The Psychological Effects Of Gender Roles In Society

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So many pieces of society and our culture affect us psychologically. Gender roles and schemas are a part of every society and thusly may have profound psychological effects on its members. Gender roles are societal norms that dictate acceptable behaviors for each sex and a gender schemas are a set of beliefs that a person holds that they use to understand what is acceptable behavior for their sex. Some of the most vulnerable to effects of gender roles and schemas’ are teenagers. Psychologically teenagers are being bombarded with hormones, their brains are restructuring themselves, and unlike adults, their prefrontal cortex remains undeveloped. In addition, teens are forming their self-identity leaving them easily influenceable.The effects …show more content…
Violence is considered an extreme form of aggression and is considered to be a psychological problem (American Psychological Association). Aspects of the modern male gender role such as success, power and competitiveness, and a restriction on emotions, and affectionate relationships towards other men can influence violence in men. These aspects of the male gender role have been shown to correlate with gender role conflict.Gender role conflict is defined as a psychological state in which gender roles have negative consequences on a person and others. In a study that was published in the Journal of Men’s Studies done by Amato on incarcerated young men (ages 18 and up), it was proven that men who are violent will have higher conformity to the male gender role and will also experience higher levels of gender role conflict. In Amato’s study violence “remained significant in all multiple regression analyses” while using male gender role conformity, gender role conflict, and demographics as controls (Amato). His study supports to the link between violence in men in relation to male gender roles. Although it is not known how exactly these aspects contribute to increased violence in males, it is known that male gender roles and male gender role conflict is linked to violence in …show more content…
Young gifted girls are more likely to share aspirations and interests with their male counterparts, yet they get the same gender role socialization as other females (Kerr and McKay). Kerr is a part of the Department of Psychology and Research in Education at the University of Kansas and has published papers on gifted males and females and the development of children. Gender role socialization is the process in which we learn our respective genders’ gender role. So gifted girls may feel conflicted from a young age because their interest do not line up with most other girls their age and what is considered acceptable for girls. Often young gifted girls will try to befriend male groups but will be rejected in addition to being rejected from most average girls because of their interest differences and differences in intelligence. Failure to follow normal gender roles can cause stress at a young age for these girls that will continue throughout their life. Being rejected by their peers may also lead females to have less social experience with peers, in addition stress from their failure to conform to the female gender role can also lead girls to overcompensate and underperform in math classes and to choose careers more stereotypically female instead of using their gifts in careers more dominantly male. Gifted boys have also been shown to have gender

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