【Social Psychology】Chapter 05 — Main Points
* All the following abstractions are excerpted from <Social Psychology>, David G. Myers, 12th edition
Chapter 05 — Genes, Culture, and Gender.
— How Are We Influenced by Human Nature and Cultural Diversity?
How are we humans alike, how do we differ — and why? Evolutionary psychologists study how natural selection favors behavioral traits that promote the perpetuation of one's genes. Although part of evolution's legacy is our human capacity to learn and adapt (and therefore to differ from one another), the evolutionary perspective highlights the kinship that results from our shared human nature.
The cultural perspective highlights human diversity — the behaviors and ideas that define a group and that are transmitted across generations. The differences in attitudes and behaviors from one culture to another indicate the extent to which we are the products of cultural norms and roles. Yet cross-cultural psychologists also examine the "essential universality" of all people. For example, despite their differences, cultures have a number of norms in common, such as respecting privacy in friendships and disapproving of incest.
— How Are Males and Females Alike and Different?
Boys and girls, and men and women, are in many ways alike. Yet their differences attract more attention than their similarities.
Social psychologists have explored gender differences in independence versus connectedness. Women typically do more caring, express more empathy and emotion, and define themselves more in terms of relationships.
Men and women also tend to exhibit differing social dominance and aggression. In every known culture on earth, men tend to have more social power and are more likely than women to engage in physical aggression.
Sexuality is another area of marked gender differences. Men more often think about and initiate sex, whereas women's sexuality tends to be inspired by emotional passion.
— Evolution and Gender: Doing What Comes Naturally?
Evolutionary psychologists theorize how evolution might have predisposed gender differences in behaviors such as aggression and sexual initiative. Nature's mating game favors males who take sexual initiative toward females — especially those with physical features suggesting fertility — and who seek aggressive dominance in competing with other males. Females, who have fewer reproductive chances, place a greater priority on selecting mates offering the resources to protect and nurture their young.
Critics say that evolutionary explanations are sometimes after-the-fact conjectures that fail to account for the reality of cultural diversity; they also question whether enough empirical evidence exists to support evolutionary psychology's theories and are concerned that these theories will reinforce troublesome stereotypes.
Although biology (for example, in the form of male and female hormones) plays and important role in gender differences, social roles are also a major influence. What's agreed is that nature endows us with a remarkable capacity to adapt to differing contexts.
— Culture and Gender: Doing as the Culture Says?
The most heavily researched of roles — gender roles — reflect biological influence but also illustrate culture's strong impact. the universal tendency has been for males, more than females, to occupy socially dominant roles.
Gender roles show significant variation from culture to culture and from time to time.
Much of culture's influence is transmitted to children by their peers.
— What Can We Conclude About Genes, Culture, and Gender?
Biological and cultural explanations need not be contradictory. Indeed, they interact. Biological factors operate within a cultural context, and culture builds on a biological foundation.
The great truth about the power of social influence is but half the truth if separated from its complementary truth: the power of the person. Persons and situations interact in at least three ways. First, individuals vary in how they interpret and react to a given situation. Second, people choose many of the situations that influence them. Third, people help create their social situations.