PSYCHOLOGY OF GENDER AND TRANSGENDERISM

Gender is one of the most important categories, if not the most important
category, in human social life. Though at first sight distinguishing between
female and male may seem straightforward, a closer look readily reveals that
this fundamental categorization is fairly complex -- it is imbued with a host
of cultural meanings and practices pervading each and every aspect of
individual, interpersonal, group, and societal processes. In all known
cultures, females and males meet with distinct sets of gender-related beliefs
and expectations exerting powerful, and often subtle, influence on their
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (Eckes & Trautner, 2000).
The first distinction to make is between sex and gender. Sex refers to the
biological categories of male and female, categories distinguished by genes,
chromosomes and hormones. Male and female are biological terms. Culture has no
influence on one’s sex. Sex is a relatively stable category that is not easily c
hanged.
Gender, by contrast, is a much more fluid category: it refers to the social cate
gories of
male and female. Gender is determined by biological, psychological and sociologi
cal
factors. Masculine and feminine are psychological terms, which refer to a person
s
gender. These categories are distinguished from one another by a set of psycholo
gical
features and role attributes that society has assigned to the biological categor
ies of sex.
For example, emotionality is a trait we ascribe to women and competitiveness is
a trait
we ascribed to men. These traits are features of gender rather than sex. Where a
s sex is
defined in the same way across cultures, gender differs because each society has
its own
prescriptions for how men and women ought to behave. Unger (1990) defines gender
as
“the cognitive and perceptual mechanisms by which biological differentiation is
translated into social differentiation”. For example: one category of gender fea
ture in
United States is to wear a skirt, so if we encounter someone wearing a skirt, we
can
assume the person is psychologically female as well as biologically female (Helg
eson,
2005).
1
Origin of Psychology of Gender: The term "gender role" was firstly used in a pre
ss
release, November 21, 1966, to announce the new clinic for transsexuals at The J
ohns
Hopkins Hospital. This made people focus on concept of gender, and the sociologi
st and
psychologist started focusing on gender identity and gender roles and why some p
eople
do not identify with their biological sex. As long as a person’s perceived physi
ological
sex is consistent with that person s gender identity, the gender role of a perso
n is so much
a matter of course in a stable society that people rarely even think of it. Only
in cases
where, for whatever reason, an individual has a gender role that is inconsistent
with his or
her sex will the matter draw attention.Such discordance between anatomical sex a
nd
gender identity is termed gender dysphoria. Transgendered were considered gender
dysphoric. These discussions also lead the focus towards gender differences, and
equality
and ultimately lead to the development of the concept of feminism (Feinberg, 199
2).
Feminism: Feminism comprises a number of social, cultural and political movement
s,
theories and moral philosophies concerned with gender inequalities and equal rig
hts for
women.A feminist is a person who believes that men and women should be treated
equally. A defining feature of feminism is a high regard for women. Feminism adv
ocates
the political, economic and social equality of the sexes (Brabeck & Brown, 1997)
.
Feminism is the belief that society is disadvantageous to women, systematically
depriving them of individual choice, political power, economic opportunity and
intellectual recognition. Most feminists argue that traditional gender roles are
oppressive
for women. They believe that the female gender role was constructed as an opposi
te to an
ideal male role, and helps to perpetuate patriarchy The Feminist Movement is con
cerned
with individual autonomy, rights, freedom, independence, tolerance, co-operation
,
nonviolence and diversity. Some themes explored and campaigned within Feminism
include domestic violence, gender, stereotypes, sexuality, discrimination, sexis
m,
objectification, patriarchy, abortion, reproduction, control of the female body,
divorce,
equal pay, maternity leave, breast feeding, prostitution and education. The majo
rity of
feminists today reject the relationship between our biological and cultural evol
ution. Thus
implying that our biological makeup has no connection to informing social roles
and
behaviors (Brabeck & Brown, 1997).
2
Feminine Psychology
As the first woman to present a paper on feminine psychology at an international
meeting, Karen Horney pioneered and developed a feminine psychology that provide
d a
new way of thinking about women. Horney was also a pioneer in the discipline of
feminine psychiatry. She wrote fourteen papers between 1922 and 1937, which she
compiled to form a volume titled "Feminine Psychology". She had a feeling that,
as a
woman, it was her task to work out a fuller understanding for specifically femal
e trends
and attitudes in life. In her book titled "The Problem of Feminine Masochism", H
orney
proved that culture and society encouraged women to be dependent on men for love
,
prestige, wealth, care, and protection. She pointed out the overemphasis on plea
sing men
and the overvaluation of men and love. Women, she found, were to be beautiful an
d
charming, according to society. Also, women gained value only through their husb
and’s
children, and family. Her "The Distrust between the Sexes" compared the husband-
wife
relationship to a parent-child relationship. In "The Problem of the Monogamous I
deal",
Karen focused on marriage, and six of her other papers were based on marriage pr
oblems.
