Psyc 3331 Psychology of Gender Notes

02.02.05

Chapter 1 Key Terms

Androcentric bias: discipline of psychology that is largely focused on men

and describes men as superior and women as inferior.

Bias in Research Methods: bias occurs in every part of the research

process-from question formulation and research design to data analysis and
interpretation

Blatant sexism: occurs when women are treated in a transparently

harmful and unequal way.

Covert sexism: form of sexism thats intentional, hidden, and often

hostile.

Cultural approach: origins of gender stereotyping from a sociocultural

perspective where children are socialized to act according to their culture.

Cultural feminism: emphasizes characteristics and qualities of women

that are devolved and ignored in society.

Division 35: APAs division of the psychology of women (est.1973)

Engendering psychology: a psychology which gender considerations are

mainstreamed throughout the discipline.

Evolutionary psychology: developed by Wilson; psychological traits are

selected through evolution

Feminism: belief that women and men are equal and should be equally
valued and have equal rights.

1st wave feminism: began in 1903 with the founding of womens social
and political union

gender: different between boys and girls and women and men are
averaged in societys social interact; based on a composed set of traits,
interests, and behaviors.

Gender schema: structures that allow a person to organize information

related to gender by linking gender labels to objects, traits, and behaviors.

Gender stereotypes: cognitive representation of males and females;

organized set of beliefs of psychological traits and characteristics as well as
activities appropriate to men or women.

Liberal feminism: focuses on equality of women and men

Mens movement: includes military, political, religion, and economic

events that have benefited men

Radical feminism: focuses on control of women by men; based on belief

that mens oppression of women is primary and serves as a model for all
other oppression

Science: knowledge based activity that depends on facts accumulated

through systematic and objective questioning, hypothesis testing,
methodological study, analysis, and presentation.

Sex: biological difference in the genetic composition and reproductive

structures and functions of men and women

Sex discrimination: harmful and unequal treatment of individuals due to

their sex.

Sexism: differential treatment of individuals based on their sex;

subordination of women and assumption of the superiority of men solely on
the basis of sex or gender

Social constructionism: view by Foucault that human behavior

determined by historical, cultural, and social conditions

Socialist feminism: focuses on social relations and how social institutions

preserve and promote male dominance.

Sociobiology (Evolutionary Psychology): theory by Wilson that holds that

psychological traits are selected through an evolutionary process; adaptive
traits are selected because they serve to perpetuate the species.

Stereotypes: generalized and oversimplified beliefs about groups of

people.

Stereotyping: cognitive perspective used to describe gender difference;

people learn to streamline information processing by grouping people into
categories based on members similarity

Structured approach: emphasizes common positions that certain groups

occupy within social structure; focuses on structural constraints that channel
our experience, from family to societal level

Subtle sexism: harmful and unequal treatment of women that is less

apparent and less visible to others and ourselves

Discussion Questions:
1.

Difference between sex and gender?


Sex: biological difference in chromosomes, genes, hormones,
and neurology; gender comprised of traits, interests, and behaviors that
society placed on each sex
2.

What processes underlie the development of beliefs regarding gender?



Cultural approach



Structural approach



Stereotyping-> gender schemas

3.

Problems with research focusing in gender difference:



Sex discrimination



Sexism: blatant, subtle, and covert


In science, most research experiments used male subjects due
to the variability hypothesis (males are more variable than females on many
dimensions -> indicating higher status and greater potential)
4.

Ways that sexism interacts with ageism/classism/racism:



Young, Hispanic, and poor:



Old, black, and middle class:

5.

Feminisms impact on psychology research:



Socialist feminism



Radical feminism



Cultural feminism



Liberal feminism

6.

Positive Aspects of Evolutionary Psychology:



Banging up the importance of ethnicity, race, and class



Wave of feminism



Redefining the difference between gender and sex



Production of different approaches of beliefs regarding gender

7.

Negative Aspects of Evolutionary Psychology:


Strength in techniques for changing negative behavior is not
enough to change an individual alone.

Problems that are inclined in societys structural fabric require
more than modifications in behaviors and attitudes to solve them

Women are still being victimized and treated unequally in some
societiesthis needs to be changed