Chapter 5: Genes, Culture, and Gender PDF

CHAPTER FIVE: GENES, CULTURE, AND GENDER HOW ARE WE INFLUENCED BY HUMAN - Our genes enable an adaptive human NATURE AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY? brain - Ironically, our shared human bi...

CHAPTER FIVE: GENES, CULTURE, AND GENDER HOW ARE WE INFLUENCED BY HUMAN - Our genes enable an adaptive human NATURE AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY? brain - Ironically, our shared human biology - All of us everywhere, are intensely enables our cultural diversity social. We join groups, conform, and recognize distinctions of status. We Culture – enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, return favors, punish offenses, and and traditions shared by a large group of people grieve a love one’s death and transmitted from one generation to the - Donald Brown identified several next hundred such universal behavior and - “evolution made us for culture” language patterns. To sample among - Genes are not fixed blueprints; their just those beginning with “v,” all human expression depends on the societies have verbs, violence, and environment vowels - Even much of our morality is common Epigenetics – a field of research exploring the across cultures and eras expression of genes across different - Everywhere, humans prefer living with environments others – in families and communal groups – to living alone - Nature predisposes us to learn - Such commonalities define our shared whatever culture we are born into human nature. Although differences CULTURAL DIVERSITY draw our attention, we’re more alike than different. We’re all kin beneath - The diversity of our languages, and the skin expressive behaviors confirms that much of our behavior is socially GENES, EVOLUTION, AND BEHAVIOR programmed, not hardwired - The universal behaviors that define - As we work, play, and live with people human nature arise from our biological from diverse cultural backgrounds, it similarity helps to understand how our cultures influence us and how our cultures differ Natural Selection – evolutionary process by - In a conflict-laden world, achieving which heritable traits that best enable organism peace requires a genuine appreciation to survive and reproduce in particular for both our genuine differences and environments are passed to ensuing our deep similarities generations NORMS: EXPECTED BEHAVIOR Evolutionary Psychology – the study of the evolution of cognition and behavior using - As etiquette rules illustrate, all cultures principles of natural selection have their accepted ideas about appropriate behavior CULTURE AND BEHAVIOR Norms – standard for accepted and expected - Perhaps our most important similarity, behavior. Norms prescribe “proper” behavior. the hallmark of our species, is our (In a different sense of the word, norms also capacity to learn and adapt describe what most others do – what is normal) YAS AMER 1  CHAPTER FIVE: GENES, CULTURE, AND GENDER - Just as stage play moves smoothly such as territorial conflict or resource when the actors know their lines, so scarcity social behavior occurs smoothly when CULTURAL SIMILARITY people know what to expect - Norms grease the social machinery - As members of one species, the processes that underlie our differing Cultures vary in their norms for expressiveness, behaviors are much the same punctuality, rule breaking, and personal space. everywhere Consider the following: Universal friendship norms – people Individual Choices – culture vary in how everywhere have common norms for much they emphasize the individual self friendship (individualistic cultures) versus others Universal traits dimensions – around and the society (collectivistic cultures) the world, people describe other with Expressiveness between two to five universal Punctuality personality dimensions Rule Breaking – norms are especially Universal social beliefs – there are five important in traditional, collectivistic universal dimensions of social beliefs. cultures Across 38 countries, people varied in o Collectivistic cultures are more cynicism, social complexity, reward for likely to stigmatize people seen application, spirituality, and fate control as different, whether through o People’s adherence to these identity or behavior social beliefs appears to guide Personal Space – buffer zone we like to their living maintain around our bodies. Its size Universal Status Norms – wherever depends on our familiarity with people form status hierarchies, they whomever is near us also talk to higher-status people in the o Individuals differ: some people respectful way they often talk to prefer more personal space strangers. And they talk to lower-status than others. people in the more familiar, first-name o Groups differ too: adults way they speak to friends maintain more distance than do o Most languages have two forms children. Men keep more of the English pronoun “you”: a distance from one another than respectful form and a familiar do women. For reasons form unknown, cultures near the o The first aspect of this universal equator prefer less space