Finally, her "Maternal Conflicts", shed new light on the problems associated wit
h raising
adolescents. For Horney, psychic differences between men and women are not the r
esult
of anatomy but rather of cultural and social expectations (Fiest & Fiest, 2002).
Structure of Personality:
According to psychology of gender an individual’s personality is made up of
several elements that shape his/her personality:
· Gender role
· Gender identity
· Sexual orientation/preference
Gender Role: Another term that better captures society’s influence on the
biologically based categories of male and female is gender role rather than gend
er. A role
is a social position accompanied by set of norms or expectations. For example fe
male or a
daughter what role is expected of you? Gender role refers to the expectations th
at go
3
along being male versus female. We typically expect men to be strong to refrain
from
crying to be independent and competitive. These are features of the male gender
role. By
contrast we typically expect women to be caring, emotionally expressive, polite
and
helpful. In other words we expect man to be masculine and women to be feminine
(Helgeson, 2005).
When expectations within a role conflict we experience intrarole conflict. For
example, women are expected to be emotional and express their feelings but also
to be
sensitive to the needs of others. So should a woman who is unhappy with her marr
iage
express those feelings to her husband, if she expresses those feeling, she is ad
hering to
her role in terms of expressing emotions but she is contradicting her role by ex
pressing
feelings that might upset someone else. When expectations of one role conflict w
ith the
expectation of another role, we experience interrole conflict. People different
roles in
our lives apart from their gender roles such as the roe of student, daughter, te
acher etc. at
times the expectations of one role conflict with the other which results in inte
rrole
conflict (Helgeson, 2005).
Sometimes we violate the norms associated with our roles, partly due to role
conflict. The consequences of such behavior could be severe or minor; it will de
pend on
how central that norm is to the role and how strongly the situation calls for ad
herence to
the role. For example the consequences of male asking for help are probably mino
r,
however the consequences of male wearing a female dress are likely to be severe.
In the
same way a women not showing emotion at a funeral may be judged quite harshly. B
ut
researchers believe that male suffer more negative consequences for gender role
violation
than women. It is acceptable for women to dress like a man and work in tradition
ally
male jobs but its not acceptable for men to dress like women. The reason is stat
us.
Women who take on the characteristics of male gender role are moving towards a h
igher
status, whereas men who are taking on the characteristics of the female gender r
ole are
moving towards a lower status. People applaud the move up but not the move down
(Helgeson, 2005).
4
Gender identity: It is our perception of the self as psychologically male and fe
male. A
person’s private, subjective sense of his or her own sex. Each of us has a gende
r identity -
a private feeling that we are male or female. But at times people who are male m
ay feel
as if they are female and vice versa. Such phenomenon is referred to as transgen
derism.
Transgendered individuals are said to have a gender identity problem meaning the
ir
biological sex is incongruent with their psychological sex. In some cases transg
endered
people who seek to have surgery to change their biological sex are called transs
exuals
(Helgeson, 2005).
Sexual orientation / preference: Erotic desire for people of same or different s
ex. It
refers to whether people prefer to have other-sex or same-sex persons as partner
s for love,
affection and sex. Heterosexuals prefer other sex partners; homosexuals prefer s
ame-sex
partners such as gay and lesbians; and bisexuals are accepting of other sex and
same sex
partners (Helgeson, 2005).
Other concepts included in personality are:
· Sex Typing
· Gender role attitude
Sex Typing: It is the process by which sex-appropriate preferences; behaviors sk
ills and
self-concept are acquired. People who adhere to the gender role society assigned
to them
are sex-typed. A man who thinks, feels and behaves in masculine ways and a femal
e who
thinks, feels and behaves in a feminine way are each sex-typed. A male who acts
feminine and a female who acts masculine are each said to be cross sex typed. Mo
reover
someone who incorporates both masculine and feminine qualities is not sex-typed
and is
often refereed to as androgynous (Helgeson, 2005).
Gender role attitude: Ones own personal view about how man and women should
behave is called gender role attitude (Helgeson, 2005).
