Untitled Flashcards Set

Sex: in psychology, the biologically influenced characteristics by which people

define male, female, and intersex.

Gender: in psychology, the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture

associates with a person’s biological sex. (See also gender identity.)

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

LT 3.3-1 Explain how the meaning of gender differs from the meaning

of sex.

As cultures change, ideas about gender change too.

Laws in the U.S. discriminated against women for a long time. Many of those

laws have changed and our ideas of who can work what jobs, wear what

clothes, and who is responsible for parenting have also changed.

Social and cultural factors influence our gender perceptions. From our

parents to the media, we receive direct and implicit messages that help form

our ideas about gender.

Your body defines your sex, your mind defines your gender. However, there is

an interplay between your body and experiences.

LT 3.3-1 Explain how the meaning of gender differs from the meaning

of sex.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

Intersex: possessing male and female biological sexual characteristics at birth.

Aggression: any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically

or emotionally.

Relational aggression: an act of aggression (physical o verbal) intended to harm a

person’s relationship or social standing.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

LT 3.3-2 Explain some ways in which males and females tend to be

alike and tend to differ.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

Males and females have many similarities and some significant differences.

45 of our 46 chromosomes are unisex and have helped us adapt and survive.

Gender does not influence your ability to learn, see, remember or feel

emotions. Males and females have similar rates of happiness and creativity.

Some differences are small, such as levels of self-esteem.

Women tend to enter puberty on average two years earlier than men and life

expectancy is four years longer. They express emotions more freely and are

better at spelling, reading, and smelling faint odors. Negatively, women are at

twice the risk of developing an eating disorder, depression, and anxiety.

Men are more likely to die by suicide, abuse tobacco, develop alcohol use

disorder, be diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and color deficiency. Positively,

they are greater in size and strength.

LT 3.3-2 Explain some ways in which males and females tend to be

alike and tend to differ.

Both men and women can be aggressive, but differently. Women tend to engage

in more relational aggression, like ostracism or online bullying, and men tend to

express more extreme physical aggression.

In terms of social power, men are perceived has having more. They are seen as

better negotiators and more effective leaders.

Men will more often than women try to guess at answer to a question they do

not know, referred to as male answer syndrome and will condescendingly explain

how things work to women, known as “mansplaining”.

Both men and women need social connectedness, but women's brains are wired

better for social relationships. Men tend to be more independent, and women

interdependent.

Some of these differences are influenced by biology but others are shaped by

environmental and cultural factors.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

LT 3.3-2 Explain some ways in which males and females tend to be

alike and tend to differ.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

X chromosome: the sex chromosome found in females and males. Females

typically have two X chromosomes; males typically have one. An X chromosome

from each parent produces a female child.

Y chromosome: the sex chromosome typically found only in males. When paired

with an X chromosome from the mother, it produces a male child.

testosterone: the most important male sex hormone. Males and females have it,

but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex

organs during the fetal period, and the development of male sex characteristics

during puberty.

estrogens: sex hormones, such as estradiol, that contribute to female sex

characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than by males.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

LT 3.3-3 Explain how sex hormones influence prenatal and adolescent

sexual development.

Around six weeks after conception, the 23rd pair of chromosomes contribute to

sexual development. If an embryo has two X chromosomes, typically this will

produce a female child. If the combination is one X and one Y chromosome,

typically a male child will be produced.

Testosterone triggers the development of male sex organs. Women have it too,

but in lower quantity. The female sex hormones are known as estrogens.

In the fourth or fifth months of fetal development, these sex hormones influence

the wiring of the fetal brain.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

LT 3.3-3 Explain how sex hormones influence prenatal and adolescent

sexual development.

Primary sex characteristics: the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external

genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.

Secondary sex characteristics: nonreproductive traits; such as female breasts

and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.

Spermarche: the first ejaculation.

Menarche: the first menstrual period.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

LT 3.3-3 Explain how sex hormones influence prenatal and adolescent

sexual development.

LT 3.3-3 Explain how sex hormones influence prenatal and adolescent

sexual development.

During puberty, sex hormones flood the body of adolescents, sparking rapid

sexual maturation.

Both girls and boys develop primary sex characteristics, which enable

reproduction, and secondary sex characteristics, such as growing breasts for

females and enlarging testes for males.

The landmark event for males is spermarche or first ejaculation. For females,

menarche or first menstrual period.

Sometimes, there are variations in the combination of sex hormones. This in turn

can affect the development of both primary and secondary sex characteristics.

Birth assigned sex is clearly the work of nature and biology. But nurture plays a

role in our ideas about gender. Biology draws the outline, and culture paints in

the details.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

LT 3.3-4 Explain some cultural influences on gender roles.

Role: a set of expectations (norms) about social position, defining how those in

the position ought to behave.

Gender role: a set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and traits for men and for

women.

Sexual aggression: any physical or verbal behavior of a sexual nature that is

unwanted or intended to someone physically or emotionally. Can be expressed

as either sexual harassment or sexual assault.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

Culture influences all kinds of behaviors, including defining various roles of our life.

Gender roles are also shaped by culture and have changed dramatically as

cultures have shifted their norms and expectations.

Historically, women have had fewer rights than men and have been expected

to work jobs deemed “appropriate” for them.

Even though many cultures have created more equality, some gaps still

remain.

Gender roles influence other aspects of life besides careers and voting rights,

such as sexual aggression. Many countries are trying to reduce sexual assault

and harassment, by sometimes powerful and famous men.

LT 3.3-4 Explain some cultural influences on gender roles.

Gender identity: our personal sense of being male, female, neither, or some

combination of male and female, regardless of whether this identity matches our

sex assigned at birth, and the social affiliation that may result from this identity.

Social learning theory: a set of expectations (norms) about social position,

defining how those in the position ought to behave.

Gender typing: the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.

Androgyny: blending traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine

psychological characteristics.

Transgender: an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or

expression differs from that associated with their birth-assigned sex.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

LT 3.3-4 Explain some cultural influences on gender roles.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

Gender roles describe how others expect us to think, feel and act but gender

identity is our personal sense of being male, female, neither or some combination

of these.

Some people see gender identity as binary, whereas others view it as

nonbinary, allowing for more combinations.

Social learning theory states that our ideas about gender identity are

learned through observation, imitation, and operant conditioning in

childhood.

Taking on traditional female and male roles or gender typing varies from

child to child and culture to culture. Parents are strong influences on the

identities children form.

LT 3.3-4 Explain some cultural influences on gender roles.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

Gender roles describe how others expect us to think, feel and act but gender

identity is our personal sense of being male, female, neither or some

combination of these.

Children will structure their identities in ways that feel right to them, which

might reflect their parents views but might also differ.

Many people will choose to be androgynous, combining of male and female

roles. For example, you can be fully male without being aggressive.

Feelings about gender matter, but so do our thoughts or gender schemas.

These frameworks help to organize our experiences and influence our

decision making and perceptions.

LT 3.3-4 Explain some cultural influences on gender roles.

Myers/DeWall/Yost Hammer, Myers’ Psychology for the AP® Course, 4e

©2023 Worth/BFW Publishers

Typically, for someone who identifies as transgender, their identity differs from

their sex assigned at birth.

Feelings and thought about identity can start in childhood. Early

interventions can help stabilize feelings and decrease feelings of distress.

Being transgender isn’t easy in most places in the world. Harassment,

bullying, marginalization, and discrimination are increasingly reported.

Being transgender does not indicate a psychological disorder, but the

profound distress some experience can lead to a diagnosis of gender

dysphoria.

Gender identity is not the same as sexual orientation.

LT 3.3-5 Explain how we form our gender identity.