Transcript C5_Notes_SV
Social Psychology David Myers 10e Copyright 2010 McGraw-Hill Companies 1 Chapter Five • Genes, Culture, and Gender 2 How Are We Influenced by Human Nature and Cultural Diversity? • Genes, Evolution, and Behavior – Natural selection • Process by which heritable traits that best enable organisms to survive and reproduce in particular environments are passed to ensuing generations – Evolutionary psychology • Study of the evolution of cognition and behavior using principles of natural selection 3 How Are We Influenced by Human Nature and Cultural Diversity? • Culture and Behavior – Culture • Enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next – Cultural diversity » Our behavior is socially programmed » One in ten Americans is an immigrant 4 How Are We Influenced by Human Nature and Cultural Diversity? Culture and Behavior Norms: Expected Behavior Norms Standards for accepted and expected behavior Personal space • Buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies 5 How Are We Influenced by Human Nature and Cultural Diversity? • Culture and Behavior – Cultural Similarity • • • • • • Universal friendship norms Universal trait dimensions Universal social belief dimensions Universal status norms Incest taboo Norms of war 6 How Are Gender Similarities and Differences Explained? • Gender – Characteristics, whether biological or socially influenced, by which people define male and female 7 How Are Gender Similarities and Differences Explained? • • • • Women Describe themselves in more relational terms Experience more relationship-linked emotions More empathetic Gravitate toward jobs that reduce inequalities Men • Focus on tasks and on connections with large groups • Respond to stress with “fight or flight” response • Gravitate toward jobs that enhance inequalities 8 How Are Gender Similarities and Differences Explained? • Social Dominance – Men are socially dominant – Women’s wages in industrial countries average 77 percent of men’s – Men tend to be more autocratic; women more democratic – Men take more risks 9 How Are Gender Similarities and Differences Explained? • Aggression – Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone – In the U.S., the arrest ratio of male to female is 10 to 1 • When provocation occurs the gender gap shrinks – Women are slightly more likely to commit indirect aggressive acts • Spreading malicious gossip 10 How Are Gender Similarities and Differences Explained? • Sexuality – Men: • More often think about and initiate sex – Women: • Are more inspired by emotional passion 11 Evolution and Gender: Doing What Comes Naturally? • Gender and Mating Preferences – Men seek out quantity • Spreading genes widely – Women seek out quality • Protecting and nurturing of offspring 12 Evolution and Gender: Doing What Comes Naturally? • Reflections on Evolutionary Psychology – Evolutionary psychologists sometimes start with an effect and work backward to construct an explanation • Way to overcome the “hindsight bias” is to image things turning our otherwise – Evolutionary psychologists disagree with this theory 13 Sample Predictions Derived from Evolutionary Psychology Figure 5.6 14 Evolution and Gender: Doing What Comes Naturally? • Gender and Hormones – Gender gap in aggression seems influenced by testosterone – As humans age they become more androgynous • Mixing both masculine and feminine characteristics 15 Culture and Gender: Doing as the Culture Says? • Gender Role – Set of behavior expectations (norms) for males and females – Gender roles vary over culture – Gender roles vary over time Figure 5.7 16 Culture and Gender: Doing as the Culture Says? • Peer-Transmitted Culture – 50 percent of individual variations in personality traits is by parental nurturing – The other 50 percent is peer influence 17 What Can We Conclude about Genes, Culture, and Gender? • Biology and Culture – Biology and experience interact when biological traits influence how the environment reacts Figure 5.8 18