Lecture I & Ii

GENDER ISSUES
IN PSYCHOLOGY
P Y- 4 0 7
SADIA AHMAD
APA AND GENDER ISSUES
• There are two Divisions of APA that directly deal with these issues:
• Division 35: Society for the Psychology of Women, established 1973.

• Division 51: Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity, established 1995.
SCOPE OF THE SUBJECT
• Address misconceptions: Not just study of women

• Introduce a new approach to understanding human behavior and mental processes
• Understand factors that are responsible for the distinct masculine and feminine roles
• Familiarize with the impact of socio-cultural and psychological factors on the gender roles and
the status of gender in a given society
• Develop an understanding of gender relations in the society
• Learn multi disciplinary approach
• Human resource management
SOME QUESTIONS TO PONDER
• Why are women more conscious about body weight than men?
• Why don’t men wear make up as women do?
• Can men become good “mothers”?
• Why are women not hired as guards?
• Why no men sew clothes at home but most professional tailors are men?
• Why most chefs are men but very few men cook at home?
• Why are women considered talkative whereas on average men talk more?
The answers to these questions pertain to societal role allocation and shaping.
DEFINITIONS
SEX AND GENDER
SEX
• Sex refers to the biological categories of female and male, categories distinguished by genes,
chromosomes, and hormones. Culture has no influence on one’s sex. Sex is a relatively stable
category that is not easily changed.
GENDER
• Gender, by contrast, is a much more fluid category. It refers to the social categories of male and
female. These categories are distinguished from one another by a set of psychological features
and role attributes that society has assigned to the biological category of sex.
SEX-RELATED BEHAVIOR
• This term implies the behavior corresponds to sex, but it does not say
anything about the cause or the etiology of the difference.
GENDER ROLE
• A role is a social position accompanied by a set of norms or

expectations. Whereas, gender role is the expectations that go along
with being male or female.
MASCULINITY VS FEMININITY
• Masculinity includes the traits, behaviors, and interests that society has assigned to the male
gender role. A masculine trait is self-confidence; a masculine behavior is aggression; and a
masculine interest is watching sports.
• Femininity includes the traits, behaviors, and interests assigned to the female gender role. A
feminine trait is emotional; a feminine behavior is helping someone; and a feminine interest is
cooking.
• Androgynous—Term describing one who incorporates both masculine and feminine qualities.
INTRAROLE/INTERROLE CONFLICT
• When expectations within a role conflict we experience intrarole conflict.
• When the expectations of one role conflict with the expectations of another
role, we experience interrole conflict.
GENDER-ROLE IDENTITY
• Gender identity or gender-role identity is our perception of the self as psychologically female
or male.
• There are people who are biologically male but feel as if they are female and wish they were
female, or viceversa.
TRANSGENDER/TRANSSEXUAL
• Transgendered individuals are people who live with a gender identity that does not correspond
to their biological sex.
• That is, their biological sex is incongruent with their psychological sex.
• Transsexuals also have a gender identity that does not correspond to their biological sex but
they have hormonal or surgical treatment to change their sex to correspond with their gender
identity.
GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER
• There is a classification of psychopathology in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) called Gender Identity Disorder, which refers to people who are
uncomfortable with the biological sex to which they have been assigned. (Book 1 page 8)
• DSM-5 aims to avoid stigma and ensure clinical care for individuals who see and feel
themselves to be a different gender than their assigned gender. It replaces the diagnostic name
“gender identity disorder” with “gender dysphoria,” as well as makes other important
clarifications in the criteria.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
• Sexual orientation refers to whether people prefer to have other-sex or same-sex persons as
partners for love and affection. Heterosexuals prefer other-sex partners; homosexuals prefer
same-sex partners; and bisexuals are accepting of other-sex and same-sex partners.
SEX TYPING
• Sex typing (which really should be referred to as gender typing) is the process by which sex-
appropriate preferences, behaviors, skills, and self-concept are acquired.
• A male who thinks, feels, and behaves in masculine ways and a female who thinks, feels, and
behaves in feminine ways are each sex-typed.
• A male who acts feminine and a female who acts masculine are each said to be cross-sex-typed.
• Someone who incorporates both masculine and feminine qualities is not sex-typed and is often
referred to as androgynous.

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GENDER ISSUES

• Division 35: Society for the Psychology of Women, established 1973.

• Address misconceptions: Not just study of women

• A role is a social position accompanied by a set of norms or

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