Biosocial approach to gender development
Biosocial Theory
Money and Erhardt (1972)
Biological male or
female is born
Social labelling
Differentialtreatment
Interact with
BiologicalFactors
e.g. hormones
A biosocial approach
looks at the interaction
between biological &
social factors
Both are seen as important
in determining behaviour –
so not just a direct influence of biology
Example – adults respond
differently to a babyThis response is based
on whether the baby
is biologically male or female
So sex is as important
as temperament in the
way adults respond
Sexual stereotypes do influence
BUT do these expectations
lead to the differences in children
Biosocial approach
• Gender is determined by both biological and social factors working in conjunction with each other to produce gender identity.
• The interaction between biological and social factors is important
• Perceptions of biological sex influence how a child is treated . Therefore gender is partly socially constructed
Schaffer (2004)Baby ‘x’ experiments
Series of studies started in 1970s
Looked at influence of child’s
sex & treatment by parents & other adults
200+ adults (m & f) shown video of a 9 month old babyBaby intro’d as a boy (David) to some pts and as girl (Dana) to other pts
Baby shown interacting
with range of toys, to a loud buzzer etc
Adult asked to judge emotion of baby
for each interaction
Results showed that presumed gender
influenced response
E.g. When ‘David’ cried at the jack-in-the-box most labelled it as anger
For ‘Dana’ the same behaviour was labelled as fear
So differences between m & f babies are in the eye of the beholder
Another study within this
experiment is Smith & Lloyd (1978)
Babies dressed in unisex snow suits & given names that either matched their true gender or went against it
Found baby given toys that
matched gender of name
Also boys treated more vigorously than girls
So perceived biological make-up affects social
environment
as a result of actions of others to them
Wetherell and Edley 1999
• Offered support for the biosocial view that gender behaviour is flexible.
• Several different styles of masculinity being exhibited by men – sporty, new man, unconventional, traditional – indicated gender role is not fixed exclusively by biology.
AO2BUT
Not all studies support the biosocial view
Bower et al (1993)
Found one year olds prefer to watch same gender children,
suggesting that initially biological innate factors dominate.
A02:David Reimer
• There has been controversy over Money’s insistence that gender role identity can be learned/socialised.
• Money’s study of ‘Brenda’ (Money used the name Joan) showed that actually -biology was more important than socialisation
• David Reimer knew he wasn’t female and reverted back to a biological male
• This research evidence supports biological determinism.
A02:Problematic use of intersex individuals
• Money et al collected other evidence to support their theory - yet still all derived from the study of abnormal individuals such as those with AIS or CAH. Such evidence may not be relevant to understanding normal gender development.
Social Role Theory
Eagly and Wood (1999)
Evolved physicaldifferences between
men & women
Men assigned socialrole of hunter &
women social role ofhomemaker
Psychologicaldifferences then
emerge from thesesocial role
Assignments.
Social role theory –Eagly & Wood (2002)
Suggest that physical differences between
males & females cause psychological
differences
Psychological differences are not innate
– they are the result of the different roles men and women are given
Male roles are based on physical strength, size & speed E.g. efficient hunters & providers
Female roles based on ability to give birth & breast feed
therefore they areefficient at raising
children
E.g. In Western culture
babies can be bottle fed
Result – women can go back
to work, men can help with childcare
This theory would suggest that as females
take on more male roles, their
psychological attributes will change
Support from Konrad (2000) who found
that females increasingly value
leadership, power & prestige
– stereotypically male
• Equal Pay
• Maternity cover
Women in war time
• Mechanics • Engineers • Tank drivers • Building ships • Working in factories -
making bombs and aircraft parts
• Air raid wardens • Driving fire engines • Plumbers • Ambulance drivers • WRVS volunteers • Nurses
AO2
•Luxen (2007): criticises Eagly & Wood•Suggests this theory cannot explain the role of hormones in pre-natal development or different m & f behaviours induced by hormones e.g. menstruation•Also young children choose toys which are sex typed •So biological rather than psychological as takes time to socialise
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