A2 Gender

1. In our western
culture, brainstorm
characteristics of
gender role

2. Cultural differences in gender role
• If there are big differences across cultures in
terms of gender role, it is interesting to
psychologists as this would suggest that
gender is very influenced by nurture. If biology
is the main influence on gender roles, there
will be little variation in gender across
cultures.

3. Cross cultural studies of Gender role
One study which
suggested cross cultural
variation in gender roles
was that of Margaret
Mead’s study of 3 tribes
in New Guinea

4. Mead’s study in Papua New Guinea
My view is that traits
which are considered
masculine or feminine
have no link to our
biological sex
In 1935 I went to
New Guinea
to look at 3 different
tribes who lived totally
independently of each
other within 100 mile
radius

5. Mead (1935)
• Gender roles different to those in western
societies
• Arapesh- men and women fitted feminine
stereotype
• Mundugumor- men and women fitted
masculine stereotype
• Tchambuli- gendered behaviour opposite of
western world

6. We are the
Arapesh
tribe
We are
gentle,
loving &
co-operative
We make sure our
boys & girls are
raised with these
qualities
You might think that
makes them
feminine
Both of us as
parents ‘bear a
child’ & even I
take to my bed
whilst my child
is born

7. I am from the
Mundugumor tribe &
here I am with Margaret
We are ex-cannibals
(So Margaret was lucky!)
Males & females in our tribe
are arrogant, fierce &
quarrelsome
We hate pregnancy &
rearing our children
So we are all masculine?
We hang our babies in rough
baskets against the wall. If
they cry then one of us gives
the basket a scratch

8. I am a member of the
Tchambuli tribe & we
do things a bit
different here
Females are interested in
economic affairs
& they look after trading &
food gathering
Males are
sentimental,
emotional & unable to
make decisions
They sit around in
groups, gossiping &
preening themselves

9. Flaws in Mead’s research
 Non-scientific: findings are unstructured, therefore
have low reliability. Mead could not speak the
language and the people knew they were being
watched.
 Gewertz (1981) observed the Tchambuli in the 1970s and
found males to be more aggressive than females – this suggests
that Mead might have been observing them in a transitory
stage (maybe due to Australian laws on violence)
 Cultural determinism – Mead seems to have over emphasised
the role of cultures (overlooking biology and evolution) – she
saw what she wanted to see..

10. So it seems our
gender roles in USA
aren’t universal
Or are they?
I went to 4 other
cultures in 1949
Samoa, Bali,
Iatmul, Manus
Mmmm. Perhaps I
was wrong about
my strong cultural
determinism view
I now think that
women are more
nurturing etc than
men
Silly me!
So motherhood is a
biological inclination
but fatherhood is
clearly a social
invention

11. BERRY HAS ARGUED THAT
THERE ARE WIDE CULTURAL
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
CULTURES IN TERMS OF :
• GENDER AND SPATIAL
AWAREMENSS
• GENDER AND CONFORMITY
Berry – cross cultural gender
differences

12. The 6 cultures study
Whiting (1975)
• Studied child rearing practices in 6 cultures;
North America, Philippines, India, Mexico,
Kenya and Japan
• Researchers integrated themselves within the
communities
• Observations of children daily lives were
made- each watched for 5 minutes per day
• 24, 3-10 year olds from each group were
observed 15 times

13. The 6 cultures study: Findings
• Parents basic goals were the same; children to
survive, be attached to the family, healthy and
to learn survival skills
• Concerned that children learned appropriate
social behaviour which included gender role

14. Whiting & Edwards (1975)
Traditional cultures arrange
gender roles in a similar way
In 11 non-Western traditional
cultures girls were encouraged
to spend time with
their mothers
They were given domestic &
childcare roles
Boys were given tasks such
as feeding & herding cattle – outside
the home
Conclusion – gender roles
do vary across cultures but also
some similarities
Gender roles are
More clearly defined in
traditional cultures
where children work

15. The 6 cultures study: Findings
• Children’s gender socialisation was influenced by how
much work they were expected to do and what it
consisted of
• North America: 2% work compared to Kenya=41%
• This can be accounted for by degree of complexity in
their lives
• In Kenya sharp distinctions were made between males
and females- had to work from a young age
• North American children did little work so gender roles
were less defined

16. Watch this clip...
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EronVtKYr
0c
• Samoan Tribe
• 3rd Gender
Describe the
unusual gender
roles in Samoan
culture !!

17. •The other argument is
that there are huge
similarities in gender
roles across cultures –
suggesting gender is
biologically driven.

18. William and Best (1990)
• Universal agreement across cultures about
which characteristics were masculine and
feminine
• Men= dominant and independent
• Women= caring and sociable
• Children exhibited the same attitudes
• Nature not nurture!!

19. Buss
• Use Buss’s study of male and female mating
preferences to show how there are clearly
similar gender roles across a wide range of
cultures

20. Evaluation
• Berry (2002):cross cultural research is driven
by the interests of western psychologists,
using measures rooted in western thinking –
this is called the imposed etic.
• Need to use indigenous researchers- those
who belong to the culture researched

21. Instead of looking at
differences between
cultures we can look at
differences within cultures

22. There are big differences in gender roles within cultures.
Tager & Good (2005) compared ideas
about masculinity in a sample of
southern Italian and northern Italian males –(in North America)
Found: Less traditional ideas held by northern
rather than southern Italians
So within as well as between
cultural differences occur

23. Best & Thomas (2004)
Much research on gender
BUT
most from western USA samples
Therefore??
Therefore the findings
are only applicable to the
First World of Psychology
(Moghaddam (1997)
So real indigneous cross-cultural
research
is needed to look at the effect
of context on gender behaviour