5
Three other terms reflect ones attitude towards the category of sex. Each term m
aps onto
one of the three components of an attitude: affect, cognition and behavior. Thes
e include
the following:
· Sexism
· Sex stereotype/ gender role stereotype
· Sex discrimination
Sexism: The affective component of one’s attitude towards the sex category is ca
lled
sexism, or prejudice towards people based on their sex. This can entail both neg
ative and
positive feelings. For example, if a man dislikes the person his wife hired to t
ake care of
his children because the person is male, he’s showing sexism. In the same way if
he likes
the person his wife hired merely because she is female, he’s again showing sexis
m
(Helgeson, 2005).
Sex stereotype/ gender role stereotype: It is the cognitive component of one’s a
ttitude
towards sex. These terms refer to one’s beliefs about the features of the biolog
ical or
psychological categories of male or female, like females are nurturant and males
are
assertive etc. So if the man perceives that a male nanny would not be competent
because
he lacks the required nurturant qualities, he is engaged in gender-role stereoty
ping
(Helgeson, 2005).
Sex discrimination: The behavioral component of one’s attitude towards men and
women is sex discrimination, which involves the differential treatment of people
based on
their biological sex. For example, if in the above example, the man fires the ma
le nanny
because he dislikes men as nannies and doubts his competence because he is a man
, he’s
engaged in sex discrimination (Helgeson, 2005).
Gender Differences in Personality:
Gender difference is a distinction of biological and/or physiological
characteristics typically associated with either males or females of a species i
n general.
Gender differences are the results of gender role, gender identity, gender role
attitude and
6
gender stereotypes etc. gender and sex comparisons have been made in a variety o
f areas
(Hayward, 2003).
Intelligence: During 1984 – 1936 researchers focused on differences between male
s and
females. The primary purpose of this era was to prove that men were intellectual
ly
superior to women. On the basis of the size of the human brains it was said that
men are
intellectually superior because of the size of women brain is smaller than men.
But the
work of Lewis Terman on sex and personality concluded that intelligence tests do
not
reveal difference in overall intellect. Recent studies have shown inconsistent r
esults in
comparing the overall IQ performances of men and women, some showing little or n
o
difference, and others showing advantages to men of variable statistical signifi
cance.
However, these studies consistently show that there is greater variance in the I
Q
performance of men compared to that of women, ie. Men are more represented at th
e
extremes of performance (Helgeson, 2005).
Cognitive abilities: The result of Meta analysis of various studies shows only s
mall
differences in cognition. Differences in cognitive abilities exist in spatial ab
ility,
mathematical and verbal ability. Men outperform women in some visuospatial skill
s such
as rotation of three-dimensional objects, throwing accuracy, and navigation with
reference to compass directions; women navigate as well as or better than men wi
th
reference to landmarks, and they have better control of hand and finger musculat
ure.
Most recent researches have found only small differences in mathematical ability
where
men have outperformed women by a small margin. However men were found to be bett
er
at spatial ability and women at verbal ability, although the size of the differe
nce was only
moderate (Helgeson, 2005).
Social domains: In social domain girls were found to be more empathetic than boy
s.
Eisenberg and Lennon (1983) found a very small effect in girls scoring higher th
an boys
in empathy (d = -.10). Whereas men show more helping behavior especially in situ
ations
of danger as compared to men. Moreover a comparison of the activity levels of gi
rls and
boys revealed that boys were more active than girls (Helgeson, 2005).
7
Emotions: Women report greater emotions than men. Men and women also differ in t
he
frequency and amount of emotions expressed. Women are more expressive emotionall
y
than males (Brody & Hall, 1993).
Moral development: A recent Meta analysis of 160 independent samples showed a sm
all
sex differences in moral reasoning. Women scored higher than men on care and men
scored higher than women on justice. Women show a morality of responsibility tha
t
emphasizes their connection to others, whereas men have a morality of right (Jaf
fe &
Hyde, 2000 cited from Helgeson, 2005).
Aggression: Males are generally more aggressive than females (Coi & Dodge 1997,
Maccoby & Jacklin 1974). There is evidence that males are quicker to aggression
more
likely than females to express their aggression physically (Bjorkqvist et al. 19
94).
However, some researchers have suggested that females are not necessarily less
aggressive, but that they tend to show their aggression in less overt, less phys
ical ways
(Bjorkqvist et al. 1994, Hines and Saudino 2003). For example, females may displ
ay
more verbal and relational aggression, such as social rejection.
Achievement: Researches indicate that women have lower need for achievement as
compared to men because they are more likely then men to associate achievement w
ith
negative consequences. The basic concern is that achievement is inconsistent wit
h female
gender role, they viewed it might have interpersonal cost. Another reason women
achieve less than men is that women have lower self-confidence as compared to me
n
when an upcoming task is ambiguous whereas male face novel situations with great
er
hope to succeed. Women are also less confident when the task is of masculine dom
ain.
