Chapter 10
Sex and Gender: Vive La Différence?
Chapter Outline
SEX AND GENDER: VIVE LA DIFFÉRENCE?
GETTING STARTED: DEFINING SEX AND GENDER
GENDER STEREOTYPES
Cultural Context: Cultural Differences in Gender Role Stereotypes
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN BEHAV IOR, INTERESTS, AND
ACTIVITIES
BEHAVIOR DIFFERENCES IN CHILDHOOD
INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES IN CHILDHOOD
CHANGES IN ADOLESCENCE AND ADULTHOOD
STABILITY OF GENDER TYPING
Into Adulthood: Occupations for Men and Women
SEX DIFFERENCES IN GENDER TYPING
Bet You Thought That . . . Gender Identity Was Determined by Biological Sex
Insights from Extremes: The First American Transsexual
BIOLOGICAL FACTORS IN GENDER DIFFERENCES
EVOLUTIONARY THEORY AND GENDER DEVELOPMENT
HORMONES AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
GENDER AND THE BRAIN
GENETICS OF GENDER
BIOLOGY AND CULTURAL EXPECTATIONS
COGNITIVE FACTORS IN GENDER TYPING
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY
GENDER-SCHEMA THEORY: AN INFORMATION-PROCESSING APPROACH
COMPARISON OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTAL AND GENDER-SCHEMA THEORIES
Learning from Living Leaders: Carol Lynn Martin
SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON GENDER TYPING
THEORIES OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE
PARENTS’ INFLUENCE ON CHILDREN'S GENDER-TYPED CHOICES
PARENTS’ BEHAVIOR TOWARD GIRLS AND BOYS
Behavior with Infants and Toddlers
Behavior with Older Children
MODELING PARENTS’ CHARACTERISTICS
Research up Close: Gender Roles in Counterculture Families
WHEN FATHER IS ABSENT
Learning from Living Leaders: Charlotte J. Patterson
SIBLINGS AS GENDER SOCIALIZATION AGENTS
INFLUENCE OF BOOKS AND TELEVISION
Real-World Application: Do Computers Widen the Gender Gap?
PEERS , GENDER ROLES, AND GENDER SEGREGATION
Learning from Living Leaders: Eleanor E. Maccoby
SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS
The School Culture
Teacher Attitudes and Behaviors
ANDROGYNY
Chapter Summary
Key Terms
At the Movies
Learning Objectives
1. Understand all gender related terminology (gender typing, gender-based belief, gender
identity, gender-role preference, gender stability, gender constancy, gender stereotype,
gender role) and be able to distinguish between them.
2. Describe gender differences in behavior and interests and activities in childhood.
3. Explain what is meant by gender intensification in adolescence.
4. Describe expressive and instrumental characteristics as they apply to males and females.
5. Discuss stability and gender differences in gender typing.
6. From a biological perspective, discuss the evolutionary theory of gender development and
the role of hormones, the brain, and genetics in gender specific behavior.
7. Explain the interaction between biology and cultural expectations regarding gender specific
behavior.
8. From a cognitive developmental perspective, describe gender identification.
9. Summarize Kohlberg’s perspective on gender development.
10. Describe gender-schema theory and the research evidence that supports this perspective.
11. Compare and contrast cognitive developmental and gender-schema theories.
12. Discuss the social cognitive theory of gender development.
13. Explain the role of self-efficacy in gender development.
14. Compare and contrast the social cognitive theory of gender development with cognitive
developmental theories of gender development.
15. Discuss the social structural theory of gender roles.
16. Summarize the findings regarding parents’ influences on children’s gender development.
17. Describe the role of modeling in gender development.
18. Discuss what happens with gender development for boys and girls of different ages when
father is absent.
19. Discuss other agents of socialization including siblings, books and television, and peers.
20. Describe gender segregation and research that explains this process.
21. Discuss the role of the school in terms of school culture and teacher attitudes and behaviors
in gender development.
22. Define androgyny and discuss its contributors and relation to individual adjustment.
Student Handout 10-1
Chapter Summary
Gender Definitions
 The process by which children acquire values and behaviors viewed as appropriate for males
and females within a culture is called gender typing. Children develop gender-based beliefs,
including gender stereotypes, which are reflected in gender roles. Children form a gender
identity and begin to develop gender-role preferences early in life.
Gender-Role Stereotypes
 Within our culture, males are expected to be independent, assertive, and competitive; females
are expected to be passive, sensitive, and supportive. These beliefs have changed little over
the years despite the efforts of feminists and other advocates of gender equality.
