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Chapter 5

Chapter 5. Gender Comparisons: Social Behavior, Personality, Communication, and Cognition. _____________________. Gender-Related Social Behaviors and Personality Traits. Aggression: Behavior that is intended to hurt someone, either physically or verbally

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Chapter 5

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  1. Chapter 5 Gender Comparisons: Social Behavior, Personality, Communication, and Cognition _____________________

  2. 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 ________________________

  3. 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 _______________________

  4. 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 ______________________

  5. 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 ___________________________

  6. 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 ______________________

  7. 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 _________________________

  8. 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 _____________________

  9. 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 _______________________

  10. Gender Comparison of Cognitive Abilities No gender differences in intelligence • Gender differences in cognitive abilities generally small • Cognitive skills develop in social context ________________________

  11. 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 _____________________

  12. 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 ______________________

  13. 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 ______________________

  14. 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 ______________________

  15. 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 _____________________

  16. 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 _______________________

  17. 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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