Sex and gender. Sex role stereotypes. Androgyny and measuring androgyny including Bem Sex Role Inventory

define what is meant by sex

the biological, anatomical and genetic differences between males and females

it is assigned from contraception due to the inheritance of chromosomes

xy= male

xx= female

define what is meant by gender

the physiological and cultural differences between masculine and feminine attitudes, behaviours and social roles

what are 5 differences between sex and gender?

sex= biological, fixed, innate, nature, male/female

gender= psychological/ cultural, malleable, from social norms and expectations, nurture, masculine/ feminine

what are sex role stereotypes and why are they used?

- a set of beliefs/ expectations about appropriate male/female behaviours shown by a culture/ society

-they are used as a shortcut to understanding the behaviour of others and ourselves

where does development of these stereotypes come from?

a mix of cognitive, social learning and psychodynamic processes

what are 3 traditional ideas about masculine and feminine roles?

masculine= dominant, aggressive, athletic

feminine= submissive, affectionate, nurturing

what is androgyny?

having a high and balanced mixture of both masculine and feminine traits

(undifferentiated= low on both traits)

who developed the Bem Sex Role Inventory and what is it?

Sandra Bem 1974

-an inventory designed to measure androgyny

-uses self-report, and participants rate themselves on a 7-point scale about 60 items, and are scored on two dimensions:

masculine--> feminine

androgynous--> undifferentiated

What did Bem argue about androgynous people?

they are more psychologically healthy than other types as they have high and balanced traits, leading to higher self-esteem and better relationships

STRENGTH: what evidence supports the idea sex-role stereotypes are present from birth?

Seavey et al 1975

-got groups of 3 adults and a 3-month old in a yellow Babygro, and were told the baby was either a boy, girl or gender was unspecified

-placed in a room with a ball (masc toy), a doll (femme) or a plastic ring (neutral)

-found that babies thought to be female were given the doll more, and males the ring

-unspecified were handled more by females, and both genders tried to perceive the gender based on strength

-therefore the change in response depending on the gender of the baby indicates sex-role stereotypes are imposed from a very young age

ISSUES AND DEBATES: why are sex-role stereotypes considered to be nurture?

-what it is to be masculine and feminine changes depending on the country/culture

-this implies environmental learning is stronger than biological determinism

-for example, in the US masculinity= being assertive and strong

feminine= caring and modest , whereas in Sweden both masculine and feminine are expected to be modest, tender and concerned with quality of life

STRENGTH: how can negative stereotypes be improved?

-learning experiences can be provided for children that will reinforce the idea of positive sex roles being equally applicable to men and women

-the use of positive role models can also be used to enable imitation and internalisation of there attitudes and values

LIMITATION: what is a problem with improving negative stereotyping?

-might be difficult

-stereotypes are often overemphasised as 'typical behaviour' and reinforced, whereas 'untypical' behaviour is ignored

-these are then considered natural differences, and are harder to break

-reinforced by the media, schools, workplaces, products etc- hard to tackle

LIMITATION: what impact can stereotyping sex roles have in society?

-they can restrict positive roles people can play in society in labelling jobs/ qualities as just masculine or just feminine

-for example, nurturing children is not considered masculine, so less male teachers are available

-for example, doing manual labour is not considered feminine, so there are less female engineers and soldiers

-it limits 50% of the population from specific roles- is negative socially, and has profound effect on economy

STRENGTH: what research supports the idea of androgyny?

Bem 1974

-used BSRI to measure androgyny and found 34% of males and 27% females were androgynous

-suggests a sizeable minority of people are predominantly androgynous rather than masculine or feminine

STRENGTH: what is a methodological strength of the BSRI?

-it has good test-retest reliability

-produces consistent results when used on different occasions

with the same participants

LIMITATION: why does BSRI have questionable validity?

-it is created from data generated by American students in the 1970's about what they perceived as desirable characteristics in men and women

-therefore lacks temporal and cultural validity

-characteristics often vague and may be interpreted differently, decreasing internal validity

-also relies on self-report, which may not accurately represent behaviour/ responses to stimuli

LIMITATION: why may androgyny not always be positive?

androgynous individuals can exhibit negative masculine characteristics like over-aggression, or female characteristics like being too timid in certain situations

LIMITATION: why is the BSRI too simplistic?

-it reduces masculinity/ femininity down to single scores

-contemporary approaches also measure additional aspects of gender-related behaviour (interests and abilities) rather than simply personality characteristics - BSRI doesnt take these into account