Chapter 16: Gender Roles

GENDER ROLES

1

Chapter 162

Section 1: What Are Gender Roles?

Chapter 163

Gender Roles – widely accepted societal expectations about how males and females should behave

Gender Stereotypes – fixed and oversimplified beliefs about the ways in which men and women ought to behave

Chapter 164

Section 2: Gender Differences

Chapter 165

Differences in Cognitive (mental) Abilities – it has been noted that males and females each outperform the other in certain tasks

Differences in Personality and Behavior – women tend to exceed men in trust, nurturance and attention while men tend to exceed women in assertiveness

Section 2: Gender Differences

Chapter 166

Males seem to have superior mathematical ability.

Males seem to have better visual-spatial skills (spatial orientation and mental rotation).

Males seem to exceed females in traits such as tough mindedness.

Males tend to be more aggressive.

Section 2: Gender Differences

Chapter 167

Females seem to have superior verbal abilities (reading, writing).

Females tend to be more talkative during early childhood, however males tend to become more talkative from school age on.

Section 2: Gender Differences

Chapter 168

Often difficult to determine what gender traits are caused by biology (nature) and which are caused by environment/upbringing (nurture).

In addition, women have not always had equal rights, and thus being put in a subordinate situation may have hampered female development in some areas (ex. Math).

Section 2: Gender Differences

Chapter 169

MATE SELECTIONMen tend to be more swayed by

physical appearanceWomen tend to focus more on personal

qualities (ex. wits, assertiveness, compassion, warmth, etc. )

Evolutionary theory focuses on reproduction here (women seek protection, men seek fertility)

Section 3: Gender Typing

GENDER TYPINGGender typing – different theories proposed to explain gender role developments

10 Chapter 16

Section 3: Gender Typing

Chapter 1611

GENDER TYPING THEORIES Psychoanalytic Theory – gender typing can be

explained in terms of gender identification, where boys identify with their fathers and girls with their mothers

Social Learning Theory – gender role behavior is acquired through two different learning processes – reinforcement and modeling

Section 3: Gender Typing

Chapter 1612

Gender-Schema Theory – children play an important role in developing gender-appropriate behavior by forming their own concepts about gender and then shaping their behavior so that it conforms to their gender concepts

Section 4: Variation in Gender Roles

Chapter 1613

Increasing participation of women in activities long considered appropriate for men only (ex. Athletics, corporate executive positions, etc.)

Men have taken on tasks previously performed by women

Gender roles in one society may be viewed differently in another culture

Section 4: Variation in Gender Roles

Chapter 1614

Men and women of different cultures could be expected to be aggressive or peaceful

Cultures may also have different ideas about who should be primarily responsible for raising children

Chapter 1615

Question: What are the differences between gender roles and gender stereotypes?

Gender Roles Gender Stereotypes