Gender
Why study gender differences
•	Because people believe they exist
•	Possible evolutionary significance
•	Male dominance and importance of alternative views
Cautions
•	Differences are rarely large or socially important
•	May change over time due to socialization
•	May be different at different ages
•	May exist more in shapes of distribution and at extremes
•	Generally do not justify discrimination
The genetics of gender
Xs and Ys
•	General rule is that 1 Y makes a male
•	X and Y genes do not generally match up
•	X contains relatively little genetic information
•	But Y contains a great deal
Consequences of a single X
•	Any mutations on the X will be expressed
•	Consequently a large number of sex-related diseases which affect largely men
•	Muscular dystrophy
•	Hemophilia
•	Color blindness
Why men die young
•	No protection from a second X
•	More mutations in male germ line
•	Violence
•	Testosterone affects immune system
Determination of gender
•	The Sry region of the X
•	Turns on other genes
•	Other genes promote development of testes and other male equipment
•	Testes produce testosterone
•	Which affects brain structures
•	And other genes for muscle development and the like
•	Female is default
•	X chromosome has relatively little to do with sex determination
Are gender differences genetic
•	Relatively few are in an absolute sense
•	Genes may push males and females in different directions
•	But
•	May be overridden by environmental factor, learning, and culture
•	And interact with environmental pushes and pulls
•	Maccoby suggests that boys and especially girls play differently in mixed gender and same sex groups
•	Single sex colleges
Major gender differences
•	Verbal abilities
•	Mathematical abilities
•	Spatial abilities
•	Social skills
Language use
•	M use more assertive language
•	Fs more socially enabling language
•	F use language more in competition
Verbal abilities
•	No major differences on complex tests such as SAT – and decreasing over time
•	F are better at basic skills
•	Correct pronunciation
•	Ease and speed of articulating complex words
•	Discriminating speech sounds
•	Use fewer speech pauses 
•	Related to circulating estrogens
•	F tend to be more bi-lateral in language processing
Math skills
•	F better at basic computation
•	M better at word and more complex problems
•	Differences in SAT greater as SAT scores get higher
•	Means are about the same
•	But 19 of 20 scores of 800 are by males
•	M also more highly represented at low end of math ability
Spatial tasks
•	M better at judging movement and velocity
•	M better at mental rotation
•	M better at memory for location of objects in visual displays
•	M better at map drawing and on learning routes in unfamiliar territory
•	However no differences for many other tasks
Processing of social stimuli
•	From very early age boys focus more on objects and girls on people
•	F better at communicating and decoding nonverbal cues
•	Men tend to be better at reading angry expressions of other men
•	Facial processing related to circulating hormone levels and to brain regions
Theory of Mind
•	Girls tend to develop theories earlier and are more sophisticated
•	Implicated in autism and boys much more likely to be affected
Social behavior
•	Males more aggressive and competitive
•	Among children
•	Boys more competitive and sex-stereotyped in play
•	Girls more cooperative
•	Boys play in larger groups
Occupational interests
•	Males more likely to prefer jobs on basis of prestige and income
•	Males more drawn to jobs working with things and females to those working with people
•	Traditionally boys reported a wider range of possible jobs
•	Difference is now greatly reduced
•	And may be reversing
Gender stereotyping
•	Who is stereotyped more
•	Unclear
•	But generally more prescriptions for male behavior
Gender discrimination
•	Strong previously
•	Less so now
•	The gender gap in earnings
•	Equivalent jobs
•	Capital investments
•	“Penalties for child rearing”
•	Paying the price of adapting to male norms
Theories of gender differences
•	Evolution and genetics
•	Social learning and social cognition
•	Social role
•	Peer group influence
Evolution and genetics
•	Gender roles built around reproductive roles
•	Mother nature doesn’t fool around
•	Size differences
•	Violence and prosocial behaviors
•	Differences in cognitive abilities
•	Created by different roles – hunting vs. gathering
Problems with evolutionary accounts
•	May claim too much
•	Assumptions about life in evolutionary times
•	Animal data provide conflicting guidance
•	Little attention to mechanism and nature of causality
Social learning and social cognition -- Bandura
•	Children learn gender roles
•	Imitation of same sexed parent
•	Reward and operant conditioning
