Psychology of Women - Assignment Example

Psychology of women al Affiliation Part A: True/False Questions point each; total 15 points) In the space provided, type True (T) if you believe the statement to be correct or False (F) if you believe the statement to be incorrect. 1. If a corporation refuses to consider hiring a male for a receptionist position, this corporation is practicing sexism. True 2. The most prominent female psychologists in the early 1900s conducted research designed to demonstrate that men are more intellectually competent than women. False 3. In general, popular magazines emphasize gender similarities, rather than gender differences. False 4. Today, women constitute about 40% of all sportscasters. True 5. Men typically have more traditional stereotypes about gender than women do. True 6. People are most likely to be biased against a woman’s competence when she is acting in a stereotypically masculine fashion. True 7. Although Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory may have problems explaining adult behaviour, it is remarkably accurate in describing children’s gender development. True 8. A boy who acts feminine is more likely to be rejected by other children than a girl who acts masculine. True 9. Most researchers believe that there is no physical explanation for menstrual pain. True 10. In general, males and females earn similar scores on a wide variety of tests that assess cognitive ability. True 11. Men usually try to achieve success to gain money or fame; in contrast, women usually try to achieve success for their own personal satisfaction. True 12. The research shows that women are more likely than men to make moral decisions on the basis of caring relationships with other people. True 13. Men who are employed in traditionally female occupations—such as nursing —are often quickly promoted to management positions. True 14. Employed women are significantly more likely than nonemployed women to experience problems with their physical and psychological health. False 15. Compared to married women, single women typically have more serious psychological problems. False Part B: Short-answer Questions (2 points each; total 20 points) Below each question, provide a short (two or three sentences) response. 1. From the film The Changing Face of Feminist Psychology (Rutherford, 2010), how have the challenges and focus of feminist psychologists changed over the years? The challenges of feminist psychology change due to changes in demands and priorities of people in the society. The feminist psychology currently faces challenges of neoliberalism as well as consumerism. They focus on giving both males and females similar platform for communication and operation. 2. From the article you read in Unit 1, why do you think Allen (2010) felt it necessary to disclose her “identity” in this article? Allen felt the need to disclose her identity because; she is one of the most successful straight researchers who effectively produce anti-normative knowledge. She also disclosed her identity to enable us understand that being heterosexual or homosexual has no impact on the quality of information. Rather; relationship between qualities of anti-normative knowledge is the stereotyping of the society, which views straight people as normal as opposed to homosexuals. 3. From the article you read in Unit 1, what evidence does Weisstein (1968/1993) use to support her thesis that “psychology has nothing to say about what women are really like, what they need and what they want” (p. 197)? Psychology in itself fails to understand how people act in different ways and their reasons for such reactions. Psychology assumes human personality and behaviour to rest on individual or inner dynamic which are perhaps fixed on genitalia or immovable cognitive network. 4. From the interactive video you viewed in Unit 2, God’s Lake Narrows by Kevin Lee Burton and Alicia Smith, what specific stereotypes and prejudices does this interactive video interrogate? God’s Lake Narrows focuses on identity, community and social stereotypes. The God’s Lake Narrows communities suffer from poverty, abuse and regional marginalization. Their beautiful landscape does not offer commendable opportunities to the community but oppression in terms of illnesses and deaths. 5. From the article you read in Unit 2, what three topics does Shield (1975) examine as significant areas of interest during the functionalist era? Stephanie Shield focuses on structural difference on: one; the brains of males and females and the implications of these differences on intelligence and temperaments. Two, she looks into the hypothesis of greater male variability and its relation to social and educational issues. Three, examines maternal instincts and its meaning for psychology of female nature. 6. From the article you read in Unit 2, according to Townsend et al.’s (2010) literature review, what accounts for the “negative sexual health statistics among African American girls” (p. 273)? The propagation of sexual stereotype of African American women by media has always shaped the perception of black girls’ sexuality. Media gives images of black girls as obese dark and sexually unattractive, this makes them vulnerable to sexual exploitation. The legacy of slavery, which ascribes the role of primitive sex objects to black girls results into their sexual exploitation. 7. From the video XS stress, which you viewed in Unit 3, what are some of the links you saw between gender stereotyping, and stress as portrayed in this film? Male teenagers who tend to have feminine mannerisms are discriminated upon due to their shortage of masculinity as it happens to Jarrel. This stresses him because he lacks a father figure while growing thus his concern of the inability to have masculine traits. In school; females have to be much better that their male counterparts to feel worthy, this is the reason Kira is frustrated due to inability to understand concepts. 8. From the article you reviewed in Unit 3, LoBue and DeLoache’s (2011) literature review highlights research that looks at gender-stereotyped colour preferences in children. What are the main findings of the studies these authors review in their introductory section? The authors review the association of pink and blue colours to female and male infants respectively. The authors also review that by preschool age, infants are able to make gender identity based on colour. 