and norm – that forms of address more touching and hugging communicate not only social distance but also social status – Culture differ not only in their norms for such correlates with a second aspect: behaviors, but also in the strength of their Advances in intimacy are norms usually suggested by the - Societies with stronger, enforced norms higher-status person for behaviors are “tight” cultures, more likely to have been exposed to threats YAS AMER 2  CHAPTER FIVE: GENES, CULTURE, AND GENDER THE INCEST TABOO emotions, and be attuned to others’ relationships - Best known universal norm - Attitudes and behavior will always vary - In conversation, men more often focus with culture, but the processes by on tasks and on connections with large which attitudes influences behavior groups vary much less - Women focus on personal relationships - Women are more aware of how their HOW ARE MALES AND FEMALES ALIKE AND actions affect people DIFFERENT? - Women’s phone conversations last - For most people’s self-concepts and longer, and girls send more than twice social relationships, the two dimensions as many test messages as do boys that matter most – and that people first - Women talk for longer when the goal is attune to – are race and, especially affiliation with others gender - Men actually talk more overall and when the goal is asserting one’s Transgender – people whose sense of being opinions and giving information male or female differs from their birth sex - Women spend more time sending GENDER AND GENES emails, in which they express more emotion, and they spend more time on Gender – in psychology, the characteristics, social networking sites whether biologically or socially influenced, by - When in groups, women share more of which people define male and female their lives and offer more support - Of the 46 chromosomes in the human - When facing stress, men tend to genome, 45 are unisex respond with “fight or flight” - On the most psychological attributes, - Women who are under stress more the overlap between the sexes is larger often “tend and befriend” than the difference Vocations – In general, women are more - Your “opposite sex” is actually your interested in jobs dealing with people, and men similar sex in job with things Women are wonderful effect – a phenomenon Family Relations – women’s connections as where most people rate their beliefs and mothers, daughters, sisters, and grandmothers feelings regarding women as more favorable bind families than their feelings regarding men Smiling – women’s greater connectedness has INDEPENDENCE VERSUS CONNECTEDNESS been expressed in their generally higher rate of Play – girls talk more intimately and play less smiling aggressively. They also play in smaller groups, Empathy – women are far more likely to often talking with one friend describe themselves as having empathy – the Friendship – as adults, women – at least in vicarious experience of another’s feelings; individualistic cultures – are more likely to putting oneself in another’s shoes describe themselves in relational terms, - Women tend to outperform men at welcome help, experience relationship linked reading others’ emotions YAS AMER 3  CHAPTER FIVE: GENES, CULTURE, AND GENDER - Women also are more often strikingly - Men more than women place priority better than men at recalling others’ on winning, getting ahead, and appearance dominating others - Women are more skilled at expressing Precarious Manhood – a phenomenon where emotions nonverbally. This is especially men’s greater social power is not entirely so for positive emotion positive, as they may fear losing it - Men, however, were slightly more successful in conveying anger - Men are much more concerned about being identified as feminine than SOCIAL DOMINANCE women are at being identified as - People rate men as more dominant, masculine driven, and aggressive - Men also acts more impulsively and - Men more than women rate power and take more risks achievement as important - Men and women do not differ, - In essentially every society, men are however, in taking social risks, such as socially dominant expressing an unpopular opinion - Gender differences vary greatly by - In writing, women tend to use more culture, and gender differences are communal prepositions, fewer shrinking in many industrialized quantitative words, and more present societies as women assume more tense managerial ang leadership positions - Men use more complex language and - People perceive leaders as having more women use more social words and culturally masculine traits – as being pronouns more confident, forceful, independent, - In conversation, men’s style reflects and outspoken their concern for independence, - When writing letters of women’s for connectedness recommendation, people more often - Men are more likely to act as powerful use such “agentic” adjectives when people often to – talking assertively, describing male candidates, and more interrupting intrusively, touching with “communal” adjectives when describing the hand, staring more, smiling less women candidates - Women’s