Psychology2016

Sexuality and Gender 395

Practice Quiz How much do you remember?

Pick the best answer.

1. The sex structures that develop during puberty are categorized as
   a. primary sex characteristics.
   b. secondary sex characteristics.
   c. either primary or secondary sex characteristics.
   d. primary or secondary sex characteristics based on the culture.


2. Which of the following is a secondary sex characteristic?
   a. uterus
   b. enlarging breasts
   c. penis
   d. ovaries
   3. Which of the following is NOT associated with the embryo develop-
   ing into a male:
   a. androgen c. Müllerian ducts
   b. Wolffian ducts d. testosterone
   4. People who are intersex
   a. commonly have both ovaries and testes.
   b. are extremely rare—1 in a million births.
   c. have a mixture of male and female sexual characteristics.
   d. are people who suffer from gender dysphoria but are physically
   normal.

The Psychological Side of Human Sexuality: Gender

Whereas sex can be defined as the physical characteristics of being male or female, gender is
defined as the psychological aspects of being male or female. The expectations of a person’s
social group and culture, the development of the personality, and the sense of identity are all
affected by the concept of gender.

Gender Identity

10. 3 Identify the psychological, biological, environmental, and cultural
    influences on gender.

Gender roles are the culture’s expectations for behavior of a person who is perceived
as male or female, including attitudes, actions, and personality traits associated with a
particular gender within that culture (Tobach, 2001; Unger, 1979). Gender typing is the
process by which people learn their culture’s preferences and expectations for male and
female behavior. The process of developing a person’s gender identity (a sense of being
male or female) is influenced by both biological and environmental factors (in the form of
parenting and other child-rearing behaviors), although which type of factor has greater
influence is still controversial.

PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCES Gender identity, like physical sex, is also not always
as straightforward as males who are masculine and females who are feminine. People’s
sense of gender identity does not always match their external appearance or even
the sex chromosomes that determine whether they are male or female (Califia, 1997;
Crawford & Unger, 2004; White, 2000). Such people are typically termed transgender.
There are many famous people who are transgender, such as former Olympic athlete
Caitlyn Jenner, actress Laverne Cox, and gay rights activist Chaz Bono.
Psychological issues, as well as biology and environment, have an influence on the con-
cept of a person’s gender identity. In a syndrome called gender dysphoria, a person experiences
gender incongruence, feeling that he or she is occupying the body of the other gender, or
some alternative gender that is not the same as their assigned gender, and has significant dis-
tress about the incongruence (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). The last part
of that definition is crucial: It is important to realize that many, and perhaps the majority, of
transgender people have little or no distress about the changes they make and therefore do
not have gender dysphoria (APA, 2013). In fact, once a person makes the change, he or she
will typically feel more psychologically and emotionally grounded. Any distress will most
likely come from those around the person who are unable or unwilling to accept the changes.

gender

the psychological aspects of being

male or female.

gender roles

the cultureos eZRectations for male or

female behavior, including attitudes,

actions, and personality traits associ-

ated with Deing male or female in that

culture.

gender typing

the process of acquiring gender-role

characteristics.

gender identity

the individualos sense of Deing male or

female.