Course Syllabus for Women’s
Studies/Psychology 340
Gender, Nature, and Nurture
Instructor: Richard Lippa Spring 2003
Office: H-835-L
Office hours: M
Phone: 714-278-3654; on campus phones:
Extension 3654
E-mail: rlippa@fullerton.edu
Web page: http://psych.fullerton.edu/rlippa/index.html
(Note: Class materials are
posted on my web page!)
Goals
and Objectives of the Course
After completing this course, you will understand
recent scientific findings on gender differences and on individual differences
in masculinity and femininity. You will
also understand how a variety of biological and social scientific theories
attempt to explain gender differences and gender variations. These theories include evolutionary theory,
genetic theory, hormonal theories, social learning theory, cognitive-developmental
theory, and social role theory.
You will learn about the "essentialism" versus
"social constructionism" debate that permeates gender studies, in
particular, and the social sciences more generally. Because of the cross-disciplinary nature of
this course, you will be required to exercise your critical thinking skills as
you evaluate competing theories and integrate complex strands of empirical
evidence. Finally, you and other
members of the class will attempt to apply various theories and empirical
findings about gender to a number of topical public policy questions such as:
Should boys and girls be reared
alike? Should schools treat boys and
girls similarly, and is same-sex education beneficial or harmful to
children? Should mothers be granted
custody of young children more often than fathers? Is sexual violence a uniquely male problem,
and what should society do to reduce it?
Should corporations treat male and female employees differently -- for
example, in terms of parental leave policies?
Should men and women serve equally in the military? How can society encourage greater equity in
political leadership positions?
Thus, the goals of this class are to learn about
important theories of gender, to understand empirical research on gender, and
to apply theories and empirical findings to public policy questions related to
gender. Your achievement of learning
goals will be assessed through tests, papers, classroom presentations, and
classroom participation.
One textbook is required for this
course: Lippa, R. A. (2002). Gender, Nature, and
Nurture.
A
detailed listing of reading assignments is presented in the week-by-week couse description later in this syllabus. I don't guarantee that I will cover in class
all the topics discussed in your readings.
It is important to keep up with the reading! Remember that part of your course grade will
be based on your class participation, and you will not be able to discuss
topics intelligently if you have done the reading.
EXAMS
AND EXAM DATES
Exam 1: Tueday,
March 11
Exam 2: Thursday, April 24
Exam 3 (Final exam): Thursday, May 29,
GRADES
There
will be three exams. The dates are
listed above. Exams will consist of
multiple-choice questions. The first two exams will have about 50 questions
each and will cover material from just the preceding section of the class. The final exam will have about 80 questions
and will cover material from the entire class.
Your
total points in the class will be the sum of you exam scores, your book-report
paper scores, your class presentation scores, and your class participation
scores. There are 260 total possible
points: 180 for the three exams (50, 50, and 80), 40 points for the paper, 20
points for the class presentation, and 20 points for class participation. In other words, 69% of your final grade will
be based on exams, 15% on your book-report paper, 8% on your class
presentation, and 8% on your class participation. Final letter grades will be assigned
according to the following scale:
Grade Percent of total possible points
A 85-100%
B 75-84%
C 65-74%
D 54-64%
F less than 54%
A requirement of this class is that you
write a 10 to 12-page book report. Your
book-report paper should have standard one-inch margins, standard fonts (“Courier
New” or “Times New Roman”), and a separate title page that includes the title
of your paper, your name, and your student ID number. The books that you review in your papers must
be chosen from a list I will provide (see web page). Each student in the class will review a
different book.
You must turn in your book-report by
Thursday, May 15. Papers will be graded
both on content and writing quality. A
“writing pointers sheet” will be posted on my web page that describes some
common writing problems in student papers and that gives instructions and
suggestions for your papers. You should
read this sheet carefully and work hard to avoid the writing problems outlined
in it. Papers must be entirely in your
own words (see paper instructions on my web page).
CLASS
PRESENTATIONS
You will present a brief summary of you
book report in class during the last three weeks of class. The length of class presentations will depend
on the number of students in the class.
Most likely, presentations will be 10 to 15 minutes long and will
include time for some questions from other class members. I will post a sheet on my web page that gives
points for effective oral presentations.
Class
materials (copies of this syllabus, instructions for papers, and “writing
pointers”) will be posted on my web page (address given at the beginning of
this syllabus). Use this resource!
TEST
FORMS (ANSWER SHEETS FOR EXAMS)
To
take your exams you will need to buy four answer sheets at the bookstore. These sheets are 8 1/2 by 11 inch forms, and
they are titled "ParSCORE, Student Enrollment
Sheet." The form number is
F288-ERI-L.
Note:
Your exam will not be accepted if it is filled out on the wrong answer
sheet. If you bring a wrong answer sheet
to class on the day of an exam, you will have to go to the bookstore and buy a
correct form. Get the correct forms now,
and avoid upset on exam days.
