PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON GENDER

I. PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES

· Gender identity as psychological achievement

1. Freud

§ Identification with same-sex parent

§ Healthy adult development = disidentification with mother

2. Chodorow

§ Critical of Freud

· Culturally bound

· Male-biased

§ Gender differences stem from different ego boundaries

· Females: similarity, connection

· Males: dissimilarity, separation, “not feminine”

§ Consequences

· Women more secure in their gender identity

· Masculinity in opposition to femininity leads to devaluation of women

· Women prefer connection; men prefer separation/distance

3. Criticisms

II. COGNITIVE THEORIES

A. Gender-Schema Theory

· Assumptions

1. Individuals use categories to understand their social environment

2. Human cognitive capacity in limited

3. Reduces amount of effort needed for interaction

· Schema – cognitive structure (or “lens”) that helps people assimilate and organize perceptions

B. Why is gender such a central category for thinking about others?

1.

2.

3.

C. Other qualities of gender schemas

1. gender polarization

2. androcentric

D. Gender differences the result of gender-schemas – how?

1. make us ready to interpret incoming stimuli in a way that is consistent with the gender schemas that we have

2. it provides a mechanism by which individuals can compare themselves to prototype

E. Consequences – why do we care?

1.

2.

3.

F. Inevitable?

III. Gender as Self-Construal

How does is the self-concept affect by schematic processing?

· Content: Individuals use categories to not only understand the world around them but also to classify the self.

· Structure/Organization: As individuals define self/non-self, men and women do so in very different ways.

A. “Gendered selves”

· Men: independent, individualistic, separate, egocentric, etc.

· Women: interdependent, relational, collectivist, communal, etc

B. Consequences

1.Cognition

2. empathy and social sensitivity

3. communication

C. Strengths/Contributions

1. more social in orientation than Freudian

2. Not so much a gendered personality, but a way of orienting the self toward the world that just happens to be associated/related to gender

IV. Gender Role Theories

A. Early Gender Role Theories

1. Societal perspective – two primary functions within society: reproduction and production

2. Criticisms

· Inadequate attention to inequality – how did one get more power than the other?

· Challenge to the system seen as going against the basic needs of society

· If so functional, why did so many people have a problem with it?

B. New and Improved (?) Gender Role Theories

1. Gender roles are social roles

· Injunctive and descriptive norms

2. How does this apply to gender?

· Homemaker-provider roles -> communal-agentic characteristics

3. How does inequality fit in here?

· High status -> agentic characteristics

4. How/Why do Stereotypes produce stereotypical behavior?

· Expectancy confirmation

· Self-concept

5. In sum …

6. Strengths

· Focus on social organization instead of biology and psychology

7. Criticisms

· Dichotomous nature of gender presumes dichotomous personalities

· Assumes all people fit neatly into their gender roles – ignores flexibility to these roles

· Weak integration of status and power – how is it that men have these privileged positions?

D. Cons

1. still focus on the individual – which helps to address variability across people but not variability across situations.

2. little discussion of power