Gender Differences in Development
 On average, girls are more physically and neurologically advanced at birth, excel early in
verbal skills, and are more nurturant toward younger children. Boys have more mature
muscular development and are more aggressive.
 Although differences exist, the overlap between the two sexes is more than the differences
between them.
 Children exhibit gender-typed preferences as early as 1 year of age.
 Girls tend to conform less strictly to gender-role stereotypes than do boys, possibly because
parents and teachers exert greater pressure on boys to adhere to the masculine role. Girls may
also imitate the male role because it has higher status and privilege. Although some boys and
girls receive support for cross-gender behavior, most are encouraged to behave according to
traditional stereotypes.
 Adult behavior can be predicted from gender-typed interests in elementary school. Greater
stability occurs when personal characteristics are consistent with gender stereotypes.
 Gender roles may intensify in adolescence and when adults become parents.
Biological Factors in Gender Differences
 Males and females use different strategies to achieve reproductive success and, according to
evolutionary theory, these strategies have led to gender differences such as females’
emphasis on physical appearance, sensitivity, and caregiving skills and males’ emphasis on
strength, power, and aggression.
 Hormones organize biological predispositions to be masculine or feminine during the
prenatal period, and the increase in hormones during puberty may activate these
predispositions.
 Male and female brains are somewhat different in structure and function. Female brains are
more active in social regions and tend to be less lateralized than the male brain. This may
explain the female tendency to be more flexible about gender-related behavior than males.
 More than 1,000 genes are expressed differently in male and female brains, and the extent to
which individuals’ behavior is gender typed is related to genetic factors.
Cognitive Factors in Gender Typing
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Children’s understanding of gender and gender stereotypes may contribute to their
acquisition of gender roles.
Kohlberg’s cognitive developmental theory suggests that children first categorize themselves
as male or female and then feel rewarded by behaving in gender-consistent ways. Gendertyped behavior should not appear until children understand gender constancy.
Gender-schema theory suggests that children need only basic information about gender to
develop mental schemas that help them organize their experiences and form rules concerning
gender. Research supports gender-schema theory rather than Kohlberg’s theory; it indicates
that gender labeling is enough to affect gender-typed toy and activity preferences.
Some children are more “gender-schematic” than others; some are multischematic.
Social Influences on Gender Typing
 The social cognitive theory of gender development applies the principles of Bandura’s social
cognitive learning theory to gender development. Social structural theories of gender focus
on institutionalized constraints on male and female opportunities in educational, occupational
and political spheres.
 Parents initiate children’s gender typing by organizing boys’ and girls’ environments
differently, dressing them in different clothes, and giving them different toys to play with.
Parents also treat them differently. They see boys as stronger, even at birth, and play with
them more roughly and actively. As children grow, parents protect girls more and allow them
less autonomy than boys.
 Parents also influence children’s gender typing through role modeling.
 Fathers are stricter about their children’s gender typing than are mothers.
 Older siblings affect younger siblings’ gender role development.
 Children’s gender roles may be impaired if their fathers are absent or uninvolved, but no
evidence indicates any impairment in the gender roles of boys and girls raised in lesbian
families.
 Male and female characters in children’s books and on television are typically portrayed in
gender-stereotypic ways. Children who view TV extensively have more gender-stereotyped
views. Attempts to use television programs to reduce gender stereotypes have been
successful, but their effects have been modest and short-lived.
 Peers also serve as an important source of gender-role socialization. They act as models and
enforcers of gender-typed behavior and choices. They react negatively when other children
violate gender standards, and this typically results in behavior changes. Gender segregation
and play with peers also provides opportunities to learn gender-typical roles.
 Teachers often react to children in gender-stereotypic ways and tend to criticize boys more
than girls.
Androgyny
 Most people are not strictly feminine or masculine but androgynous, possessing both
masculine and feminine characteristics.
 Children who are more androgynous make less stereotyped play and activity choices and are
likely to have higher self-esteem than those who have traditionally feminine characteristics.
Student Handout 10-2
Key Terms
GLOSSARY TERMS
androgynous
Possessing both feminine and masculine
psychological characteristics.
cognitive developmental theory of gender
typing
Kohlberg’s theory that children use physical
and behavioral clues to differentiate gender
roles and to gender type themselves very early
in life.
expressive characteristics
Those aspects of a person involving nurturance
and concern with feelings. They are more
typical of females.
gender-based belief
An idea that differentiates males and females.
gender constancy
The awareness that superficial alterations in
appearance or activity do not alter gender.
gender identity
The perception of oneself as either male or
female.
gender role
Composite of the behaviors actually exhibited
by a typical male or female in a given culture;
the reflection of a gender stereotype in
everyday life.
