Gender and psychology

Thekla Morgenroth*, Avelie Stuart

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This chapter summarises the psychological research on gender. The first part of the chapter focusses on experimental and social constructivist psychology and discusses what psychological differences are found between genders and the different approaches put forward to explain these differences. These approaches include essentialist theories which argue that gender differences arise from evolutionary adaptations, and constructivist theories, which argue that gender differences are the result of cultural and contextual influences. We discuss the extent to which these approaches can explain gender differences in general, but also patterns of gender differences across cultures. The second part of this chapter discusses psychological research that adopts social constructionist approaches to studying gender, and outlines examples of discourse and conversation analytic research on the (re)production of gender in language and interactions. Finally, we will discuss how the retention of multiple perspectives and research methods by gender researchers is important for moving beyond additive (and dichotomous) models of gender, and beyond a European/US centric view.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCompanion to Women's and Gender Studies
PublisherWiley Blackwell
Pages195-212
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9781119315063
ISBN (Print)9781119315087
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Mar 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Keywords

  • Discourse analysis
  • Experimental psychology
  • Gender differences
  • Gender stereotypes
  • Intersectionality

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