The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

174 Chapter 5

TABLE 5.4 THEORIES OF SEX DIFFERENCES

Theory Description Key Terms

Biological Identifies genes and hormones as well as the

structure and function of the brain as the cause

of sex differences in cognition, behavior, and

gender roles.

androgens, estrogens, corpus

collosum, lateralization

Evolutionary An extension of Darwin’s theory of evolution

that states different social behaviors may have

evolved in men and women because it was

adaptive for their survival.

reproductive success, maternal

investment, paternity uncer-

tainty, interactionism

Psychoanalytic Original theory suggested that gender roles

are acquired by identification with the same-

sex parent. Modern versions emphasize the

importance of all early relationships.

Oedipal complex, unconscious

processes, identification, object-

relations theory

Social learning Contends that all behaviors—including those

specifically related to gender role—are learned

through reinforcement and/or modeling.

reinforcement, observational

learning

Gender-role

socialization

States that people and objects in the child’s envi-

ronment shape behavior to fit gender-role norms.

differential socialization, paren-

tal influence, sex typing

Social role Variant of gender-role socialization theory

that suggests differences in women’s and men’s

behavior are a function of the different roles

that women and men hold in our society.

agency, communion, nurtur-

ance, egoistic dominance

Cognitive

development

Assumes the child is an active interpreter of the

world, and observational learning occurs because

the perceiver cognitively organizes what he or

she sees. Social cognitive theory extends this

position by suggesting gender-role acquisition is

influenced by social as well as cognitive factors.

gender identity, gender con-

stancy, categorization

Gender schema Contends that children acquire gender roles

due to their propensity to process information

into sex-linked categories.

gender schema, gender asche-

matic, androgyny

difference in behavior is displayed: (1) the

perceiver’s expectancies, (2) the target’s (i.e.,

person who may or may not display the sex

difference) self-concept, and (3) the situa-

tion. I review how each of these contributes

to the display of sex differences.

Perceiver

The perceiver is the person observing the

behavior. The perceiver has an expecta-

tion about whether a person, the target, will

display a behavior. This expectation is likely

to be confirmed by eithercognitive confir-

mationorbehavioral confirmation. Cogni-

tive confirmation is the idea that we see what

we want to see; it explains how two people can

see the same behavior and interpret it differ-

ently. Have you ever watched a baseball game

with a person rooting for the other team?

What happens during those instant replays?

You are sure the person on your team is

safe and your friend is sure the person is out.

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