gender-role preference
Desire to possess certain gender-typed
characteristics.
gender-schema theory
The view that children develop schemas, or
naive theories, that help them organize and
structure their experience related to gender
differences and gender roles.
gender segregation
A child’s choice to spend time with samegender peers.
gender stability
The fact that males remain male and females
remain female.
gender stereotype
Belief that members of a culture hold about
acceptable and appropriate attitudes, interests,
activities, psychological traits, social
relationships, occupations, and physical
appearance for males and females.
gender typing
The process by which children acquire the
values, motives, and behaviors considered
appropriate for their gender in their particular
culture.
identification
The Freudian concept that children think of
themselves as being the same as their same-sex
parent.
instrumental characteristics
Those aspects of a person involving task and
occupation orientation. They are more typical
of males.
multischematic
Possessing multiple ideas about appropriate
behaviors that can be displayed depending on
the particular situation.
social cognitive theory of gender
development
An explanation of gender role development
that uses cognitive social learning principles
such as observational learning, positive and
negative feedback, and the concept of selfefficacy.
social structural theory of gender roles
An explanation of gender roles that focuses on
factors such as institutionalized constraints on
male and female opportunities.
OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS IN THIS CHAPTER
emotional expressiveness
estrogen
gender aschematic
gender intensification
gender schematic
gender variant
gender-linked evolutionary strategies
gender-typed interests and activities
gender-typed toys
male and female brains
prenatal androgenization
progesterone
sexist self-socializer
testosterone
transgender
transsexual
Practice Exam Questions
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. The process by which children acquire the values, motives, and behaviors considered
appropriate for their gender in their particular culture is called: (a) gender identity (b) gender
role preference (c) *gender typing (d) gender-trait acquisition
2. The awareness that superficial alterations in appearance or activity do not alter gender is called
(a) gender role (b) gender stereotype (c) gender stability (d) *gender constancy
3. Gender differences in occupational stereotypes: (a) *illustrate how gender-role development is
embedded in a societal context (b) reflects parity in males’ and females’ status (c) are generally
found only in North America (d) all of the above
4. Which of the following is true regarding differences in actual behaviors of boys and girls in
early life? (a) boys are physically and neurologically more advanced at birth (b) boys learn to
walk earlier (c) *girls reach puberty at younger ages (d) boys are more socially responsive
5. Which of the following interests show clear gender-typed differences? (a) books (b) leisure
activities (c) household chores (d) *all of the above
6. Which of the following is true regarding self-selection into different occupations? (a) men
entering female-dominated fields report lower rates of sickness, absence, and work-related
problems (b) women entering male-dominated fields report lower rates of anxiety and workrelated problems (c) women express more interest in a job that will allow them to make money
than men (d) *men with more traditional gender-role attitudes are likely to enter maledominated fields
7. Differences in male and female brains include the following: (a) women have a larger
amygdala than men (b) *women have a relatively larger orbital-frontal region of the amygdala
(c) the mirror neuron system shows stronger responses in males than females (d) the cerebral
cortex is more highly developed in males than females
8. With regard to phases of understanding gender, cross-cultural work suggests that: (a) children
in other countries do not necessarily follow the same sequence as children in the U.S. (b)
children in other countries generally reach milestones about 1 year earlier than children in the
U.S. (c) children in other countries generally reach milestones about 2 years earlier than
children in the U.S. (d) *none of the above
9. Gender-typed play depends on children’s understanding of: (a) *gender identity (b) gender
constancy (c) gender stability (d) gender stereotypes
10. Fathers are more likely to play and talk with their infant sons than their infant daughters
especially when: (a) the baby has a quiet temperament (b) the father is older (c) *the baby is the
first born (d) the mother encourages this type of behavior
11. Possessing multiple ideas about appropriate behaviors that can be displayed depending on the
particular situation is labeled: (a) mature cognitive structure (b) fully realized heuristic (c)
*multischematic (d) nongender stereotyping
12. Which of the following are accurate regarding the role of siblings in gender socialization? (a)
younger siblings’ gender typing is less strongly related to the gender typing of older siblings’
than to the gender typing of the parents (b) children with sisters develop less feminine qualities
(c) *firstborn sons with brothers have the most gender stereotyped attitudes (d) boys are
influenced by their siblings whereas girls are not
13. The effects of most TV-based interventions designed to reduce gender stereotyping have been:
(a) *modest (b) long-lived (c) present across a variety of age groups (d) effective only for boys
ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. Describe four ways in which parents treat boys and girls differently.
2. Discuss the role of hormones–both typical and unusual levels—on gender typing.
3. What role do the media–books, TV, Internet—play in gender typing?