1. Chapter 4.4 – Gender Roles
and Differences
By: Zach, Julia, Phu

2. Gender Roles
 Gender Identity – Physical/biological
make up (Biernat & Wortman, 1991)
 Gender Stereotype – when a gender
role’s expectations become so rigid, it
becomes expectation of a gender from
everyone
 Androgynous – combination of traditional
male/female characteristics
 Gender Schema – set of behaviors
organized around how either
male/female should think & behave

3. Gender Roles (cont.)
 Gender Role – what the
society/culture expect of your gender

4. Gender Differences -
Personality
 Mednick & Thomas (1993) – found
males are more confident than
females, especially in academic areas
or in tasks stereotyped as masculine
(e.g. math, science)

5. Personality (cont.)
 Turner & Gervai (1995) – females
engage in more verbal acts of
aggression
 Kendrick (1987) – Females think
differently about aggression.
 (Bjorkqvist, Lagerspetz, Kukianen)
different in aggressive behavior –
More likely to use rough play / female
indirect form of aggression.

6. Personality (cont.)
 (Berman, Tracy, and Caccaro) – Male
have lower levels of serotonin
(aggression)
 (Lakoff, McMillan) – Communication:
Females talk more/ Males talk more if
dominant in relationship.
 (Briton and Hall) – Females are more
sensitive

7. Cognitive Ability
 Common misconception of females
being better than males at verbal
skills, males better at spatial and
mathematical skills disproven by Janet
Hyde and Marcia Linn (1998).

8. Origins of Gender Differences
 Biological Theory – emphasizes role
of anatomy, hormones, and brain
organization (Archer, 1997)
 Psychoanalytical Theory – gender
identity results from children
identifying with parent of same sex,
according to Freud. Critics argue that
identification is the result, rather than
the cause, of gender typing (Maccoby,
1992)

9. Origins of Gender Differences
(cont.)
 Social Learning Theory – emphasizes
role of social/cognitive process on how
we perceive, organize, & use info.
 Cognitive-Development Theory –
proposes that children acquire gender
roles by interacting with their
environment & thinking about these
experiences (Bem, 1981)

10. Origins of Gender Differences
(cont.)
 Gender Schema – mental
representation of behavior that helps
child organize/categorize behaviors
 Changing Gender Roles – people
have been taught by society to set
different goals.