PSY 339 Ch 6 and 7

biological and physiological differences between men and women, the most obvious being anatomical differences in reproductive, endocrine and biochemical systems.

• roles that are related to these biological differences;
• example: women and breastfeeding.

awareness of reproductive roles (men who are aware they can get a woman pregnant; women who are aware that they can become pregnant).

behaviors or patterns of activities that society or culture deems appropriate for men and women—may or may not be related to sex roles (although they often are).

the degree to which a person adopts the gender-specific behaviors ascribed by his or her culture (boys don’t cry; women do).

the degree to which a person has awareness that he or she adopts a particular gender role.

• psychological or behavioral characteristics typically associated with men and women
• Example: women love to shop, men like sports

• Differences in gender roles exist universally
• Those differences expressed are culturally variant
• Georgas found that across 30 countries found that most mothers did the housework

• Finances, expressive issues, and childcare.
• Fathers were concerned with finances first, expressive issues second, and childcare last in  all countries
• Mothers are concerned with childcare only in less-affluent countries.

• Study of 30 countries found high pancultural agreement on adjectives used to describe males and females
• Concluded that gender stereotypes are relatively stable across cultures.
• Men viewed as active, strong, critical, conscientious, extraverted, and open
• Women viewed passive, weak, nurturing, adaptive, agreeable, and neurotic 
• How the culture valued these stereotypes varied.

• judgments about what males and females ought to be like or ought to do
• Study by William and Best over 14 countries were either egalitarian or traditional

• a tendency toward less differentiation between males and females on various psychological characteristics
• Highly egalitarian: Netherlands, Germany and Finland
• Countries with relatively high socioeconomic development, a high proportion of Protestant Christians, a low proportion of Muslims, a high percentage of women employed outside the home, a high proportion of women enrolled in universities, and a greater degree of individualism were associated with more egalitarian scores
• Adolescents from wealthier and more individualistic countries were less traditional

• a tendency toward gender roles that are consistent with the traditional or universal  norms found in the earlier studies
• Highly Traditional countries: Nigeria, Pakistan and India
• Highly traditional cultures value chastity because they associate it with honor.

• Degree to which culture will foster, encourage  maintain differences between male and females.
• Masculine attitudes about sex include moralistic, double standards (women should be virgins at marriage but men should not), and norms concerning the passivity of women
• High in masculine: Japan, Austria, Venezuela, Italy
• Low Masculinty have a matter-of-fact attitude about sexuality, a single standard concerning sex for men and women, and  norms that encouraged an active role for women in society. 
• Low Masculinity: Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden

• Common American folklore is that males are better at mathematical and spatial reasoning tasks and females are better at verbal comprehension tasks. Tests use to support this, but gap is narrowing.
• Not universal cross-culturally
• No gender difference in spatial abilities in Inuit culture in Canada and Ecuador (women engage in tasks that require spatial abilities)
• Males did better in tight, sedentary, and agriculturally based cultures;Females did better in loose, nomadic, and hunting and gathering based cultures

• Common gender-role stereotypes is that females more conforming and obedient than males
• In tighter cultures, females more conformists than males
• In looser cultures, less gender difference in conformity or males more conformist.

gender identity involving endorsement of both male and female characteristics

concept which incorporates many traditional expectations of the male gender role, such as being unemotional, strong, authoritative, aggressive, and masculine in Latino culture

• Common gender-role stereotypes is that males
• more aggressive than females
• Males account for a disproportionate amount of violent crime in both industrialized and nonindustrialized countries

• FGM is practiced in some African, Middle
• Eastern, Asian, South American, and Pacific cultures. It can be carried out in settings as wide ranging as hospitals, to homes (with no anesthesia, antiseptics, or analgesics).
• The practice is associated with values: honor, virtuousness, chastity, and it is thought to promote marital fidelity. 
• It enforces passive roles for women.

• Many traditional cultures abhor homosexuality and it can sometimes be punishable by death or imprisonment (certain countries in Africa and the Middle East). 
• Less traditional, egalitarian cultures are more accepting of homosexuality, although even within those (i.e. the US), homosexuality is viewed negatively

attempting to steal another person’s mate.

• suggests that men prefer younger women who are chaste so that they can bear children
• women prefer mates who can provide for children long term.

According to WHO defined as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity"

• View health in the US
• Disease results from specific, identifiable cause (pathogens) originating from inside the body

• In US, definition of health changing to include presence of positive states
• A positive state of health that is more than just the absence of disease

• Chinese concept; Chinese beleive that our bodies are made up of these two forces, and that health is achieved by balancing them
• Yin is dark, feminine, passive energy
• Yang is active, masculine, light energy

• Pitta- Warm and Wet
• Vatta- cold and dry
• Kapha- cold and wet

• The body is based of the balance of the 4 humors
• Black Bile
• Yellow Bile
• Phlegm
• Blood

• inverse relationship between social class and body weight.
• In US and Europe (wealthier people tend to be thinner).
• The opposite is true in other cultures (wealthier people tend to be heavier than poorer people).

Type A personality and cardiovascular disease—individuals who are pressed for time, always in a rush, agitated and irritable (type A personality syndrome) have a higher rate of cardiovascular disease (heart attack, stroke) than non type A personalities

• Unemployment is linked to mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer
• Goal frustration and negative life events are related to gastrointestinal illnesses
• Stress related to heart attack and common colds
• Bereavement is related to immune functioning
• Pessimistic explanatory styles are related to physical illnesses in general

Individuals with fewest social ties had highest mortality rate and those with most social ties had lowest rate

• Higher rates of infections and parasitic diseases
• Lower rates of malignant neoplasm, circulatory disease, and heart disease
• Example. India

• Higher rates of malignant neoplasms and heart disease
• Lower rates of infections and parasitic diseases, cerbrovascular disease

• Higher rates of heart disease
• lower rate of cerebrovascular disease and respiratory disease

Higher rates of cerebrovascular disease

• Americans have more anti-overweight attitudes than Ghanaians and Mexican-Americans
• European Americans reported greater levels of disordered eating and dieting behaviors than Asian and African Americans
• Exposure to Western cultures related to  disturbed eating attitudes and eating disorders

• Sociocultural change Determinent (e.g., Canadian Inuits, Native Americans)
• Religious beliefs (e.g., Muslim, Jewish, Christians

• Entrepreneurial- Consumer Health Care found in US, Philippines, and Ghana
• Welfare-oriented-Sliding scale for health care; those who can afford it have to pay those who can't do not have to; France, Brazil, Burma
• Comprehensive- Healthcare is free to everyone; Sweden, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka
• Socialist-Comprehensive however, they Government can tell you what you can and cannot do to you body; Former Soviet Union, Cuba, China