9. From the YouTube video GCSE gender stereotypes in adverts, what are the differences in products and in the ways these products are promoted for boys as compared to girls? In adverts, products meant for boys are associated with functionality and are executive than products meant for girls. For example, heavy machinery such as toy trucks is associated with boys but domestic products such as kitchen equipment are associated with girls. Girls are always portrayed relaxing while boys are always on the move either inventing or developing ideas. 10. From the film Rosies of the North, what contributions did “Elsie” MacGill make in paving the way for professional women in Canada? Elsie penetrates the male dominated occupation as she becomes Canada’s first female engineer as well as the first female in the world to design and air craft. This happens during world war two when women were not allowed equal chances in education and employment as men. During her contributions in aircraft design, Elsie helps other women learn and effectively compete with their male counterparts. Part C: Brief Answer Questions (3 points each; total 24 points) Below each question, provide a brief (three or four sentences) response. 1. Describe four kinds of feminisms discussed in Matlin’s chapter 1. How are the similarities perspective and the differences perspective (with respect to gender comparisons) related to those four kinds of feminism? Matlin discusses: liberal feminism, which focuses on adjustment of policies to provide equal opportunities to all genders; cultural feminism, which considers gender differences that value women such as nurture and care but not men; radical feminism argues that sexism permeates our society from our personal heterosexual relationships to the national and international levels and women of colour feminism pays attention to ensuring equality of women based on ethnicity and social class. On the similarity perspective; liberal, radical and women of colour feminist agree that policies be adjusted at local to international level so as to ensure equality between both male and female based on their sexuality, societal roles and social choices. On difference perspective; cultural feminism argues that positive qualities in women such as nurturing and child care needs to be strengthened, thus women need more attention than men for all genders to be equal. 2. In chapter 2, Matlin discussed how women often seem invisible. Explain what this means, using information about history, religion, mythology, language, and media to support your arguments. Women seem invisible because they are not recognized in honored places; as the book of 1st Corinthians notes that women should keep silence in churches, but if they get recognized it is through their husband’s names just like Hinduism does. Language also gives women the second position in relation to men, this is through continuous use of masculine words such as “he and man” to refer to all genders; in addition, females in male dominated fields always have their genders recognized such as “…..lady doctor.” Media equally represent women as the most underprivileged of all genders; however, the advertisements mostly stereotype black low class women who are portrayed receiving donor aid. Greco-Roman mythology has it that women are the most evil people in the world and portrays them to be bloodthirsty. 3. Five-year-old Amy is playing with a doll. Drawing on the materials from Matlin’s chapter 3, discuss how social learning theory and the cognitive developmental approach explain Amy’s behaviour? Basing on social learning theory, girls are likely to learn gender related activities from other people of the same gender, especially those whom they see or hear being praised. According to cognitive development approach, Amy develops her own thoughts about gender; this makes her gender conscious thus her choice of a feminine toy such as a doll as opposed to a masculine truck. In consideration with the social learning theory, Amy’s parents will definitely approve her choice of a doll as a toy for it defines her feminine nature. In relation to cognitive development approach, Amy at five years is aware of her gender and thus likely to relate in higher percentage to feminine objects. 4. Compare adolescent females’ and males’ career aspirations. What factors influence these aspirations for women? (see Matlin’s chapter 4) Adolescent females are more likely than men to choose careers that are nontraditional for their gender. Moreover, female adolescents are likely to make independent choices for their career aspirations as opposed to male adolescents whose choices are influenced by parents. The career choices by female adolescents are influenced by high grades in school, assertiveness and their ability to transcend traditional gender roles. Females who choose prestigious nontraditional careers come from homes with educated mothers, who are equally employed outside their homes and have feminist beliefs. 5. In terms of the research that has been done on gender differences in cognitive abilities, which of the findings reported in Matlin’s chapter 5 was the most surprising to you? Briefly explain why. Results on spatial visualization are quite surprising. This is because; whereas women are good at remembering images and names of locations, men are better than them in identifying direction and tracing their way back to starting point of a location. This is different because other studies also reveal that women perform better than men in verbal communication, thus should easily trace their ways though asking for direction. 