Sex and Gender

GCSE Psychology

Unit 2: Sex and Gender

This topic will look at what the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ mean and will also consider why we might see differences between males and females.

Definitions

Sex identity – This refers to the labelling of a male or female based on their biology.  A label of male or female is usually established at birth by looking at the genitals of the baby.  As the person grows up they would state that they are male or female.  This is sex identity.

Gender identity – This is a psychological term that relates to whether we think we are masculine or feminine.  This can be established by looking at a person’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviours.

In the box below, write down two examples of masculine attitudes or behaviour and two examples of feminine attitudes or behaviour.

Biological factors in sex differences

The first factor that determines biological sex is chromosomes.  We are made up of 23 pairs of chromosomes.  We get 23 from our mother (egg) and 23 from our farther (sperm).  The last chromosome in each pair is the sex chromosome.

Every egg carries only X chromosomes.  If it is fertilised by a sperm carrying an X chromosome the baby will be female (XX).  If the egg is fertilised by a Y chromosome then the baby will be male (XY).  When the embryo carries a Y chromosome, cells turn into testes.  When there is no Y chromosome the cells turn into ovaries.

The next biological factor that influences sex identity is hormones.  If the embryo carries a Y chromosome then more androgens will be produced.  The most common of these is testosterone.  Testosterone influences the development of the heart and lungs, as well as the male external genitals.  If there is no Y chromosome then more oestrogens are produced.  These influence the development of the womb and female external genitals.

When all of these factors are present sex identity is determined.  However, if one of these factors does not work as it should then the person could suffer from a disorder of sexual development (DSD).  Examples of these disorders are DHT deficient Syndrome (males), Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (females) and XYY syndrome (super males).

Summary

Biological differences	Females	Males
Chromosomes	XX	XY
Reproductive organs	Ovaries	Testes
Hormones	Oestrogen and Progesterone	Androgens (including testosterone)
Genitals	Vagina	Penis

Revision questions

 

1.       Explain the difference between sex identity and gender identity

2.       Give 2 examples of behaviours or attitudes that are typically masculine.

3.       Give 2 examples of behaviours that are typically feminine

4.       Explain the different biological factors that create a female

5.       Explain the different biological factors that create a male

6.       Research and describe one example of a DSD

 

 

 

Theories of gender identity

Psychodynamic explanation

This says that gender is less to do with biology (nature) more to do with upbringing (nurture) - focusing on the role of parents.

Freud believed children developed in stages.

Between 3 and 6 years old children develop a strong attachment to the opposite sex parent (boys to mum, girls to dad), causing a psychological problem with their relationship with their same sex parent.

Freud called this the Oedipus Complex in boys and the Electra Complex in girls.

 

Oedipus complex - boys fear their father will be so angry about their desire for their mother that he will cut off the boy’s penis (castration anxiety). To resolve this the boy realises that he should identify with his father (i.e. behaving in a masculine way) and so his masculine identity develops.

Electra complex - girl’s desire fathers because they desire a penis (penis envy). They blame their mothers for not having a penis and feel castrated. As they realise they will never get a penis, they then desire a baby (penis substitute) instead. This makes them identify with their mother and they develop feminine behaviour.

 

Freud suggested that this all occurs in the unconscious mind (i.e. we are not aware of it), but has a big influence on our actions. He went on to argue that if a parent is missing or a weak model, a child’s gender identity does not develop properly.

 

 

 

Evidence:

Case study – Little Hans

Little Hans was a 5 year old boy with a phobia of horses.  Freud suggested that this represented the Oedipus complex and that Hans was really afraid of his Father because of his desire for his mother.  This unconscious fear of his Father was projected onto horses.

Evaluation of the Psychodynamic explanation

·        Freud’s theory has had a great impact on Psychology.

·        The theory is part of the child development curriculum.

·        Evidence for the theory is not reliable because it is based on case studies (of one individual)

·        It is difficult to gain scientific evidence for forces in our unconscious (as they cannot be seen or measured)

·        The theory of gender implies that a child must have opposite sex parents for identification to occur.  This does not apply in modern families were single parents or homosexual couples might bring up children.