Another important factor that may have implications for men and women achievemen
t
has to do with the way they explain their success or failure. Women are more lik
ely to
attribute success to effort or luck, whereas men are more likely to attribute su
ccess to
ability. Women are more likely to attribute failure to stable causes like lack o
f ability and
difficult task, whereas men are more likely to attribute failure to unstable cau
ses, such as
lack of effort or bad luck (Helgeson, 2005).
8
Communication: Tannen’s studies (1990) found these gender differences in
communication styles. Men tend to talk more than women in public situations, but
women tend to talk more than men at home. Females are more inclined to face each
other
and make eye contact when talking, while males are more likely to look away from
each
other. Girls and women tend to talk at length about one topic, but boys and men
tend to
jump from topic to topic. Women are inclined to express agreement and support, w
hile
men are more inclined to debate. However, not all research supports these claims
. One
study by MacGeorge (2005) found only a 2% difference in the conversational style
s of
men and women, and reported that in general both sexes communicated in similar w
ays.
Men are more dominant and influential as compared to women and are more likely t
o
emerge as a leader in a situation involving strangers. Whereas women are less in
fluential
and are easily influenced. When women talk to each other they reveal a lot about
their
private lives. Let all speakers finish their sentences and try to have everyone
participate.
Men, on the other hand, rarely talked about their personal relationships and fee
lings but
"competed to prove themselves better informed about current affairs, travel, spo
rt, etc”
(Cathy, 1999).
Friendship: Men identify shared activities as more important feature of friendsh
ip
whereas females identify self-disclosure and empathy as more important features
of
friendship. Men tend to compartmentalize their friendship having different frien
ds for
different activities whereas female friendship is more holistic. Women also are
more
likely than men to have reciprocal and closer relationship in friendship. In som
e aspects
of friendship men and women are similar they both consider trust and authenticit
y as
more important dimension of friendship (Helgeson, 2005).
Romantic relationships and Mate selection: In romantic relationship both men and
women expect their love relationship to include closeness, security, mutual self
disclosure
and sexual exclusivity. Both are interested in a romantic relationship to have a
good time, and are interested in dating for purpose of recreation and companions
hip
(Roscoe, Diana & Brooks, 1987 c.f. Helgeson, 2005). There are some differences i
n
men’s and women’s motivation for developing romantic relationships, men view sex
ual
activity as greater motivation than women do and women view love and intimacy as
9
greater motivation than men do (Peplau & Gordon, 1985 c.f. Helgeson, 2005). In m
ate
selection females are more likely than male to emphasize socioeconomic status an
d
ambition and only somewhat more likely to emphasize intelligence and character,
whereas man attach more importance to mate’s physical attractiveness (Feingold,
1992).
Men focus on youth and attractiveness in mate selection whereas females focus on
status
and earning potential (Sprecher, Sullivan & Hatfield, 1994 c.f. Helgeson, 2005).
In a
cross-cultural study by David Buss (2003), men and women were asked to rank cert
ain
traits in order of importance in a long-term partner. Both men and women ranked
"kindness" and "intelligence" as the two most important factors.
Sexual orientation: Most surveys find that a greater proportion of men than wome
n
report that they are exclusively homosexual, whereas more women than men report
being
bisexual. In most societies, homosexual (lesbians) and bisexual women are more w
idely
accepted than their male counterparts (gays). Men express far more permissive at
titudes
than women toward casual, premarital, and extramarital sex; women tend to view s
ex as
a prelude to a long-term relationship. Males also have a larger number of sex pa
rtners
(Larkin, 2003).
Physical and mental health: Women in western society are more prone to depressio
n
than men, while men are more prone to paranoid schizophrenia than
women. Researchers and clinicians think that the traditional signs of depression
(sadness,
worthlessness, excessive guilt) may not represent many men s experience of a dep
ressive
period. Men may instead express their depression in terms of increases in fatigu
e,
irritability and anger (sometimes abusive in nature), loss of interest in work o
r hobbies,
and sleep disturbances. It has also been shown that men use more drugs and alcoh
ol,
perhaps to self-medicate; this can mask the signs of depression, making it harde
r to detect
and treat effectively (Helgeson, 2005).
Men suffer more from heart attack as compared to women. Adolescent girls with
diabetes and asthma are better able to cope with their illness as compared to ad
olescent
boys. Moreover characteristics of the male gender role such as independence and
selfcontrol
are inconsistent with chronic illness. Because male gender is linked to physical
10
strength, men have more difficulty than women in coping with physical limitation
s the
illness posses. On the positive side male gender role predispose men into believ
ing they
can control their illness than females. Moreover eating disorders are much more
prevalent
in women than men because women are more concerned with body image than men
(Helgeson, 2005).
