Psych 125
Human Development
Christopher Gade
Office: 1031-G
Office hours: Tu 12-1:30 and by apt.
Email: gadecj@gmail.com
Class: T 1:30-4:20 Room 2210
Sorting Task
• In a group of 2 to 3, categorize the terms below
as being more likely linked to males or females
• Sweet
• Trucks
• Cosmetologist
• Golf
• Caring
• Rough
• Emotional
• Suit
• Strong
• Babysitter
• Electrician
• Wrestling
• Dolls
• Firefighter
• Designer
What This Relates To & Today’s Topic
• Gender – the characterization of people as
females or males
– Gender identity – an internal sense of one’s gender
– Gender role – cognitive, behavioral, and emotional
expectations placed on members of a gender
– Gender typing – a set of roles or concepts applied to a
specific gender
• When studying gender and development,
psychologists are interested in when these gender
related concepts develop
– Note: psychologists often don’t examine if these
gender concepts are appropriate or necessary, instead
they focus on how, when, and why they develop
Looking at The Development of
Gender Recognition
• By the age of 2, and possibly even before,
children display recognition of their gender
identity and the ability to differentiate
between gender roes and typing... But how?
Biological Influences of Gender
• Hormones – chemicals released by the body in order
to influence physiology and behavior
– Estrogens – produced in greater concentration by females
• Menstrual cycles and female sex characteristics
– Androgens – produced in greater concentrations by males
• Produced in the testes
• Masculine secondary sex characteristics and male genitalia
• Numerous studies have linked the presence of
hormones to gender-linked identities, roles, and
typing
– Hyde’s testosterone and aggressive behavior findings
– Links between hormone increases and gender-specific
behaviors during puberty
– Rare birth defect cases
• Androgen-insensitive males
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)
Social Influences on Gender
• Parental treatment
differences
• Cultural normative
differences
• Same-sex socialization
• Schema development findings
– Schemas – cognitive concepts
that organize and direct
thought and behavior
Where We See Differences
• Current studies have shown differences in:
– Visuospatial & science skills
– Verbal skills
– Emotional skills (empathy)
– Aggressive tendencies
– Helping focus
– Mate selection and jealousy
• HOWEVER, most of these differences are very
small, and often, most of them can/could be
explained through social learning
– Scholastic ability over time example
Please list, in order of importance, the
qualities that you look for in someone
that you would want to date
• Intelligence
• Attractiveness
• Creativity
• Humor
• Friendliness
• Spontaneity
• Care Giving
• Honesty
• Wealth
• Orderliness
• Adventurousness
• Style
The Choice for Men
• Person A is extraordinarily good looking. They work
at a small restaurant and have no ambition to do
anything more.
• Person B is average looking. They patented an
invention and sold it for a fortune. They were
recently accepted to a prestigious medical school,
and is said to have an outstanding career ahead as a
medical researcher.
The Choice for Women
• Person A is extraordinarily good looking. They work
at a small restaurant and have no ambition to do
anything more.
• Person B is average looking. They patented an
invention and sold it for a fortune. They were
recently accepted to a prestigious medical school,
and is said to have an outstanding career ahead as a
medical researcher.
Who did you choose?
A or B
Gender Development Across the Lifespan
• Childhood
– Gender separation begins at a young age
– Males tend to be punished more for gender deviant
behavior (at least in our culture)
• Adolescence
– Gender intensification hypothesis – gender roles and
gender-specific behaviors become a greater source of
focus during puberty
• Adulthood
– Research indicates a shift toward more female-related
behaviors and activity in males during late adulthood
– Females often do not shift their levels in these studies
A Key Component of Gender: Sex
• Even though we often link gender to sex,
gender role differences tend to be much
more prominent than sexual differences
– Sexual activity differences
• Sexual frequency
• Masturbation
– Homosexual activities differences (Michael,
1994) (within the past year)
• 2.7% of males
• 1.3% of females
– Note: culture seems to play a much more
prominent role in sexual activity and focus
than gender
• Sexual scripts
How Do We Develop Sexually?: Freud’s View
• Sigmund Freud was of the first psychologists to
attempt to examine and explain sexual development
– Libido (psychosexual energy) was the impetus behind our
sexual activity and desires
– This libido existed throughout life, in different forms
throughout development
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
Stage
Focus
Oral
(0-18 months)
Anal
(18-36 months)
Pleasure centers on the mouth-sucking, biting, chewing
Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder
elimination; coping with demands for control
smoking,
overeating
stinginess
strict orderliness
Phallic
(3-6 years)
Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with
incestuous sexual feelings
penis envy
castration fear
Latency
(6 to puberty)
Genital
(puberty on)
Dormant sexual feelings
Maturation of sexual interests
Fixation
A More Scientific and Current Set of Findings
• Childhood
– Sex play and exploration of sex related differences appear
to be a focus in most children
• Adolescence
– An increase in sexual focuses thoughts often occurs
– Sexual exploration/experimentation also are common
– Sexual activity levels are highly related to social and
cultural norms
– Homosexual behavior and interests sometimes emerge at
this time, but some individuals display heterosexual
interests at this age and develop homosexual interests
later (and vice versa)
– Males tend to be more focused on sex at this age, and they
tend to derive more pleasure from sexual encounters
A Note on Sexual Activity in the US
• Despite there being dramatic differences in sexual
activity effects/causes across cultures, in the US,
individuals who engage in early sexual activity are
often linked to a number of other factors
– Lower SES
– Less parental/peer
support
– Lower academic
performance
– Higher rates of drug
use and destructive
behaviors
Sex in Adulthood
• In early adulthood, sexual
activity does increase, but not
as much as we often perceive
– Sexual partners
– Sexual frequency
– Note: this is true for most, but
not all people
• In middle adulthood
– Females – menopause
– Males – decreased sexual drive and
functionality
• In late adulthood
– Sexual activity declines for everyone
– Recent contradictory findings with
STD’s and the elderly
A Reexamination of Sex and Gender
Through A Different Lens
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWGRi99cVHo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHp3sHkE1bc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoYo9Syc8g4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaPsiGutGPQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEjgUt9u39U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xq8fFtAzR8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmKAnpF0zS4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1o_hXcHWAI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LC5UTozpa4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb_sPmd6DnE