PSY 1200 Lecture : Chapter 12
28 May 2023
School
Department
Course
Professor
1 Biological,
Social, and
Cognitive
Influences on
Gender
Gender refers to the characteristics of people as males and females. Gender
identity involves a sense of one’s own gender, including knowledge,
understanding, and acceptance of being male or female (Brannon, 2017; Perry,
2012). Gender roles are sets of expectations that prescribe how females or males
should think, act, and feel (Best & Puzio, 2019). During the preschool years, most
children increasingly act in ways that match their culture’s gender roles. Gender-
typing refers to acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role. For
example, fighting is more characteristic of a traditional masculine role and crying
is more characteristic of a traditional feminine role (Helgeson, 2017).
One aspect of gender identity involves knowing whether you are a boy or a girl.
Until recently, it was thought that this aspect of gender identity emerged at about
2½ years of age. However, a longitudinal study that explored the acquisition of
gender labels in infancy and their implications for gender-typed play revealed
that gender identity likely emerges before children are 2 years old (Zosuls &
others, 2009). In this study, infants began using gender labels on average at 19
months of age, with girls beginning to use gender labels earlier than boys. This
gender difference became present at 17 months and increased at 21 months. Use
of gender labels was linked to gender-typed play, indicating that knowledge of
gender categories may affect gender-typing earlier than age 2. Another study
revealed that sex-typed behavior (boys playing with cars and girls with jewelry,
for example) increased during the preschool years, and children who engaged in
the most sex-typed behavior during the preschool years were still doing so at 8
years of age (Golombok & others, 2008).
BIOLOGICAL
INFLUENCES
It was not until the 1920s that researchers confirmed the existence of
human sex chromosomes, the genetic material that determines our sex.
Humans normally have 46 chromosomes, arranged in pairs. A 23rd pair
with two X-shaped chromosomes produces a female. A 23rd pair with an
X chromosome and a Y chromosome produces a male.
Hormones
The two classes of hormones that have the most influence on gender are
estrogens and androgens. Both estrogens and androgens occur in
females and males, but in very different concentrations—typically based
on the sex they were assigned at birth (female or male).
Estrogens primarily influence the development of female physical sex
characteristics and help regulate the menstrual cycle. Estrogens are a
general class of hormones. An example of an important estrogen is
estradiol. In females, estrogens are produced mainly by the ovaries.
Androgens primarily promote the development of male genitals and
secondary sex characteristics. One important androgen is testosterone.
Androgens are produced by the adrenal glands in males and females, and
by the testes in males.
During the first few weeks of gestation, female and male embryos look alike.
Male sex organs start to differ from female sex organs when a gene on the Y
chromosome directs a Page 389small piece of tissue in the embryo to turn
into testes. Once the tissue has turned into testes, they begin to secrete
testosterone. Because in females there is no Y chromosome, the tissue turns
into ovaries.
To explore biological influences on gender, researchers have studied
individuals who are exposed to unusual levels of sex hormones early in
development (Hines, 2015; Kung & others, 2018). Here are four
examples of the problems that may occur as a result of such exposure
(Lippa, 2005, pp. 122–124, 136–137):
developmental connection
Biological Processes
The genetic difference in males and females occurs in the 23rd
pair of chromosomes: the male’s Y chromosome is smaller than
the female’s X chromosome. Connect to “Biological
Beginnings.”
● Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Some girls have this
condition, which is caused by a genetic defect that causes
increased androgen production beginning prenatally (Deeb &
others, 2019; de Jesus, Costa, & Dekemacher, 2019). Their
adrenal glands enlarge, resulting in abnormally high levels of
androgens. Although CAH girls are XX females, they vary in how
much their genitals look like male or female genitals. Their
genitals may be surgically altered to look more like those of a
typical female (Iovino & others, 2019; Walia & others, 2018).
Although CAH girls usually grow up to think of themselves as
girls and women, they are less content with being a female and
show a stronger interest in being a male than non-CAH girls (Li,