Personality tests: In the big five personality traits, women score higher in Agr
eeableness
(tendency to be compassionate and cooperative) and Neuroticism (tendency to feel
anxiety, anger, and depression). Demographics of MBTI surveys indicate that 60-7
5% of
women prefer feeling and 55-80% of men prefer thinking. There were no sex differ
ences
in self-esteem and locus of control. Differences in personality were small but c
onsistent
in the direction of men being more assertive and women more nurturant. In person
ality
traits, men score higher than women on aggressiveness, women score higher than m
en on
emotional sensitivity and a sense of caring (Helgeson, 2005).
Risk taking: Men are more prone to taking risks as comapred to women (Marano, 20
03).
Crime: Men are much more likely to be incarcerated than women, although women ar
e a
fast-growing demographic group in prison. Males are more likely than females to
commit
murder. Men are also far more likely than women to be the victims of violent cri
me (US
Dept of Labor, 2005).
Suicide: In western countries, males are much more likely to die by suicide than
females
(usually by a factor of 3–4:1); 69 out of 74 non-western countries found an exce
ss male
mortality from suicide. While there are more completed male suicides than female
,
females are more likely to attempt suicide (Cathy, 1999).
Work Roles: Women are more underrepreented in occupation as comapred to males
however the number of felames in work force is increasing they are still underre
presented
in traditional male and white-collar jobs. More men than women occupy high statu
s
positions. Even if men and women occupy the same jobs men get paid more than wom
en.
Moreover women report more psychological distress as a result of occupational st
ress
11
than men. However working women on average have better physical and psychologica
l
health as compared to housewives (US Dept of Labor, 2005).
Sports: In general, men are taller and heavier than women. In sports, men tend t
o
outperform women in strength and speed. Women seem to have greater endurance. In
spite of many attempts, sports have never become completely unisex (Helgeson, 20
05).
Activity level: Male fetuses are more active than females, a difference that per
sists
throughout childhood. Newborn boys are more wakeful than girls and cry more read
ily in
response to pain (Hayward, 2003).
Development of gender differences in Personality:
Development of gender differences, gender roles, gender identity and sexual
orientation can be explained with the help of biological and social-environmenta
l models.
Biological Model:
Biological theories of sex differences identify genes and hormones, as
well as structure and function of the brain as the causes of observed difference
s in
physical appearance, cognition, behavior and even gender roles.
Genes: According to the biological model individual differences start at the tim
e of
conception. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes within each cell; twenty-two of
these
are alike in both males and females. But, when we come to the twenty-third pair,
the
sexes are not the same; every woman has in her cells two of what we call the X
chromosome. But a man has just one X---its mate being the much smaller Y." It is
the
presence of this influential Y chromosome, says Scheinfeld, "that sets the machi
nery of
sex development in motion and results in all the genetic differences that there
are
between a man and a woman." Right down to the cellular level, males and females
are
different. According to Mitchell and colleagues says that genes explain 20 to 48
%
difference in masculinity and femininity (Hayward, 2003).
12
Hormones: There are two classes of sex relates hormones androgens and estrogens.
They
affect brain, immune system and over all behavior. In one out of 100,000 pregnan
cies, a
genetic defect causes human female babies to be exposed to a bath of the male ho
rmone
androgen. These are CAH girls--short for a condition called congenital adrenal
hyperplasia. These children are born female, but they behave like "tomboys." The
male
androgen influences their behaviors and desires. These girls typically play with
"boy"
toys more than their female counterparts. The high level of testosterone in male
s drives
them toward aggressive behavior and dominance in the world, while the lack of hi
gh
levels of this hormone in women creates a natural, biological push in the direct
ion of less
dominant and more nurturing roles in society (Helgeson, 2005).
Brain: The brains of men and women are actually wired differently. Nadeau (1997)
observes: "The human brain, like the human body, is sexed, and differences in th
e sexspecific
human brain condition a wide range of behaviors that we typically associate with
maleness or femaleness." Nadeau says that the sex-specific differences in the br
ain are
located both in the primitive regions, and in the neocortex--the higher brain re
gions. Men
and women process information differently because of differences in a portion of
 the
brain called the splenium, which is much larger in women than in men, and has mo
re
brain-wave activity. Studies have shown that problem-solving tasks in female bra
ins are
handled by both hemispheres, while the male brain only uses one hemisphere (Helg
eson,
2005).
