Culture and Gender

Culture and Health

Chapter 6, 7

Parallels between impact of gender and culture

on psychology

Psychological research 30-40 years ago

conducted on men which raised questions about

whether it was applicable to women

Women were included as participants

Research on gender differences

Similar for research on cultural differences

Definitions

Sex: biological and physiological differences

between men and women

Sex roles

Sexual identity

Gender: behaviors or patterns of activities that

society or culture deems appropriate for men

and women

Gender roles

Gender identity

Gender stereotypes

The Relationship between Sex and Gender

across Cultures

Differences in sex roles exist universally

Georgas et al. (2006) study on 27 countries found

that women did most of housework

Fathers concerned with finances, expressive

issues, childcare in all countries

Mothers concerned with childcare only in less-

affluent countries

Cultures differ in type and differentiation

encouraged between sexes; gender, gender

roles, gender-role ideologies and gender

stereotypes

Culture and Gender Stereotypes

Williams and Best (1982) study of 30 countries

found high pancultural agreement on

adjectives(형용사) used to describe males and

females

In all countries, adjectives associated with men

were rated as being stronger and more active

Japan and South African rated male

characteristics as more favorable; Italy and Peru

rated female characteristics more favorable

Culture and Gender Stereotypes

Follow up studies by Williams and

colleagues

These studies show gender stereotypes

around the world are stable

Men viewed as active, strong, critical,

conscientious, extraverted, and open

Women viewed passive, weak, nurturing,

adaptive, agreeable, and neurotic

Culture and Gender Stereotypes

Other studies

support William and Best studies

examination of how gender stereotypes develop

Many unanswered questions remain

How congruent(적합한가?) are behavior with

stereotypes and does this congruence differ

across cultures?

Are stereotypes related to important

psychological constructs or behaviors?

Culture, Gender-Role Ideology,

and Self-Concept

Gender-role ideology: judgments about what

males and females ought to be like or ought to

do

Williams and Best (1990) study on 14 countries

Highly egalitarian(평등주의자): Netherlands,

Germany and Finland

Highly traditional: Nigeria, Pakistan and India

Culture, Gender-Role Ideology,

and Self-Concept

Gibbons and colleagues (1990) study on

adolescents

Adolescents from wealthier and more

individualistic countries were less traditional

Gender ideologies may be changing as societies

change

Religion may play a role in keeping with

traditional gender roles

Hofstede’s Study

Masculinity versus Femininity: degree to

which culture will foster, encourage, or maintain

differences between males and females

Highly masculine: Japan, Austria, Venezuela,

Italy

Low masculine: Denmark, Netherlands, Norway,

Sweden

Masculine and feminine cultures differ in

sexuality and attitudes toward religion

Perceptual/Spatial/Cognitive Differences

Common American folklore is that males better

at mathematical and spatial reasoning tasks and

females better at verbal comprehension tasks

This is not necessarily true for other cultures

No gender difference in spatial abilities in Inuit

culture in Canada and Ecuador (women engage

in tasks that require spatial abilities)

Males did better in tight, sedentary(정착된), and

agriculturally based cultures

Females did better in loose, nomadic(유목의),

and hunting and gathering based cultures

Conformity and Obedience

Common gender-role stereotypes is that

females more conforming and obedient than

males

This is not necessarily true for other cultures

In tighter cultures, females more conformists than

males

In looser cultures, less gender difference in

conformity or males more conformists

Aggressiveness

Common gender-role stereotypes is that males more aggressive than females

Support for this stereotype in many cultures

In study of physical aggression between partners in 52 countries

In developed Western cultures, both sexes committed aggression

In individualistic, women empowered cultures, less female victimization(여성희생)

Social role theory

Aggressiveness

Many cultures did not show sex-related

differences in teaching about aggression to

children

Currently the mechanism accounting for gender

differences in aggression unknown

Biology, culture, gender marking behavior

Gender Roles

Androgyny(양성성): gender identity involving

endorsement of both male and female

characteristics

African-American males and females more

androgynous than European males and females

Adolescent girls in US, Israel, and Hong Kong

adopting androgynous identity have higher self

acceptance than feminine or masculine girls; for

boys, masculine identity have highest self

acceptance

Gender Roles

Traditional gender roles for Asian Americans,

Mexican Americans and Native Americans

Loosening of rigid gender roles for Asians and

Mexican Americans

Concept of machismo(남성우월주의) and wider

acceptable roles for Latina women

Gender role differentiation dependent on

patriarchal or matriarchal nature of tribal culture

of origin for Native Americans

Sex and Sexuality

Cultures differ on degree of importance placed

on chastity(순결) for women and sexuality

Attitudes toward sex and sexuality related to

cultural values of honor

Culture affects practice of male

circumcision(남성할례, 포경수술) and female

genital mutilation(여성할례, 음핵제거)

