Study Guide for Psychology of Gender Exam 1:
Historical perspectives
Masculinity and femininity
Gender stereotypes and prejudice
Overview of sex/gender differences research in psychology
Theories and concepts to understand
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Historically, in what ways were women considered inferior to men?
One-sex worldview
o When was this idea prevalent? When did it end?
o Who are some well-known people who held these views?
o How were various aspects of male anatomy and physiology thought to
correspond to female anatomy and physiology?
o How were women viewed as different from men?
What characterizes the two-sex worldview?
How was the one-sex worldview different than the two-sex worldview that
replaced it?
Which assumptions about males/females/gender are similar in the one-sex
worldview and two-sex worldview?
When psychology got its start as a professional and academic discipline in the
late 1800’s in Germany and Austria
o What were most scientists’ attitudes and beliefs about women and men?
o Freud’s view of women
o What effects was the uterus assumed to have on women?
o How were these ideas used to support status-quo gender roles?
o Views of men and women who acted outside of gender roles
o How did most scientists feel about advanced education for women? Work
outside the home for women? Why?
o In what ways did these views ignore lower class/SES women?
o Fear of women
o Fear of the influence of women on boys, men; cultural and social effects
o What are some possible reasons why these ideas were so prevalent?
o To what extent have these views persisted?
What does Tavris mean by “the universal male”?
o Be able to identify examples
o Implications for women and men in everyday life
o Implications for interpreting results of sex differences research
o How is the universal male reflected in language?
o Effects of “he” vs. “he or she”
Masculinity/femininity
o Early psychologists’ assumptions about masculinity and femininity—
their relationship to one another and link to psychological adjustment
o How did those assumptions change in the 1970’s?
o Sandra Bem’s ideas, Janet Spence’s ideas
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o How did assumptions change in 1980’s?
o How did the focus of such research shift in 1990’s?
In what ways have gender stereotypes/prejudices changed since the early years
of psychology? Stayed the same?
Attitudes, prejudices against women and men in the U.S. currently
Hostile and benevolent sexism
o What are the differences between hostile and benevolent sexism toward
women?
o Why do many women support benevolent sexism toward women?
o Pros and cons of benevolent sexism toward women?
o What is the ambivalence Glick & Fiske discuss in their article?
Common problems in modern sex differences research
o Methods
o Interpretation of results
o Publication of results, efforts to overcome publication biases
o Portrayal of such research in the popular media
o “Jump from continuum to categories”
Relevant evidence/research to know
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Study on explanations for “gender gap” in political candidate preferences (Miller,
Taylor, & Buck, 1991)
Study about gender of prototypical members of categories such as “American
voter” (Miller, Taylor, & Buck, 1991)
Early development of I.Q. tests—effects of assumptions about gender
Early research on brains—effects of assumptions about gender
Bem’s research (and Spence’s research) on masculinity and femininity
measurement
Bem’s research on comfort in engaging in cross-gender behavior
Whitley (1984) meta-analysis on masculinity/femininity/androgyny and
psychological adjustment
Study from video The Opposite Sex in which children were shown pink frilly
“boy” toys, black spiky “girl” toys (also mentioned in Ch 21 Delusions of Gender)
Mommy/daddy tiger/chipmunk study from video The Opposite Sex
Glick & Fiske (2001) research on hostile and benevolent sexism, including
o Relationship between hostile and benevolent sexism
o Sex differences in hostile and benevolent sexism
Cross-cultural differences in hostile and benevolent sexism
Terms
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Vital heat
One-sex worldview
Two-sex worldview
Hysteria
“Dread of women” (Karen Horney)
Universal male
Women as the “second sex” (Simone de Beauvoir)
Masculinity, femininity
Psychological androgyny
Congruence model
Androgyny model
Masculinity model
Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI)—masculine, feminine, androgynous,
undifferentiated
Personality Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ)
Instrumental, expressive
Agentic/agency, communal/communion
Hostile sexism
Benevolent sexism
File drawer phenomenon
Meta-analysis, effect size