Socio-environmental factors: The socialization theory holds that gender related
traits
are inculcated in children by learning from their parents, teachers, siblings, p
eers, and
society in general (Helgeson, 2005).
Parents: Right from the time of birth parents start differentiating between boys
and girls
like buying blue clothes for boys and pink for girls. Even toys for girls and bo
ys are
different parents prefer boys to play with cars trucks and girls with dolls. Par
ents also
encourage feminine behavior in girls and masculine behavior in boys (Helgeson, 2
005).
13
Peers: Apart from parents the most important influence on children is their peer
s. Their
acceptance or rejection of certain behaviors led children to adopt those behavio
rs. Boys
usually play in larger peer groups so the potential for conflict and aggression
is high
therefore they exhibit more aggression. On the other hand girls play in small gr
oups,
which minimize conflict and increase cooperation (Helgeson, 2005).
Siblings: Apart from parents and peers siblings also have a role in gender-role
behaviors.
One study showed that boys with older brothers and girls with older sisters were
more
sex-typed than only children. Moreover boys with older sisters and girls with ol
der
brothers were more androgynous (Helgeson, 2005).
Teachers: Another socializing agent that may influence children role behavior is
teachers. One study proved that nursery school teachers responded differently to
male and
female infants (Fagot et al., 1985 c.f. Helgeson, 2005). Teachers gave more atte
ntion to
boys who were assertive and girls who were communicative.
Other features o environment affecting behavior:
Toys: The toys children play with may influence sex differences in cognition and
behavior. Toys may directly reinforce sex differences in cognitive abilities. Fo
r example
in 1992 a tee talk Barbie was introduced that along with other things said, “Mat
h class is
tough.” Boys play with vehicles, machines; building blocks etc girls play with d
omestic
toys, dolls, dress-up clothes. One possibility is that boy’s toys are more likel
y than girl’s
toys to foster the development of spatial skills and girl’s toys are more likely
to foster the
development of verbal skills (Hughes, 1991).
Books: The books children read also encourage gender-role appropriate behaviors.
For
example the classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes that are still read to childr
en. Both
boys and girls learn from Cinderella, sleeping beauty and snow white that man fa
ll in
love with beautiful women, good women are obedient and vulnerable and if beautif
ul will
be rescued by men and a women’s ultimate dream is to marry a rich handsome princ
e.
Nursery rhymes portray women as quiet and sweet, as maids crying and running awa
y
from spiders while men are displayed as soldiers, kings (Helgeson, 2005).
14
Television: Television is also a way of learning about gender. A study of fourth
and fifth
graders showed that children who watched television held more stereotypical view
s about
men and women. Even cartoons portray girls and boys differently. Male’s characte
rs are
more aggressive while females are fearful, polite. Only a few recent cartoons li
ke
powerpuff Girls show strong female characters. Even in dramas and movies men are
most
likely to be the main character that fights the evil and save the heroine of the
film or
drama. In advertisements, women are much more likely than men to serve a decorat
ive
function. In magazine advertisements, men are rarely portrayed doing housework.
Instead, men are more likely than women to be shown working outside the home
(Helgeson, 2005).
Cultural influences: Different cultures also hold different stereotypical attitu
des about
men and women. In most cultures women are supposed to be shy, quiet, nurturant,
caring
whereas, males are expected to be assertive, self-confident. Males are considere
d the
dominant figure in society. Such beliefs held by the society also influence gend
er role
perception (Helgeson, 2005).
Feminist theory claims that gender is influenced by socialization and not biolog
y.
This controversy of nature and nurture still continues.
Causes of Psychopathology:
For 99.9 percent of people, gender identity is consistent with sexual anatomy.
Discordance between anatomical sex and gender identity is termed gender dysphori
a.
They may belong to one sex but feel as if they are members of the other sex or i
dentify
themselves with members of other sex. Such people are not comfortable with their
biological sex and experience great distress in adjusting to their biological se
x. Such as
transgendered individuals. Transgendered and people with gender identity disorde
r are
gender dysphoric, meaning that they experience discordance between their anatomi
cal
sex and their gender identity. A few transgendered individuals also go for sex
reassignment surgery to alter their biological sex to match their gender identit
y
(Helgeson, 2005).
15
Moreover our societies also holds separate roles for males and females, but some
individuals violate the norms associated with these roles partly because of inte
r and intra
role conflicts. Such individuals may adopt behaviors that are not entirely typic
al either of
females or of males. For example: Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothing
commonly associated with another gender within a particular society. For example
men
wearing feminine clothes. Nearly every human society throughout history has
distinguished between male and female gender by the style, color, or type of clo
thing
they wear and has had a set of norms, views, guidelines, or even laws defining w
hat type
of clothing is appropriate for each gender. Cross-dressing is a behavior which r
uns
significantly counter to those norms and such act is judged really harshly (Helg
eson,
2005).
