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Psychology of Gender Midterm 2

Terms in this set (29)

Causes of sex differences
Genes, hormones, and social environment.
Most likely not the brain
Gender-role development
The process by which we come to acquire the behaviors, attitudes, interests, and emotional reactions that are culturally defined as appropriate for members of our sex
Psychoanalytic theory
A theory developed by Freud that attempts to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behavior
Psychosexual stages of development
Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital (Freud)
Castration anxiety
In psychoanalysis, the fear in young boys that they will be mutilated genitally because of their lust for their mothers.
Penis envy
According to Freud, the female desire to have a penis - a condition that usually results in their attraction to males.
Modeling
The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior
Reinforcement
Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
Longitudinal study
Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period
Gender identity
The individual's sense of being male or female
Gender constancy
Belief that gender is stable across time, especially after the age of 5 years old
Attribution Theory
The theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition
Locus of control
A person's tendency to perceive the control of rewards as internal to the self or external in the environment
Situational(external) Attribution
Cause of behavior lies in situation and/or the environment
Dispositional (internal) Attribution
Cause of behavior lies with in the person (traits and abilities)
Stable attribution
Cause for a behavior that does not change over time
Unstable attribution
The cause of behavior is variable, or subject to change
Agentic Traits
Assertive, controlling, dominant, independent, self-confident. Normally associated with the masculine gender role.
Communal traits
Emotionally expressive, nurturing, helpful, kind, empathetic. Normally associated with the feminine gender role.
Gender-role threat
Perceived threat to male role or masculinity
Status theory
Gender differences in communication are due to the status/power differences between men and women
Social Role theory
Differences in the roles that women and men play in society do a lot to create and maintain gender stereotypes
Dispositional
Characteristics of person predict friendship (e.g. sex, gender identity, race, sexual orientation)
Structural
Position and status in society predict friendship (employment, education, income)
Relational agression
Hurting or threatening to hurt a relationship
Cross-gender friendship functions
Emotional support for men, companionship for women, and perspective of other gender for both.
Microagressions
everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership
Evolutionary Theory
Explains why men value physical attractiveness more and women value earning potential. Maximize survival of genes, physical attractiveness is a sign of fertility, status = financial resources. Overall lack of evidence for theory
Social construction theory
Social norms dictate what is desirable in a mate
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