influence style tends to be - The net effect may be to disadvantage more indirect – less interruptive, more women applying for leadership roles sensitive, more polite, less cocky, and - Men’s style of communicating more qualified and hedged undergirds their social power. In AGGRESSION leadership roles, men tend to excel as directive, task-focused leaders; women - Physical or verbal behavior intended to excel more often in the hurt someone. “transformational” or “relational” - Men admit to more aggression than leadership that is favored by more women organizations, with inspirational and - But again, the gender difference social skills that build team spirit fluctuates with the context. When people are provoked, the gender gap shrinks YAS AMER 4  CHAPTER FIVE: GENES, CULTURE, AND GENDER - And within less assaultive forms of compete against each other by offering aggression – for instance, slapping a sex at a lower price in terms of family member, throwing something, or commitment” verbally attacking someone – women - When women are scarce, the market are no less aggressive than men, and value of their sexuality rises, and they may even be more aggressive are able to command greater - Women are also slightly more likely to commitment commit indirect aggressive acts, such as - Sexual fantasies, too, differ between spreading malicious gossip men and women - But all across the world and at all ages, - Individual differences far exceed gender men much more often injure others differences. Females and males are with physical aggression hardly “opposite” sexes. Rather, they differ like two folded hands – similar SEXUALITY but not the same, fitting together yet - In their physiological and subjective differing as they grasp each other responses to sexual stimuli, women and EVOLUTION AND GENDER: DOING WHAT men are “more similar than different.” COMES NATURALLY? The differences lie in what happens beforehand GENDER AND MATING PREFERENCES - Men and women apparently have the Douglas Kenrick – “we cannot change the similar levels of self-control – but men’s evolutionary history of our species, and some of sexual impulses are stronger, resulting the differences between us are undoubtedly a in men yielding to sexual temptation function of that history” more often - The gender difference in sexual - Evolutionary psychology predicts no sex attitudes carries over to behavior differences in domains where the sexes - Males are more likely than females to faced similar adaptive challenges initiate sexual activity - Females invest their reproductive - Compared with lesbians, gay men also opportunities carefully, by looking for report more interest in uncommitted signs of resources and commitment sex, more frequent sex, more interest in - Males compete with other males for pornography, more responsiveness to chance to win the genetic sweepstakes sexual stimuli, and more concern with by sending their genes into the future, partner attractiveness and thus looking for healthy, fertile soil - Cultures everywhere attribute greater in which to plant their seed value to female than male sexuality, as - Women want to find men who will help indicated in gender asymmetries in them tend the garden – resourceful and prostitution and courtship, where men monogamous dads rather than generally offer money, gifts, praise, or wandering cads commitment in implicit exchange for a - Women seek to reproduce wisely, men woman’s sexual engagement widely - The scarcer the available men, the - Physically dominant males excelled in higher is the teen pregnancy rate – gaining access to females, which over because when men are scarce “women generations enhanced male aggression YAS AMER 5  CHAPTER FIVE: GENES, CULTURE, AND GENDER and dominance as less-aggressive males self-confident, and men become more had fewer chances to reproduce emphatic and less domineering - Hormone changes are one possible Principle: nature selects traits that help send explanation for the shrinking gender one’s genes into the future differences - Our natural yearning our are genes’ way - Role demands are another of making more genes. Emotions - As men and women graduate from execute evolution’s dispositions these early adult roles, they supposedly - Evolutionary psychology also predicts express more of their restrained that men will strive to offer what tendencies women will desire – external resources - Each becomes more androgynous and physical protection Androgynous – from andro (man) + gyn - “male achievement is ultimately a (woman) – thus mixing both masculine and courtship display” feminine characteristics - Our mating desires provide a window for viewing the resources our ancestors CULTURE AND GENDER: DOING AS THE needed for reproduction CULTURE SAYS? GENDER AND HORMONES Culture evolve through a “culture cycle” - If genes predispose gender-related a) People create the cultures to which traits, they must do so by their effects they later adapt on our bodies b) Cultures shape people so that they act - In male fetuses, a single gene (called in ways that perpetuate their cultures testis-determining