 

 

Social learning explanation

 

According to the social learning theory, all behaviours including gender are LEARNED from our social observations! In other words, if we see someone do it, we can copy and learn it!

Albert Bandura proposed that children learn gender through the following steps:

•      OBSERVATION – the child sees someone performing a gender related behaviour such as putting make up on; being aggressive; playing games…

•      IMITATION – the child copies the behaviour he/she has observed

For some children, this is all that needs to happen if behaviours are to be learned – scary! For example, a young girl may see her mother put make up on, and for no particular reason she may copy! This girl may have learned her first female stereotypical behaviour! But for most children, something else needs to happen to make this a long term learned behaviour:

•      REINFORCEMENT – if someone rewards or punishes the children's imitated behaviour, this can determine whether they repeat it again or not! 

•      If the behaviour is reinforced by rewards such as praise, this will increase the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated.

Sometimes this is how ‘gender inappropriate’ behaviour is weakened in children. For example, a young boy may see his mother put makeup on and copy. But if he is laughed at or told off (e.g. punishment) – this will not occur again!

Children can also learn gender through something called VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT.  This is when we learn through watching other people get rewarded or punished.  The outcome for them will affect whether they imitate their behaviour.  For example, a girl could observe her sister getting a compliment for wearing a pink dress and therefore copies her behaviour and puts on a pink dress!

 

Key study – Craig 1992

 

 

Aim	To investigate if the media influences gender identity through social learning
Method	Analysed how males and females behaved in TV adverts.
Results	Females were more likely to appear in medical adverts
Conclusion	This reinforces gender stereotypes that females are mothers and carers
Evaluation	This study used simple categories for analysis (type of advert, male and female). However, there may have been researcher bias because they were looking for evidence of stereotypes

 

 

Evaluating the Social Learning Theory

•      There are a large number of studies that have found that children learn their gender through the observation and imitation of role models.

•      It does not explain why children brought up in one-parent families, without a strong same-sex role model, do not have any difficulty developing their gender.

•      It does not explain why two children of the same sex brought up in the same home with the same role models can behave differently.  For example, two brothers could be brought up in a house and have the same group of friends but one could be more masculine in his behaviour than the other.

•      This approach believes that gender is learnt, it therefore ignores biological differences between males and females.

 

Revision questions

 

According to the ______________ explanation of gender, as children develop they will have an unconscious desire of their opposite sex parent and fear the same sex parent as a result.  For boys this is called _________________ complex and for girls it is called __________________ complex

 

To resolve the anxiety caused by the fear, the child will identify with the same sex parent.  Boys will then behave in a way that is _________________ and girls will behave in a way that is _________________.

 

According to the ________________ explanation children will observe and ________________ the behaviour of role models.  This is more likely if the model has been rewarded and is known as _________________________ reinforcement.

 

 

 

Gender schema theory

This theory suggests that children develop a mental idea of what it means to be male or female.  This is called a schema and is created by observing and thinking about how males and females behave.  According to Kohlberg 1966 a child’s gender schema develops during 3 stages:

 

 

Stage 1 Gender labelling 0-3 years	Children can recognise that they male or female.  This helps them to categorise the world but their knowledge is fragile and does not represent a full understanding that boys turn into men and girls turn into women.
Stage 2 Gender stability Age 4-5	Children realise that gender is permanent and remains with you.  However, at this stage they still use superficial features (such as hair length) to determine if someone is male or female.
Stage 3 Gender consistency Age 6-7	Children realise that gender is constant, therefore, even if a woman has her hair cut very short, she remains a woman.  The child now has an understanding that things remain the same, despite changes in appearance.

Evaluation – this theory helps to explain why children over the age of 6 prefer to spend more time with people of the same sex.  However, it cannot explain why some 2 year olds have very strong gender typed toy/activity preferences – when according to the theory, they still believe that they could grow up to be opposite sex.