Female genital mutilation is tied with honor and

virtue in some cultures

Mate Selection, Mate Poaching(채가기), and

Jealousy

Gender differences in preferences for mate and

sexual jealousy are universal

Males more jealous of sexual infidelity(부정)

Females more jealous of emotional infidelity

Evolutionary model

Personality

Universally, woman reported higher scores on

Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Warmth, and

Openness to Feelings

Men scored higher on Assertiveness, and

Openness to ideas

Differences between men and women largest in

Europe and US

Changes in culture bring about changes in

gender roles

This has both positive (e.g., women more

economically independent) and negative

consequences (e.g., higher divorce rates and

higher health problems for women)

Health is defined by World Health Organization

as “a state of complete physical, mental, and

social well-being, and not merely the absence of

disease or infirmity”

In US, views of health influenced by biomedical

model of health and disease

Disease results from specific, identifiable cause

(pathogens병균) originating from inside the body

Other cultures have different definitions of health

In China and Greece, health is viewed as

absence of negative states AND presence of

positive states

In many Asian cultures, an integral part of health

is balance between self and nature and across

individual’s various roles in life

Chinese concept of ying and yang (음과양)

In US, definition of health changing to include

presence of positive states

Hardiness

Concept of health differ within a pluralistic

culture(다원적문화) like US and Canada

To Native Americans good health is living in

harmony with oneself and environment

Cultures have different metaphors for how human body conceptualized

Balance and imbalance in body

Cultures affect perception and evaluation of body shapes

Social class and preference for thinness in American and European cultures

Ugandans and African Americans’ preference for fuller figures

Psychosocial Determinants of

Healthy and Disease

Relationship between mental and physical

health

Type A personality and cardiovascular(심장혈관)

disease

Relationship between psychosocial factors

and health/diseases states

Unemployment, goal frustration, stress,

bereavement(사별), pessimistic explanatory

styles, hardiness, perception of one’s SES and

perceived racism and discrimination

Psychosocial Determinants of

Healthy and Disease

Perceived racism and discrimination contributes

to poor health outcomes like hypertension(고혈압)

and cardiovascular(심장혈관) disease

African American women more psychologically

stressed because of perceived racism than

European American women

Social Isolation and Mortality(사망)

Relationship between social isolation or

social support and death

Alameda County study showed that individuals

with fewest social ties had highest mortality rate

and those with most social ties had lowest rate

Intimate social contact in US has declined in past

two decades, which has negative implications for

health and well-being

Individualism and Cardiovascular(심혈관)

Disease

Relationship between Individualism and

heart disease (Triandis et al., 1988)

Most individualistic group (European Americans)

had highest rate of heart disease

Social support or isolation explains these results

because collectivistic cultures have stronger and

deeper social ties with others than individualistic

cultures

Culture and Eating Disorders

Cultural differences in attitudes about ideal body weight

Americans have more anti-overweight attitudes than Ghanaians and Mexican-Americans

Cultural differences in attitudes about eating behaviors

European Americans reported greater levels of disordered eating and dieting behaviors than Asian and African Americans

Exposure to Western cultures related to disturbed eating attitudes and eating disorders

Culture and Eating Disorders

US has the highest percentage of obese(비만)

school aged children

Due to consumption of fast food and soft drinks

and lack of exercise

Culture molds attitudes, beliefs, and values

about illness and treatment

Japanese and American women differed in

attribution about cause of osteoporosis(골다공증)

and compliance with invasive treatment(외과치료)

Two tribes in Africa had different attitudes toward

epilepsy(간질), which influenced treatment

approaches

Witchcraft(마법) in Tanzania affected help-

seeking behaviors in regards to malaria

Acculturation of Asian Americans affected views

of health and type of treatment sought

Differences in Health Care and

Medical Delivery Systems

Cultures have different health care systems

Influenced by social and economic development,

technological advances, availability and influence

of neighboring countries and social trends

Type of health care

systems

Countries

Entrepreneurial(기업) US, the Philippines, Ghana

Welfare-oriented(복지지향) France, Brazil, Burma

Comprehensive(종합) Sweden, Costa Rica, Sri

Lanka

Socialist(사회주의) former Soviet Union, Cuba,

China