You
will be permitted to take a make-up exam only if you have a legitimate
reason for missing the original exam.
If you miss a regular exam, you must bring written documentation (e.g.,
a doctor's note) in order to take a make-up exam. If you know ahead of time that you will have
a problem taking an exam, come and talk to me about it. Generally, make-up exams will be essay tests
and will be graded more strictly than the original exam. It is to your advantage not to miss exams.
WEEK-BY-WEEK LIST OF COURSE TOPICS AND
ASSIGNED
Week 1 (Week of Feb. 7): What is gender? Scientific research on
gender differences. Topics
include: Essentialist versus social
constructionist views of gender; meta-analysis and the scientific synthesis of
research on gender differences
Reading
assignment: Chapter 1, Gender,
Nature, and Nurture.
Week 2 (Week of
Feb. 14): Scientific evidence on
gender differences in personality, social behavior, the self-concept,
sexuality, cognitive abilities, occupational interests, mental illness, and
childhood behaviors; how do social attitudes (including sexist attitudes) frame
scientific debates and influence scientific research?
Reading
assignment: Eagly, A. H. (1995). The science and politics of comparing men and women. American Psychologist, 50, 145-158.
Week 3 (Week of Feb. 21): Gender variations within each sex – the
nature of masculinity and femininity.
Topics include: the history of
masculinity-femininity testing in psychology; differing conceptions of
masculinity and femininity (e.g., bipolar m-f scales; masculine instrumentality,
feminine expressiveness, and the concept of androgyny; interest-based measures
of masculinity-femininity); correlates of masculinity and femininity (e.g.,
intelligence and creativity, sexual orientation, nonverbal behavior,
psychological adjustment and maladjustment); how do social attitudes (e.g.,
negative attitudes toward “feminine” men and toward “masculine” women)
influence scientific research on masculinity and femininity?
Reading
assignments: Chapter 2, Gender,
Nature, and Nurture.
Bem, S. L. (1987). Masculinity and femininity exist only in the
mind of the perceiver. In J. M. Reinisch, L. A. Rosenblum, &
S. A. Sanders, (Eds.), Masculinity/femininity: Basic perspectives (pp.
304-311).
Spence,
J. T., & Buckner, C. (1995). Masculinity and femininity: Defining the
undefinable. In P. J.
Kalbfleisch & M. J. Cody, (Eds.), Gender, power, and communication in
human relationships (pp. 105-138).
Week 4 (Week of Feb. 28): Theories of gender, part 1 – biological
theories. Topics include: Evolutionary
theory, neurohormonal theories of gender, behavior genetic theory. The goal of
this section will be to understand the basic assumptions of various biological
theories of gender and to compare and contrast their success at explaining
various aspects of gender-related behavior.
We will view the documentary program, “Why Sex?” from the PBS series,
“Evolution.”
Reading
assignments: first half of Chapter 3, Gender,
Nature, and Nurture.
Kenrick,
D. T., & Luce, K. L. (2000).
An evolutionary life-history model of gender differences and
similarities. In T. Eckes, & H. M. Trautner
(Eds.), The developmental social psychology of gender.
(pp. 35-63).
Week 5 (Week of March 7): Theories of gender, part 2 – environmental
theories: social learning theories, cognitive-developmental theory, gender
schema theories, social role theory, stereotype threat theory, and
self-presentation theory.
Reading
assignments: second half of Chapter 3, Gender,
Nature, and Nurture.
Martin, C. L.
(2000). Cognitive theories of gender development. In T. Eckes & H. M. Trautner
(Eds.), The developmental social psychology
of gender (pp. 91-121).
Week 6 (Week of March 14; Exam 1 – Tuesday, March 11):
The case for nature, part 1 – evidence for biological factors that
influence gender. Topics include: animal
experiments (e.g., on how manipulating sex hormone levels influences sex-linked
behaviors); studies of humans exposed to atypical levels of sex hormones (e.g.,
research on females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, who are exposed to
high prenatal levels of androgens; androgen insensitive males, who are genetic
XY males but who lack androgen receptors in their body tissues; reductase deficient males, who because of a genetic enzyme
deficiency appear female at birth; Turner syndrome women, who have only a
single X chromosome and therefore lack ovaries and prenatal exposure to sex
hormones); natural experiments and sex reassignments (e.g., the “John/Joan
case,” in which one infant in a set of identical male twins lost his penis due
to a botched circumcision procedure and was surgically reassigned to be female
and reared as a female); correlational studies on links between testosterone
levels and various kinds of behavior. We
will view the PBS “Nova” documentary “Sex: Unknown,” which is about the
“John/Joan” case.
Reading
assignments: first half of Chapter 4, Gender,
Nature, and Nurture.
