5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology, 2010-2011 Edition - Laura Lincoln Maitland [117]
Erikson’s theory most accurately describes development in individualistic societies.
Middle Age and Death
Daniel Levinson described a midlife transition period at about age 40, seen by some as a last chance to achieve their goals. People who experience anxiety, instability, and change about themselves, their work, and their relationships during this time have a challenging experience sometimes termed the mid-life crisis.
Death marks the end of life. Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ studies of death and dying have focused attention on the end of life, encouraging further studies of death and dying, and growth of the hospice movement that treats terminal patients and their families to alleviate physical and emotional pain. Based on her observations and interviews with hundreds of dying hospital patients, Kubler-Ross concluded that terminally ill patients pass through five stages of coping: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Subsequent research has revealed that not all terminal patients pass through all of the stages, nor do they go through the stages in the order indicated.
Gender Roles and Sex Differences
The first thing many people ask when they hear about the birth of a baby is, “Is it a boy or a girl?” Gender matters. Gender is the sociocultural dimension of being biologically male or female. We have different expectations for boys and girls. Gender roles are sets of expectations that prescribe how males and females should act, think, and feel. Gender identity is our sense of being male or female, usually linked to our anatomy and physiology.
• The Biological Perspective. The biological perspective attributes differences between the sexes to heredity. Males have 44 chromosomes, plus sex chromosomes X and Y. Females have 44 chromosomes, plus sex chromosomes X and X. The sex chromosomes determine the anatomical differences between the sexes. The Y chromosome contains the instructions for the growth of male sex organs and synthesis of male sex hormones. Male sex hormones influence brain development. Typically, the female’s corpus callosum is larger than males’, which might influence lateralization in the brain. Hormonal differences at puberty not only influence boys’ greater height, but also their added musculature and more aggressive tendencies.
• The Evolutionary Perspective. According to the evolutionary perspective, our behavioral tendencies prepare us to survive and reproduce. Males are more likely than females to be risk takers, show dominance, and achieve high status. Females are more likely to be concerned with their appearance in order to attract high-status, protective males.
• The Psychoanalytic Perspective. According to Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective, young girls learn to act feminine from their mothers and young boys learn to act masculine from their fathers when they identify with their same-sex parent as a result of resolving either the Electra or Oedipal complex at about 5 years of age.
• The Behavioral Perspective. According to (the behavioral perspective) social learning theory, children respond to rewards and punishments for their behavior, and they observe and imitate significant role models, such as their parents, to acquire their gender identity.
• The Cognitive Perspective. According to the cognitive perspective, children actively engage in making meaning out of information they learn about gender. Sandra Bem’s gender schema theory says that children form a schema of gender that filters their perceptions of the world according to what is appropriate for males and what is appropriate for females. Bem acknowledges that social learning contributes to her cognitive developmental theory. Gender role stereotypes, which are broad categories that reflect our impressions and beliefs about males