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