Another reason that leads people to alter their biological sex is when people ar
e
born with ambiguous sex organs in that case they are reassigned a sex. For examp
le
certain biological defects may result in children born with either without male
and female
genitalia or underdeveloped genitalias. Transsexualism is the result of one such
condition in which a person identifies with a physical sex different from the on
e that they
were born with or assigned in cases where ambiguity of the child s sex organs le
d to
assigning them a physical sex. Most transsexuals assert that their brain-based i
nner
perception of their sexual self, their identity, is who they really are, is diff
erent from their
biological sex and so change their physical sex in an effort to be on the outsid
e as they
feel they are on the inside (Helgeson, 2005).
Another important feature in psychology of gender is sexual orientation is the
direction of an individual’s sexual attractions. Most, but not all, men are sexu
ally
attracted to women. Most, but not all, women are sexually attracted to men. Men
who are
attracted to other men (gays) and women who are attracted to other women (lesbia
ns)
were thought off as violating their gender roles since gay men tend to be somewh
at more
feminine, and lesbians somewhat more masculine, compared with heterosexual peopl
e of
their own sex. That is, homosexual people tend to be relatively gender nonconfor
ming.
Homosexuality was thought of as a psychopathology however with increasing number
s
of gays and lesbians in western societies led to gay/lesbian rights movements, w
hich
16
pressured the countries to give equal rights and opportunities to gay and lesbia
ns as
enjoyed by heterosexuals and as a result homosexuality was removed from DSM-IV a
s a
psychopathology.
Practical Application in different fields:
Psychology of gender has contributed to different areas of psychology and have
lead psychologist to study gender differences in clinical and organizational con
text.
In clinical context gender differences exists in psychopathologies certain disor
ders
are more prevalent in one gender as compared to the other. For example, women in
western society are more prone to depression than men, while men are more prone
to
paranoid schizophrenia than women. Not only in western cultures even in our own
cultures depression is more prevalent in women as compared to men, women also su
ffer
more from eating disorders as compared to men. Not only the gender differences e
xist in
prevalence of certain disorders in males and females the appearance of symptoms
of a
particular disorder might also be different in males and females, researchers an
d
clinicians are coming to think that the traditional signs of depression (sadness
,
worthlessness, excessive guilt) may not represent many men s experience of a dep
ressive
period. Men may instead express their depression in terms of increases in fatigu
e,
irritability and anger (sometimes abusive in nature), loss of interest in work o
r hobbies,
and sleep disturbances. Awareness of such differences can lead to selecting more
appropriate intervention strategies for both men and women (Helgeson, 2005).
In organizational context gender differences exist in the areas of leadership.
Differences also exist in response to work place stress. Women are slightly more
likely to
be "transformational" leaders, serving as role models, helping employees develop
their
skills, and motivating them to be dedicated and creative. That approach may actu
ally be
more effective in today s less hierarchical organizations. But not all workplace
s are alike.
The participatory style may backfire in traditional male settings such as the mi
litary or
organized sports. Conversely, the command-and-control style more typical of men
may
backfire in a social-service agency or retail outlet. So women in male settings
should
17
adopt more command and control style and males in female work settings should tr
y to
adopt female interpersonal style in order to succeed. Women also appeared to rew
ard
good performance more than men, a very positive part of transactional leadership
. Men
were more likely to criticize subordinates and be less hands-on, styles found to
be
ineffective (Helgeson, 2005).
The feminist movement also emerged from this emphasis on gender and gender
differences, which lead to the women’s movement and resulted in change in variou
s
walks of lives. Feminism has altered aspects of Western society, ranging from cu
lture to
law. Feminist political activists have been concerned with issues such as a woma
n s right
of contract and property, a woman s right to bodily integrity and autonomy (espe
cially on
matters such as reproductive rights, including the right to abortion, access to
contraception and quality prenatal care); for protection from domestic violence;
against
sexual harassment and rape; for workplace rights, including maternity leave and
equal
pay; and against other forms of discrimination (Brabeck & Brown, 1997).