6. In chapter 6, Matlin summarizes research relating to gender differences in communication patterns. Which of these findings was the most surprising to you? Briefly explain why. The finding that men communicate more than women using nonverbal communication surprises me. In usual situations, women tend to own more things than men thus presumably occupy more space. However, indication that men occupy a lot of space especially in the corporate world is justifiable since most of them hold top management positions and occupy big offices. This is different from women who despite comprising the bigger percentage of low income employees occupy smaller and crowded working places than men. 7. In terms of women’s work experiences, many things have changed over the past few decades. As you reviewed the materials in Matlin’s chapter 7, of those things that have not changed for working women, which was the most surprising to you? Briefly explain why. Salaries discrimination is one of the things that have not changed for working women. This is because; male employees earn more than female employees despite the latter having a higher level of education than the former. Women have almost similar career aspirations and equally strive to achieve better education than their male counterparts. However, we find that men with associate degree tend to earn higher than women with degrees. 8. What does the research with respect to gender differences and similarities tell us about 1) the ideal romantic partner, 2) marriage, 3) lesbian women, and 4) single women of colour? (See Matlin’s chapter 8) Men are likely to stress on physical attractiveness on their deal romantic partners as opposed to women who consider financial status; however both women and men want caring honest and respectful romantic partners. Both men and women wish to have a long term marriage relationship and stay with one sexual partner, however; women are likely to anticipate problems in a relationship as well as initiate divorce. Research shows that lesbian women tend to have higher self-esteem than heterosexual ones and they have lower levels of motivations to commit suicide. Most single black women always benefit from social support by friends, while among other cultures; single Indian women have not found ideal partners and always desire to achieve higher education. Part D: Two Notecards Notecard 1 Spelke, S. E. (2005). Sex Differences in Intrinsic Aptitude for Mathematics and Science? A critical review. American Psychologist, 60(9), pages 950-958. The gender difference in the fields of mathematics and sciences such as engineering creates a great concern on the challenges facing women’s competence. This raises an issue of concern especially in a world that champions for gender equality where women have similar educational opportunities as men. As such; people argue that men have more intrinsic and aptitude ability than women and at the same time, biological differences between the two genders makes males more inclined to careers in the field of mathematics and sciences as opposed to females. Different experiments are thus done to find out the difference in gender representations in these fields. First; experiment among infants show that male children focus more on objects as opposed to females who mostly concentrate on people. This gives them the basis to venture into mechanical interactions, while women get involved into emotional interactions. Difference in mathematical thinking shows no sex difference in succeeding in mathematics and sciences. However women tend to excel on tests concerning verbal fluency, arithmetic calculations and spatial location of objects. This is different from males who perform well on verbal analogies, mathematical word problems and memory for geometric configuration of an environment. As a result, male and females have no significant difference in aptitude for mathematics and sciences. However, males variability to females in the fields relate to the fact that they show extreme mathematical talent. In conclusion, there is no clear biological difference to determine the variation in numbers of females and males in faculties of mathematics and engineering. This is because; men and women express similar capabilities through their cognitive abilities over the years. As such, the difference in gender representation may be as a result of experience in the subjects as well as their practice. Notecard 2 Schultheiss, P. E. D (2006). The Interface of Work and Family Life. Professional Psychology, Vol 37 pages 334-341. Labour market changes coupled with increasing dual-earner families and single parents have deep and unsettling effects on families and individuals. The need to work and manage families creates major challenges between employees and employers, thus the need to realign the world of work and working families. To understand the relationship between working parents and family management; Donna Achultheiss focuses on meaning of work embedded in people’s lives, multiple life roles, work and family navigations and supportive family systems. The meaning of work embedded in peoples life gives us the view that work and family systems influence and are influenced by cultural norms, values and gender role ideology. People from underrepresented group experience unique career issues and stress which contribute the meaning of work within the broader context of their lives. Multiple life roles are not only connected within but also across individuals where in a family; one has to concentrate on unpaid domestic work caregiving and social aspects of family life whereas the other has to focus on work in the public domain. However, privileging of work in the public domain and marginalization of work in the private domain enhances gender based inequalities. This creates the need to understand the importance of gender in work and family where analysis include; gender as organizer, language and an interactive process. Work and family navigations can occasionally be challenging where relationship between work and family management hinders career progress. In addition, cultural expectations may determine whether family care is a collective or individual responsibility. Supportive family systems enable one to deal with stressful work and career development process. Supportive families also help adolescents develop appropriate career choices and focus on their educational development. Understanding the relationship between work and family life is not only important to males but also to women and adolescents. This is because, women’s primary role in domestic care is also important in shaping the society. Moreover, there is need for psychologists to understand and develop interpretations of the relationships between work and family life. This also enables them develop literature that will help shape the task force making it possible to establish flexible relationship between work and family. Reference Matlin, M. (2011). The Psychology of Women (7th Ed.). California: Cengage Learning. Read More