factor) directs the - Humans are culturally shaped culture formation of the testicles which begin shapers to secrete testosterone, the male sex - Gender socialization, it has been said, hormone that influences masculine gives girls “roots” and boys “wings” appearance and other traits - Such behavior expectations for males - Girls exposed to excess testosterone and females define gender roles during fetal development tend to GENDER ROLES VARY WITH CULTURE exhibit more tomboyish play behavior and resemble males in their career - Despite gender role inequalities, the preferences, with greater interest in majority of the world’s people would things than people ideally like to see more parallel male - Overall, children exposed to more and female roles testosterone in the womb exhibit the psychological pattern more typical of GENDER ROLES VARY OVER TIME males, including less eye contact, lower - In the past half-century – a thin slice of language skill, and less empathy our long history – gender roles have - The gender gap in aggression also changed dramatically seems influenced by testosterone - Behavioral changes have accompanied - As people mature to middle age and this attitude shift beyond, a curious thing happens. - Role models may be crucial catalyst for Women become more assertive and such shifts YAS AMER 6  CHAPTER FIVE: GENES, CULTURE, AND GENDER - The trend toward more gender equality primate cultures, change comes from appears across many cultures the young - Such changes, across cultures and over WHAT CAN WE CONCLUDE ABOUT GENES, a remarkably short time, signal that CULTUREM AND GENDER? evolution and biology do no fix gender roles: time also bends the gender. They BIOLOGY AND CULTURE may also bend cultures toward peace: societies with more gender equality are - Cultural norms subtly yet powerfully less likely to engage in war and are less affect our attitudes and behavior. But violent’ they don’t do so independent of biology. Everything social and PEER-TRANSMITTED CULTURE psychological is ultimately biological - Biology and culture may also interact Judith Rich Harries – The Nature Assumption: Parental nurture, the way parents bring their Interaction – a relationship in which the effect children up, governs who their children become of one factor (such as biology) depends on another factor (such as environment) - Children do acquire many of their values, including their political, - Advances in genetic science indicate affiliation, and religious faith, at home how experience uses genes to change the brain Robert Plomin – “two children in the same - Environmental stimuli can activate family [are on average] as different from one genes that produce new brain cell another as are pairs of children selected branching receptors randomly from the population” - Visual experience activates genes that - Twins and biological and adoptive develop the brain’s visual area siblings indicate that genetic influences - Parental touch activates genes that help explain roughly 50% of individual offspring cope with future stressful variations and personality traits. Shared events environmental influences, account for - Genes are not set in stone; they only 0 to 10 percent of their personality respond adaptively to our experiences differences. So, what accounts for the - The science of epigenetics suggests that rest? Much of it is peer influence environmental factors shape lifelong - what children and teens care about biological changes, showing that nature most is not what their parents think but and nurture work together what their friends think THE POWER OF THE SITUATION AND THE - children and youth learn their culture PERSON mostly from peers - parents have an important influence, - We act; we react. We respond, and we but it’s substantially indirect get responses. We can resist the social - the links of influence from parental situation and sometimes even change group to child group are loose enough it. That’s why the power of the person that the cultural transmission is never is just as important and just as true perfect. And in both human and Bad faith – evading responsibility by blaming something or someone for one’s faith YAS AMER 7  CHAPTER FIVE: GENES, CULTURE, AND GENDER - Social control (the power of the situation) and personal control (the power of the person) no more compete with each other than do biological and cultural explanations - Social and personal explanations are both valid, for at any moment we are both the creatures and the creators of our social worlds The interaction occurs in at least three ways: 1. a given social situation often affects different people differently – because our minds do not see reality identically or objectively, we respond to a situation as we construe it 2. People often choose their situations – given a choice, sociable people elect situations that evoke social interaction 3. People often create their situations -recall again that our preconceptions can be self- fulfilling Thus, power resides both in person and in situations. We create and are created by our cultural worlds YAS AMER 8