and distort behavior

13. CULTURAL MYTHS
• Do Cultural Myths Contribute to Sex
Differences in Ability/Vocational Opportunity?
– Self-fulfilling prophecy actually promotes
sex differences in cognitive performance
– Home Influences
• Parents expect sons to outperform
daughters in math
• Son’s successes are due to ability,
daughter’s due to hard work

14. CULTURAL MYTHS
– Home Influences, continued
• Children internalize parent’s views, boys
become self-confident
• Girls lose interest in math, due to
perceived lack of ability
– Scholastic Influences
• Teachers have similar views affecting
children in a similar manner

15. DEVELOPMENTAL TRENDS IN GENDER
TYPING
• Development of the Gender Concept
– By age 2 ½ to 3, accurately label oneself
as a boy or girl
– 5 to 7 years – gender is unchanging

16. DEVELOPMENTAL TRENDS IN GENDER
TYPING
• Development of Gender-Role Stereotypes
– Present at 2 to 3 years, once children can
label pictures of children as boys or girls
– 3 to 7 – view gender-role standards as
rules
– 8 to 9 – more flexible, distinction between
moral rules and gender-role standards

17. DEVELOPMENTAL TRENDS IN GENDER
TYPING
– Cultural Influences
• Collectivist societies tend to encourage
conforming to gender-role standards
– Adolescent Thinking About Gender
Stereotypes
• Less flexible again; increased pressure
to conform – gender intensification
• Later in high school, may be more
flexible again

18. • Figure 13.3 Children’s rankings of the wrongness of gender-role transgressions (such as a boy’s
wearing nail polish) and violations of moral rules (such as pushing another child from a swing).
Notice that children of all ages deplore immoral acts but that only kindergartners and adolescents
view gender-role violations as wrong. Elementary school children come to think about gender-role
standards in a more flexible way than they did earlier in life, but adolescents become concerned
about the psychological implications of deviating from one’s “proper” gender identity. ADAPTED
FROM STODDARD & TURIEL, 1985.

19. DEVELOPMENTAL TRENDS IN GENDER
TYPING
• Development of Gender-Typed Behavior
– 14 to 22 months – prefer gender
appropriate toys
– Gender Segregation
• 2 years, girls prefer playing with girls
• 3 years, boys prefer playing with boys
–Due to differences in play styles
–Cognitive and social-cognitive
development

20. • Figure 13.4 Two- to 3-year-old toddlers already prefer playmates of their own sex. Boys are much
more social with boys than with girls, whereas girls are more outgoing with girls than with boys.
ADAPTED FROM JACKLIN & MACCOBY, 1978.

21. DEVELOPMENTAL TRENDS IN GENDER
TYPING
– Sex Differences in Gender-Typed Behavior
• Males have greater status
• Males feel stronger pressure to adhere
to gender appropriate codes
• Most girls do comply with prescriptions
for the feminine role by adolescence
–Be attractive to opposite sex
–Concern of others evaluations

22. • Table 13.2 Percentages of Boys and Girls Who Requested Popular “Masculine” and “Feminine”
Items from Santa Claus. SOURCE: Adapted from Richardson & Simpson, 1982.

23. DEVELOPMENTAL TRENDS IN GENDER
TYPING
– Subcultural Variations in Gender-Typing
• Middle class adolescents hold more
flexible gender-role attitudes then low
SES peers
• African American children hold less
stereotyped views of women than
European American children
–Both due to differences in education
and family life

24. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
• Evolutionary Theory
– Males and females face different
evolutionary pressures
– Natural selection created fundamental
differences in male and female roles
• Females need to be nurturing
• Males need spatial skills for hunting

25. 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

26. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
• Money & Ehrhardt’s Biosocial Theory of
Gender Differentiation and Development
– Inherit X or Y chromosome from father
– If Y, testes secrete testosterone and MIS
• Resulting in male genitals
– At birth, social factors become important
• Child is labeled by society
– At puberty sex characteristics and urges
combine with label

27. • Figure 13.5 Critical events in Money and Ehrhardt’s biosocial theory of sex typing. FROM MONEY
& EHRHARDT, 1972.

28. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
– Evidence for Biological Influences on
Gender-Role Development
• Genetic influences
–50% of the differences in masculine,
0-20% of the differences in feminine
self-concepts
–Strong masculine self-concept and
experience with spatial toys increases
abilities

29. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
• Hormonal influences
–If females are exposed to excess
androgen prenatally, result is
masculinized external genitalia
»Alters play behavior
»Increases interest in same-sex
relationships
»Influences career and family
choices

30. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
– Evidence for Social-Labeling Influences
• Surgery and gender reassignment are
generally successful for androgenized
females
–Prior to 18 months of age
–After age 3, very difficult
»Masculine gender typing
»Labeling of self as a boy

31. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
• 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

32. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
• A psychobiosocial viewpoint
–Prenatal hormone exposure
influences brain development
»Creates different sensitivities for
males and females
»Coupled with others’ beliefs,
provides more exposure to gender
consistent materials

33. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
• Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
– Males become gender typed as they
identify with their father to resolve the
Oedipus complex
– Fathers encourage feminine behavior in
females (modeled after mother)
– Lack of research support

34. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
• Social Learning Theory
– Direct tuition – children are encouraged
and rewarded for gender-appropriate
behaviors
• Parents begin the process
• Siblings and peers reinforce it

35. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
– Observational learning – children adopt the
attitudes and behaviors of same-sex
models
• Also important is the label attached to
the attitude or behavior
• Same-sex models become more
important at ages 5 to 7, when gender is
unchanging aspect of the self
• Media influences

36. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
• Kohlberg’s Cognitive Developmental Theory
– Children first establish a stable gender
identity
• Basic gender identity:
–By age 3, label themselves as a boy
or girl
• Gender stability:
–Occurs next

37. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
• Gender consistency:
–By 5-7, gender is consistent across
situations
– After achieving gender consistency
• Children actively seek out same-sex
models to determine how to act

38. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
– Criticisms of Kohlberg’s Theory
• Gender-typing begins well before
children acquire a mature gender
identity
• Gender reassignment is very difficult
after age 3

39. THEORIES OF GENDER-TYPING AND
GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
• Gender Schema Theory (Martin & Halverson)
– Children acquire a basic gender identity
• Motivates child to learn about the sexes
and create gender schemas
–Begin as simple in-group/out-group
schemas
–Also create an own-sex schema
–Schemas serve as scripts for
processing social information

40. • Figure 13.6 Gender-schema theory in action. A young girl classifies new information according to
an in-group/out-group schema as either “for boys” or “for girls.” Information about boys’ toys and
activities is ignored, but information about toys and activities for girls in relevant to the self and so
is added to an ever-larger own-sex schema. ADAPTED FROM MARTIN & HALVERSON, 1987.

41. 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

42. • Table 13.3 An Overview of the Gender-Typing Process from the Perspective of an
Integrative Theorist.

43. PSYCHOLOGICAL ANDROGYNY: A
PRESCRIPTION FOR THE 21st CENTURY?
• Historically, masculinity and femininity were at
opposite ends of a single dimensions
• Androgyny – sees them as 2 separate
dimensions, allowing individuals to be high in
both masculine and feminine traits

44. • Figure 13.7 Categories of sex-role orientation based on viewing masculinity and femininity as
separate dimensions of personality.

45. PSYCHOLOGICAL ANDROGYNY: A
PRESCRIPTION FOR THE 21st CENTURY?
• Do Androgynous People Really Exist?
– In a college student sample
• 33% were masculine men or feminine
women
• 30% were androgynous
• 27% undifferentiated or gender-type
reversed

46. • Table 13.4 Sample Items from a Gender-Role Inventory for Grade-school Children.
Source: Adapted from Boldizar, 1991.

47. PSYCHOLOGICAL ANDROGYNY: A
PRESCRIPTION FOR THE 21st CENTURY?
• 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

48. PSYCHOLOGICAL ANDROGYNY: A
PRESCRIPTION FOR THE 21st CENTURY?
• Applications: On Changing Gender Role
Attitudes and Behavior
– Parents must teach that biological sex is
unimportant other than for reproduction
– Delay exposure to gender stereotypes
– Interventions work best with younger
children
– Programs work best if the adult in charge is
male