Gender Notes (AQA A-Level Psychology)
This document covers all content on Gender (AQA A-Level Psychology). The notes are very detailed but only include what is relevant to the course. There are abbreviations throughout that you should understand as a psychology student, but don't hesitate to mes...
,Gender
Sex Biological factors - is the child biologically a male or female
Characteristics that are biologically defined
Gender The social and psychological characteristics of males / females
Based on socially constructed features
Gender role Culturally determined male and female behaviours
Gender schema A means of understanding gender knowledge that changes
with environmental experience
Gender identity Personal conception of oneself as male or female
Gender dysphoria When a male or female feels they belong to the wrong gender
or are confused about their gender
Sex-role stereotyping Expected behaviour of men and women in society
The difference between sex and gender
● Sex describes an individual’s physiological, biological status (male / female)
● Gender describes an individual’s psychological identity (masculine / feminine)
● Typically, a biological male will develop a masculine psychological gender identity,
● And a biological female will develop a feminine psychological gender identity
● BUT this isn’t always true - some individuals experience severe distress as they
don’t feel like their biological sex matches their psychological gender identity
● E.g a biological male may psychologically identify as female; gender dysphoria
Sex-role stereotypes:
● Each culture has its own ideas of what is ‘normal’ in terms of behaviour
● This is also true of gender behaviours
● There are cultural / societal norms (unwritten rules) about what’s acceptable
behaviour for men and women
● There are pressures for people to conform to these expectations
● Sex role stereotype example:
Women are nurturing, emotional, friendly, dependant, domestic
Men are leaders, decision makers, aggressive, dominant, independent, strong
, Androgyny )
Psychological terms → a flexible gender role (balance of both masculine / feminine traits)
‘andro’ (males) and ‘gyny’ (female) →a combination of male / female characteristics
Sandra Bem points out gender schemas become lenses through we view the world
These ‘lenses’ lead to 3 main beliefs held in Western society:
1. men and women differ psychologically and sexually
2. men are the dominant and superior sex
3. these differences are natural
The effect of viewing through lenses is society’s structured to empower men NOT women
- Bem has an interactionist view: similarities between sexes outweigh the differences
- Society should be gender depolarized through redefinition of gender traits
- And perception of what it is to be human rather than what it is to be male / female
- She suggested more than 2 gender types
- She added androgynous to masculine /feminine identities
Bem's Explanation for Psychological Androgyny (A01)
● Bem challenged traditional ideas by adding androgynous to gender identities
● By psychological androgyny she was referring to individuals having behavioural and
emotional traits rather that a physical androgyny
(not just appearing androgynous; thinking a feeling that way)
- According to Bem, there are costs involved to maintain gender role stereotypes
- Include: limiting opportunities for boys / girls, ignoring talent, perpetuating unfairness
- Bem felt it was best to be androgynous as one could be more adaptable to modern life
…and take opportunities open to boys and girls
For Bem → psychological androgyny meant:
- Taking on which quality best fitted situation - masculine or feminine
- It’s more adaptive than traditional stereotyped gender identities of ‘boy’ or ‘girl’.
Sex role inventory
● Bem designed the SRI questionnaire to test her ideas
● Systematic attempt to measure androgyny using 60 traits (20 F / 20 M / 20 N) to
produce scores on masculinity-femininity and androgynous-undifferentiated
● She found 34% of male p’s and 27% of female’s p’s were androgynous
● These individuals were found by a number of researchers to be more adaptable to
situations and a greater sense of well-being
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