•	The media reinforce cultural roles
Problems with social learning/cognition
•	Not clear that children imitate same sexed parents differentially
•	Or that parents treat male and female children differently
•	Almost no evidence that exposure to media has lasting effects
•	Children exhibit sex stereotypic preferences long before they know what gender is
Social role theory – Eagly
•	People are placed into social roles by gender
•	These roles encourage certain behaviors
•	Stereotypes then arise linking these behaviors to gender and not to roles
•	Sex linked roles become prescriptive
•	Rewards for performing “correct” behavior
•	Self-selection into “appropriate” roles
•	Learning of appropriate skills and attitudes
•	Implications for change of stereotypes and behaviors
Criticisms of social role theory
•	Doesn’t explain all aspects of gender differences
•	Cognitive differences
•	Hard to explain how roles arose in the first place
•	A nod in the direction of evolutionary factors
•	Also how perpetrated if people are unhappy with them
Maccoby’s peer theory
•	Boys and girls socialize one another into gender roles
•	Gender segregation early
•	Based initially on play activities 
•	boys are more likely to have rough and tumble play
•	Probably genetic
•	And types of toys
•	Little evidence of parental or teacher involvement in gender roles
Children's groups
•	Types of groups
•	Boys have larger groups organized around games
•	Girls have smaller groups organized around intimacy and sharing
•	Command structures
•	Boys more bossy and imperious
•	Girls more likely to try to warm relationships
Gender segregation
•	By early pre-school active hostility
•	Other gender is alien “cooties”
•	Enormous pressure to conform to sex role of own sex
•	Boys don’t want to play with girls
•	Girls would like to play with boys but are put off
•	Play too active
•	Influence tactics alien
Is gender a social construction
•	Popular theory 
•	The Blank Slate
•	Margaret Mead
•	Radical feminism
•	Clearly wrong at one level
•	Money’s twins –John-Joan-David
•	Other cases
•	But clearly culture builds on biology
•	Go with the flow
•	What is valuable
•	Reinforces gender lessons
Homosexuality
Who is Homosexual – Numbers
•	No clear definition
•	Many figures bandied about
•	Commonly asserted that 10% of men are gay	
•	Kinsey data and biased
•	Some claim less than 1%
•	No real basis
Who is Homosexual – definition
•	Exclusive homosexual behavior?
•	What about bisexuals?
•	And people who are homosexual only under certain circumstances?
•	One or more homosexual experiences?
•	Homosexual arousal and feelings?
National survey on sex
•	Attraction to other men – 6%
•	Sex with a man in the past year – 2%
•	Sex with another man since age 18 – 5%
•	Sex with another man since puberty – 9%
•	Identify self as homosexual – 3%
•	Measures do not provide a perfect scale
•	Conservative definition – define self, have at least one homosexual encounter, and attracted to other men – 2.5%
Characteristics of gay men
•	More feminine in interests, especially occupation
•	Most feminine from a very early age
•	More artistic and interested in arts
•	But hypermasculine gay men as ideal
•	More depressed and anxious even in countries with no strong prejudice
•	More casual sex
•	Before AIDS gay men report 500-1000 sexual partners
•	For heterosexuals less than 10
Causes of homosexuality
•	Almost certainly biological 
•	Not a choice
•	Not easily “cured” with psychotherapy
•	Most gay men report knowing from an early age that they were gay
Experiences
•	Not related to any except father rejection
•	Reverse causality
•	Not more common in sons raised by gay fathers or lesbians
•	Not more common in father absent homes
•	Not related to gay seduction at an early age
The myth of gay seduction
•	Do gay men seduce boys
•	Obviously a few do just as some heterosexual men seduce girls
•	Not common
•	Catholic priests?
Genetic?
•	Concordance rates
•	 for MZ twins is over 50%
•	For DZ twins about 25%
•	Gay gene?
•	One investigator found one on X chromosome
•	Not replicated
•	Increased rates of homosexuality among male relatives of mother
Biological?
•	INAH-3 medial preoptic area of  hypothalamus
•	Much larger in males than in females
•	Also larger in heterosexual than in homosexual men
•	Has a great number of androgen sensitive neurons 
•	And also from amygdala areas concerned with aggression and assertive behavior
•	Stimulation from optic and perhaps smell centers of brain
Fetal development
•	2D:4D ratio
•	Similar in females, smaller in males
•	More similar in females
•	Probably caused by androgens during development
•	Males with many older brothers more likely
•	Testosterone reaction in mother?
Gay rights and homophobia
•	Causes ought not affect attitudes
•	Religious attitudes?
•	Gay marriage