Sex differences
Messinger
Gender film clips
Bonobo
Sex differences
What infant sex differences are described
by Weinberg et al. find? How can
biological factors and differential social
expectations influence sex differences?
Describe Maccoby’s theory of peer
group sex-segregation and
socialization. That is, how does
children's peer play reflect and create
gender differences? What is relational
victimization? What is the male brain
theory of autism? Describe empathizing
and systemizing.
Biology's role
“Experiments with nonhuman primates
show that administering testosterone to
female fetuses late in gestation yields
more typically masculine behavior.”
Placement of rat fetuses in utero
influences sex-typed behavior
Many sex differences are continuous, not
categorical
E.g. estrogen and testosterone
Male newborns
‘Less responsive to social stimuli
less able to maintain eye contact
Greater difficulties in maintaining
affective regulation
Smile less and display more irritability,
crying, facial grimacing, and lability of
emotional states
more rapid buildup of arousal
engage in less self-comforting’
• Weinberg et al., p. 175
Face-to-face (Weinberg et
al.)
Joy
Interest
Anger
Look @ Mom
Look @ Object
Neutral/Positive
Vocalizations
Fussy Vocalizations
Boys
.26
.55
.07
.42
.35
.13
Girls
.16
.68
.03
.35
.45
.06
.09
.04
Mothers more likely to
talk to
engage in face-to-face interaction
hold and touch
their male infants
possibly in an attempt to soothe them
Differential social
expectations
Pervasive: TV, media
Experimentally demonstrated
Define normative expectations of
everyday behavior and
Define boundaries of acceptable
behavior
At the most intimate and the most
mundane levels
Extreme male brain
theory of autism
Baron-Cohen
Empathizing
(theory of mind)
“Empathizing is the
capacity to predict
and to respond to the
behavior of agents
(usually people) by
inferring their mental
states and
responding to these
with an appropriate
emotion.”
Systemizing
“Systemizing is the
capacity to predict and
to respond to the
behavior of
nonagentive
deterministic systems
by analyzing inputoperation-output
relations and inferring
the rules that govern
such systems.”
Females and males
“At a population level, females are stronger
empathizers and males are stronger
systemizers.
The ‘‘extreme male brain’’ theory posits that
autism represents an extreme of the male
pattern (impaired empathizing and enhanced
systemizing).
Specific aspects of autistic neuroanatomy may
also be extremes of typical male
neuroanatomy.”
You can be high in both… or
low in both
Higher on graph –
more empathizing
Lower – less
empathizing
More to right –
higher systemizing
More left – less
systemizing
Autistic
people show
lowest
Empathizing
(empathizing
minus
systemizing)
AS/HFA>Male>Female
AS/HFA>Male>Female
“Biology and social environments
jointly influence gender
development”
“Direct socialization into gender
roles by parents doesn't appear
to be as singular an influence on
children's sex-typed preferences
and behaviors as once was
thought”, said Eleanor Maccoby.
• BY SIRI CARPENTER
Monitor staff
Maccoby
"By and large, the daily routines of
family life do not have much impact
on the strong tendency of children
to separate into same-sex groups,
and probably not on the distinctive
activities enacted by male and
female groups," Maccoby said.
Gender segregation
Research on gender typing in
individuals is inconclusive
Clustering of gender-typed
characteristics weak
Relations to family characteristics weak
Same-sex groupings predominate
From 3 – 12,
Cross-cultural phenomenon
Constructivist argument
Innate gender-specific proclivities
Lead to same sex segregation
Which creates gender-specific
socialization
Children create themselves playing
with each other
IS THIS POSSIBLE?
Martin and Ruble
• What age do infants understand gender?
• How stable are gender roles?
