Transcript Chapter 5 - Suffolk County Community College

Chapter 5
Gender Comparisons: Social Behavior,
Personality, Communication, and Cognition
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Gender-Related Social Behaviors
and Personality Traits
Aggression: Behavior that is intended to hurt
someone, either physically or verbally
Boys demonstrate higher levels of physical aggression than
girls across age, socioeconomic group, and culture
Girls demonstrate higher levels of relational aggression than
boys: Harming others through nonphysical hurtful
manipulation of peer relationships
Explanations for gender differences in aggression
Biological: Testosterone
Environmental: Adults less tolerant of physical aggression
in girls than in boys
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Gender-Related Social Behaviors
and Personality Traits
Prosocial behavior: Voluntary behavior intended
to benefit someone else
Girls help or comfort others more than boys
Men help others more than women, especially in dangerous
situations
Women are more likely to provide psychological support than
men
Explanations
Girls expected to be nurturant and kind
Boys more rewarded for rescuing and chivalry
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Gender-Related Social Behaviors
and Personality Traits
Influenceability
Women more easily influenced than men
Persuasion studies: Small gender differences
Group pressure conformity studies: Small but
stronger gender differences
Explanations
Females socialized to yield to social influence, males
socialized to wield social influence
Accepting others’ views maintains social harmony
Individuals with lower social status tend to conform to
those with higher social status
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Gender-Related Social Behaviors
and Personality Traits
Emotionality
Are females more emotional than males?
Fear
Anger
Are females more likely to express their feelings than males?
Are females more empathic than males?
If assessed overtly: yes
If assessed unobtrusively: no (
Emotional socialization
Parents more accepting of fear in girls, anger in boys
Parents encourage boys to control their emotions and girls
to express their emotions
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Gender-Related Social Behaviors
and Personality Traits
Moral reasoning
Males show higher levels of moral reasoning based on justice
than females
Females show higher levels of moral reasoning based on
caring than males
Research generally does not support either view
Results vary across studies or find only slight gender
differences
Moral reasoning appears to be more dependent on context
of situation than on gender of individual
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Communication Style
Verbal communication
Talkativeness
Stereotype: Women talk more than men
Research: Men talk more than women, speak more
frequently, and speak for longer time
Interrupting
Affiliative interruption: to show interest and affirm what
the other is saying
More common among females than among males
Intrusive interruption: To usurp the floor and control the
conversation
More common among males than among females
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Communication Style
Verbal communication, continued
Conversational style
Females’ speech more emotional, polite, soothing; males’
speech more direct, goal-oriented, abrupt
Is females’ speech more tentative than males’ ? (
Females have lower self-esteem
Females have lower social status
Speech style is communal, not tentative
Conversational content
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Communication Style
Nonverbal communication
Demonstrations of interest and warmth more likely among
females than males
Mutual eye contact
Smiling and leaning
Sensitivity to nonverbal messages and emotions
Explanations for differences
Socialization toward social concern among girls
Females’ subordinate social status
Touch
Many different kinds of touch
Importance of gender and social status
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Gender Comparison of
Cognitive Abilities
No gender differences in intelligence
Gender differences in cognitive abilities generally small
Cognitive skills develop in social context
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Gender Comparison of
Cognitive Abilities
Verbal ability: Language skills such as
vocabulary, reading comprehension, spelling,
etc.
Gender differences appear very early
Girls more vocal and verbally skilled than boys
Explanations
Parents vocalize more with girls than with boys
Parents believe girls are better than boys at language and
reading
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Gender Comparison of
Cognitive Abilities
Visual-spatial ability: visualizing objects or
shapes and mentally rotating them
Males outperform females in many, though not all, areas of
visual-spatial ability
Mental rotation: Largest difference
Spatial perception
Spatial visualization
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Gender Comparison of
Cognitive Abilities
Visual-spatial ability, continued
Explanations for gender differences
Biological
Genes and hormones
Lateralization
Environmental
Gender stereotypes
Differential encouragement in gender-typed activities
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Gender Comparison of
Cognitive Abilities
Mathematics ability
Meta-analysis by Janet Hyde
No gender differences in understanding mathematical
concepts at all ages
Higher problem solving ability in boys after age 15
Differences in studies from general population versus
highly select samples
Gender differences in mathematics performance have
decreased over time
Girls receive higher grades in math than boys
Magnitude of gender difference in mathematics achievement
differs across cultures
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Gender Comparison of
Cognitive Abilities
Mathematics ability, continued
Factors associated with math performance
Strong association between math achievement test scores
and number of math courses taken
Some college women avoid math and science courses
Gender differences in mathematics self-efficacy
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Gender Comparison of
Cognitive Abilities
Mathematics ability, continued
Explanations for gender differences
Biological
Very little empirical support
Environmental
Parental encouragement and expectations
Teacher encouragement and expectations
Stereotype threat: members of stereotyped group
underperform on tests because they are anxious about
whether their performance will confirm a negative
stereotype about their group’s ability
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Gender Comparison of
Cognitive Abilities
Mathematics ability, continued
Gender equity in science and math education
Increasing emphasis toward gender equity
What can teachers do to make math and science
classrooms more “girl friendly”?
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