Sex differences

1. Sex differences Messinger Gender film clips Bonobo

2. Sex differences • What infant sex differences are described by Weinberg et al. find? How can biological factors and differential social expectations influence sex differences? Describe Maccoby’s theory of peer group sex-segregation and socialization. That is, how does children's peer play reflect and create gender differences? What is relational victimization? What is the male brain theory of autism? Describe empathizing and systemizing.

3. Biology's role • “Experiments with nonhuman primates show that administering testosterone to female fetuses late in gestation yields more typically masculine behavior.” • Placement of rat fetuses in utero influences sex-typed behavior • Many sex differences are continuous, not categorical • E.g. estrogen and testosterone

4. Male newborns • ‘Less responsive to social stimuli • less able to maintain eye contact • Greater difficulties in maintaining affective regulation • Smile less and display more irritability, crying, facial grimacing, and lability of emotional states • more rapid buildup of arousal • engage in less self-comforting’ • Weinberg et al., p. 175

5. Face-to-face (Weinberg et al.)

6. Mothers more likely to • talk to • engage in face-to-face interaction • hold and touch • their male infants • possibly in an attempt to soothe them

7. Differential social expectations • Pervasive: TV, media • Experimentally demonstrated • Define normative expectations of everyday behavior and • Define boundaries of acceptable behavior • At the most intimate and the most mundane levels

8. Extreme male brain theory of autism Baron-Cohen

9. Empathizing (theory of mind) • “Empathizing is the capacity to predict and to respond to the behavior of agents (usually people) by inferring their mental states and responding to these with an appropriate emotion.”

10. Systemizing • “Systemizing is the capacity to predict and to respond to the behavior of nonagentive deterministic systems by analyzing input-operation-output relations and inferring the rules that govern such systems.”

11. Females and males • “At a population level, females are stronger empathizers and males are stronger systemizers. • The ‘‘extreme male brain’’ theory posits that autism represents an extreme of the male pattern (impaired empathizing and enhanced systemizing). • Specific aspects of autistic neuroanatomy may also be extremes of typical male neuroanatomy.”

12. You can be high in both… or low in both • Higher on graph – more empathizing • Lower – less empathizing • More to right – higher systemizing • More left – less systemizing

13. Autistic people show lowest Empathizing (empathizing minus systemizing)

14. AS/HFA>Male>Female

15. AS/HFA>Male>Female

16. “Biology and social environments jointly influence gender development” • “Direct socialization into gender roles by parents doesn't appear to be as singular an influence on children's sex-typed preferences and behaviors as once was thought”, said Eleanor Maccoby. • BY SIRI CARPENTERMonitor staff

17. Maccoby • "By and large, the daily routines of family life do not have much impact on the strong tendency of children to separate into same-sex groups, and probably not on the distinctive activities enacted by male and female groups," Maccoby said.

18. Gender segregation • Research on gender typing in individuals is inconclusive • Clustering of gender-typed characteristics weak • Relations to family characteristics weak • Same-sex groupings predominate • From 3 – 12, • Cross-cultural phenomenon

19. Constructivist argument • Innate gender-specific proclivities • Lead to same sex segregation • Which creates gender-specific socialization • Children create themselves playing with each other • IS THIS POSSIBLE?

20. Martin and Ruble • What age do infants understand gender? • How stable are gender roles? • Maccoby (2002) • Longitudinal studies of gender role stability • Studies suggest some level of stability • Lack of longitudinal data with enough detail Ande Bustamante

21. Boys Larger groups More conflict/competition Cohesiveness More autonomous from adults Girls Smaller, more dyadic Less conflict, more responsive Less goal-oriented, more intimate Same-sex groupings • Differential exposure to these groups influences individual behavior

22. Cross-sex friendships • Pre-school • Elementary school • Middle school • High school / Adolescence …

23. Change • 12th grade • Boys 5 hrs a week w girls. • Girls 10 hrs a week w boys. • Larger network of other-sex friends increases odds of romantic relationship

24. Martin and Ruble • Dynamic system approach to gender research • Long term changes and short term interactions. • Walking, reaching, and word learning Ande Bustamante

25. Changing functions of romance • Adolescents mention affiliative features • Adolescent romantic relationships are peer relationships • Young adults mention trust & support

26. Same-sex relationships • Normative challenges in the context of disapproval/restriction • Female gender identity / relationships • Non-linear course • Male gender identity / relationships • More-linear course • Same-sex and mixed-sex parenting indistinguishable

27. Female Bisexuality From Adolescence to Adulthood: Results From a 10-Year Longitudinal Study. Lisa Diamond • 3 conceptualizations of bisexuality 1. “Transitional phase” 2. Third type of sexual orientation 3. Heightened capacity for fluidity • Present study • 79 non-heterosexual women • 10 years, 5 assessment points. At each: • Label self sexual identity • Lesbian, bisexual, “unlabeled” • % daily attractions that are same-sex • #of sexual contacts with men & women (since last assessment) Nayfeld

28. Identity • Bisexual and unlabeled women more likely to change identity labels, χ2(2, N = 79) = 8.3, p < .02. • Changing identity • 73% of T1 bisexuals • 83% of T1 “unlabeled” • 48% of T1 lesbians • More likely to switch between bisexual and unlabeled IDs than to settle on lesbian or heterosexual labels. • 2/3 of ID changes: adopting bisexual or unlabeled identity. • % identifying as bisexual or “unlabeled” • T1T2 T3T4T5 57% 47% 51% 57% 58% Nayfeld

29. Sexual Attractions • Lesbian women had significantly higher same-sex attractions • Same-sex attractions declined significantly among lesbians only • Women who gave up bisexual/lesbian IDs still reported bisexual patterns of attraction in T5 Nayfeld

30. Sexual Behavior • Consistent decline in same sex behavior among all women • NOT matched by a parallel decline in same-sex attractions • In 1995, behavior evenly distributed • By 2005, bimodal distribution (either exclusively with men or women) • By 2005, most women involved in long term monogamous relationships. • 70% of T5 lesbians, 89% of bisexuals, 85% of unlabeled women, 67% of heterosexuals • By 2005, 60% of T1 lesbians had had sexual contact with a man, and 30% had been romantically involved with a man • Resolved by change in identity to bisexual/unidentified Nayfeld

31. Discussion • Results consistent with both “third orientation” and “heightened fluidity” models, not “transitional stage” model • Bisexuality as stable pattern of attraction to both sexes, with balance varying based on personal and situational factors. • Identity change more common than identity stability • ID change reflects shifting experiences • Adopt labels consistent with relationship status • Seek to maximize fit with own prevailing pattern of attraction/behavior Nayfeld

32. Bonobo chimps (Pan paniscus) • The species is distinguished by an upright gait, a matriarchal and egalitarian culture, and the prominent role of sexual activity in their society. • one of the two species comprising the chimpanzee genus, Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the Common Chimpanzee. • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo

33. Bonobo videos • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eubDSQrFako sex, walking, wonder • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_izpq0Ar-Y Evolution: "Why Sex?" [Chimps vs. Bonobos], evolutionary speculation