– Maccoby (2002)
• Longitudinal studies of gender role stability
– Studies suggest some level of stability
– Lack of longitudinal data with enough detail
Ande Bustamante
Same-sex groupings
Boys
Larger groups
More
conflict/competition
Cohesiveness
More autonomous
from adults
Differential
Girls
Smaller, more
dyadic
Less conflict, more
responsive
Less goal-oriented,
more intimate
exposure to these groups
influences individual behavior
Cross-sex friendships
Pre-school
Elementary school
Middle school
High school / Adolescence …
Change
12th grade
Boys 5 hrs a week w girls.
Girls 10 hrs a week w boys.
Larger network of other-sex friends
increases odds of romantic
relationship
Martin and Ruble
• Dynamic system approach to gender research
– Long term changes and short term interactions.
– Walking, reaching, and word learning
Ande Bustamante
Changing functions of
romance
Adolescents mention affiliative
features
• Adolescent romantic relationships are peer
relationships
Young adults mention trust &
support
Same-sex relationships
Normative challenges in the context of
disapproval/restriction
Female gender identity / relationships
Male gender identity / relationships
Non-linear course
More-linear course
Same-sex and mixed-sex parenting
indistinguishable
Female Bisexuality From Adolescence to Adulthood:
Results From a 10-Year Longitudinal Study. Lisa Diamond
3 conceptualizations of bisexuality
1. “Transitional phase”
2. Third type of sexual orientation
3. Heightened capacity for fluidity
Present study
79 non-heterosexual women
10 years, 5 assessment points. At each:
• Label self sexual identity
• Lesbian, bisexual, “unlabeled”
• % daily attractions that are same-sex
• #of sexual contacts with men & women
(since last assessment)
Nayfeld
Identity
Changing identity
• 73% of T1 bisexuals
• 83% of T1 “unlabeled”
• 48% of T1 lesbians
Bisexual and
unlabeled women
more likely to change
identity labels, χ2(2,
N = 79) = 8.3, p < .02.
More likely to switch between bisexual
and unlabeled IDs than to settle on
lesbian or heterosexual labels.
• 2/3 of ID changes: adopting bisexual or
unlabeled identity.
% identifying as bisexual or “unlabeled”
• T1 T2
T3
57% 47% 51%
T4
T5
57% 58%
Nayfeld
Sexual
Attractions
•Lesbian women had
significantly higher
same-sex attractions
•Same-sex attractions
declined significantly
among lesbians only
•Women who gave up
bisexual/lesbian IDs
still reported bisexual
patterns of attraction in
T5
Nayfeld
Sexual Behavior
Consistent decline in same sex behavior
among all women
NOT matched by a parallel decline in same-sex
attractions
In 1995, behavior evenly distributed
By 2005, bimodal distribution (either
exclusively with men or women)
By 2005, most women involved in long term
monogamous relationships.
70% of T5 lesbians, 89% of bisexuals, 85% of
unlabeled women, 67% of heterosexuals
By 2005, 60% of T1 lesbians had had sexual
contact with a man, and 30% had been
romantically involved with a man
Resolved by change in identity to
bisexual/unidentified
Nayfeld
Discussion
•
•
Results consistent with both “third
orientation” and “heightened fluidity”
models, not “transitional stage” model
Bisexuality as stable pattern of attraction
to both sexes, with balance varying based
on personal and situational factors.
Identity change more common than
identity stability
ID change reflects shifting experiences
Adopt labels consistent with relationship status
Seek to maximize fit with own prevailing pattern
of attraction/behavior
Nayfeld
Bonobo chimps (Pan
paniscus)
The species is
distinguished by an
upright gait, a matriarchal
and egalitarian culture,
and the prominent role of
sexual activity in their
society.
one of the two species
comprising the
chimpanzee genus, Pan.
The other species in
genus Pan is Pan
troglodytes, or the
Common Chimpanzee.
http://en.wikipedia
.org/wiki/Bonobo
Bonobo videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
eubDSQrFako sex, walking, wonder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
Q_izpq0Ar-Y Evolution: "Why Sex?"
[Chimps vs. Bonobos], evolutionary
speculation
