PSY 351 Chapter Notes - Chapter 14: Interpersonal Communication, Femininity, Masculinity
Document Summary
Gender roles - expectation within a culture of behavior specific to one gender. Children and adults acquire and maintain gender-appropriate behaviors largely through operant conditioning and observational learning. Child must first notice that a behavior is performed more often by one gender than the other. People who act in ways that fit the traditional role expectations for men were classified as masculine and those who acted like the traditional role expectations were feminine. Many researchers prefer the terms agency and communion. Agency - independence, assertiveness, and control (similar to masculinity) Communion - attachment, cooperation, and interpersonal communication (similar to felinity) Research supports the notion that masculinity and femininity are best thought of as independent concepts. Researchers find that women tend to increase in both masculinity and femininity as they move through their middle adult years. People experience the highest level of wellbeing when they are both masculine and feminine, when they fall in androgynous category.