Criticism: Feminists and gay theorist have criticized psychology of gender for f
ocusing
too much on gender differences believing that men and women are more similar tha
n they
are different and that the difference is due to socialization not biology. This
view has been
greatly criticized since many scientist believe that gender differences do exist
and their
basis is biological along with sociological. Moreover some researchers criticize
that
feminist approach has made psychology of gender to be psychology of women focusi
ng
more on women issues than equality of gender. The field of gender studies that e
merged
from psychology of gender is criticized for being a discipline that "philosophiz
es,
theorizes and politicizes on the nature of the female gender" as a social constr
uct, to the
point of excluding the male gender from analysis. They also assert that the gen
der in
gender studies is "routinely used as a synonym for women .
Recent Trends in Research:
· Recent researches in psychology of gender have focused on the following topics
:
· Gender differences and similarities in mate selection,
18
· Gender differences and similarities in sex and love,
· in the leadership styles and behaviour
· Gender differences in mathematical ability
· Gender differences and similarities in coping responses to anticipated workfam
ily
conflict.
· Gender Differences in Salary
· Gender differences in Dominance
· Affects of gender on personality change during adolescents
· The Psychology of Gender Differences in Religion
· Gender differences in depression, body dismorphic disorder.
Review of Research Articles:
Sexual Orientation and Childhood Gender Nonconformity: Evidence From
Home Videos
Linsenmeier, Gygax and Bailey (2008) conducted a research to analyze whether
homosexual adults tend to be more gender nonconforming than heterosexual adults
in
some of their behaviors, feelings, and interests. The primary aims of the resear
ch were:
First, do videos reveal increased gender nonconformity in the prehomosexual chil
dren?
Second, does gender nonconformity persist from childhood into adulthood? Third,
do
self-reports of childhood and adult gender nonconformity correspond with observe
r
ratings? Finally, do individuals who are more gender nonconforming, both in thei
r
childhood and in adulthood, recall that others treated them more negatively as c
hildren?
The authors studied indicators of childhood gender nonconformity using childhood
home
videos. The sample was consisted of 21 homosexual men, 20 homosexual women, 23
heterosexual men, and 26 heterosexual women. Mean ages were 28.6 years (SD _ 7.9
),
23.8 years (SD _ 5.3),25.0 years (SD _ 5.9), and 24.6 years (SD _ 7.4). Childhoo
d gender
nonconformity was assessed with the Childhood Gender Nonconformity Scale (Bailey
et al., 1995), with 7 statements for each sex. Adult gender nonconformity was me
asured
with the Continuous Gender Identity Scale (Bailey et al., 1995), with 10 items f
or each
19
sex and Past Parental and Peer treatment was, A 40-item version of the Recollect
ion of
Early Child rearing Scale (Ross, Campbell, & Clayer, 1982), which is the English
version
of the Swedish EMBU (Egna Minnen Betra¨ffande Uppfostran; see Gerlsma,
Emmelkamp,& Arrindell, 1990), was used to assess past rejection versus acceptanc
e by
peers and parents. Along with analyzing childhood home videos the participants w
ere
videotaped for 20 min, during a casual interview. The rating of the interview an
d
videotapes on dimensions of masculinity and femininity was done by heterosexual
and
homosexual raters. Multiple regression and correlation was used to analyze the r
esult
along with calculating inter-rater reliability. Results indicate that prehomosex
ual children
were judged more gender nonconforming, on average, than preheterosexual children
, and
this pattern was obtained for both men and women. This difference emerged early,
carried
into adulthood, and was consistent with self-report. In addition, targets who we
re more
gender nonconforming tended to recall more childhood rejection.
Gender Differences and Similarities in Dominance Hierarchies in Same-Gender
Groups Based on Speaking Time
In this study Mast (2001) aimed at investigating whether all-women and all-men
groups differed in their hierarchical organization on the basis of dominance and
stability
of their rank orders across time. One hundred and sixteen European, middle-class
,
noncollege women and men participated in small-group discussions twice within a
week
with the same group members. Women were on average 36.2 years old (range: 27-47
years) and men 38.8 years (range: 28-63 years). Five participants lived together
with their
partner without being married, all other participants were married (average 9 ye
ars,
range: 2-20 years). Participants formed 14 all-women and 14 all-men groups rangi
ng in
group size from 3 to 5. A 45-min group discussion was followed by a group decisi
on task
of about 30 min. Speaking time served as the behavioral dominance indicator on w
hich
group hierarchies were based. Additionally, group members rank ordered each othe
r on
dominance after each interaction. All the discussions were taped. One rater code
d
speaking time for all participants and a second rater coded 20% of all tapes. In
the first
session, all-men groups were more hierarchically structured on the basiss of dom
inance
20
than all-women groups. During each session, all-women and all-men groups showed
a
similar significant increase in hierarchical structuring. For both women and men
, rank
orders remained stable during interactions and from the first to the second sess
ion.
21