Berenbaum, S. A. (2002). Prenatal androgens and
sexual differentiation of behavior.
In E. A. Eugster & O. H. Pescovitz (Eds.), Developmental
endocrinology: From research to clinical practice (pp. 293-311).
Week 7 (Week of March 21): The case for nature, part 2: evidence on the
cross-cultural consistency of various kinds of gender differences; evidence for
biological factors in three kinds of behavior that show strong sex differences:
aggression, visual-spatial abilities, and aspects of sexuality (e.g., sexual
orientation) ; behavior genetic research
Reading
assignments: second half of Chapter 4, Gender,
Nature, and Nurture.
Bailey, J. M.
(1995). Biological
perspectives on sexual orientation.
In A. R. D. Augelli and C. J. Patterson
(Eds.), Lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities over the lifespan:
Psychological perspectives (pp. 102-135).
Week 8 (Week of March 28): The case for nurture, part 1– evidence for
social and environmental factors that influence gender. Topics include: social learning theory;
research on boys’ and girls’ toy and play preferences; parental treatment and
gender in children; peer influences on gender; teacher and school influences on
gender; media influences on gender.
Reading
assignments: first half of Chapter 5, Gender,
Nature, and Nurture.
Fagot,
B. I., Rodgers, C. S., & Leinbach, M. D. (2000). Theories of gender
socialization. In T. Eckes & H. M. Trautner
(Eds.), The developmental social psychology
of gender (pp. 65-89).
Week 9 (Week of April 11): The case for nurture, part 2:
self-socialization of gender – how children label themselves and acquire
knowledge (i.e., stereotypes) about gender; gender as a self-fulfilling
prophecy; Alice Eagly’s social role theory of gender;
the confound between gender and status in most societies, and how “gender
differences” may in fact be “status differences”; we will view the PBS documentary, "Half the
People," from the "People's Century" series. This documentary portrays the struggle for
women’s rights over the course of the 20th century.
Reading
assignments: second half of Chapter 5, Gender,
Nature, and Nurture.
Eagly, A. H., Wood, W., & Diekman, A. B. (2000). Social role theory of sex differences
and similarities: A current appraisal. In T. Eckes
& H. M. Trautner (Eds.), The
developmental social psychology of gender (pp. 123-174).
Week 10 (Week of April 18): Cross-examinations – picking
holes in arguments made by those on both sides of the nature-nurture
debate: The over-reliance of both sides
on correlational evidence, and the weaknesses of such evidence; the relevance
of animal studies to human gender differences and gender-related behaviors; the
failure of biological theorists to specify exact biological mechanisms; the
“nonscientific” and at times “anti-scientific” tone of social constructionists
Reading
assignments: Chapter 6, Gender,
Nature, and Nurture.
Excerpts from:
Fausto-Sterling,
A. (1992). Myths of gender (2nd Ed.).
Kimura, D.
(1999). Sex and cognition.
Week 11 (Week of April 25; Exam 2: Thursday, April 24):
Real-life issues related to the nature-nurture debate as applied to
gender, part 1: children and families.
Topics include: Should boys and girls be reared differently or the
same? Should childhood gender
segregation be reduced? Is same-sex
schooling good or bad? The nature and
nurture of male and female behavior in close relationships -- are men and women destined to be on
different “wavelengths”? Are mothers
better at rearing children than fathers, and should mothers get preference in
child custody decisions?
Reading
assignments: first half of Chapter 7, Gender,
Nature, and Nurture.
Excerpts
from:
American
Association of University Women Educational Foundation.
(1992). The AAUW Report: How schools shortchange girls.
Bem., S. L. (1998). An
unconventional family.
Week 12 (Week of May 2): Real-life issues related to the
nature-nurture debate as applied to gender, part 2: broader social
institutions. Are sexual harassment and
assault mostly male problems, and do they have a biological component? Should employers treat men
and women the same or differently (e.g., in terms of family leave policies and
in terms of providing various career tracks for women)? Why are there gender differences in pay and
in occupational pursuits? Is there a
“gender gap” in political attitudes, and is the gender gap in political
leadership a function of nature or nurture?
Should men and women serve equally in the military?
Reading
assignments: Chapter 7, Gender,
Nature, and Nurture.
Excerpts
from:
Browne, K. R.
(2002). Biology at work: Rethinking sexual equality.
Schwartz, F. N.
(1989). Management women and the new facts of life. Harvard Business Review, 89, 65-76.
Thornhill, R., & Palmer, C. T. (2000). A
natural history of rape: Biological bases of sexual coercion.
Weeks 13-15 (Weeks of May 9, 16, 23; Book-report paper due: Thursday, May 15): Student presentations (critical book reports)
on specific topics related to gender, nature, and nurture.
Week
16, Final Exam Week:
(Week of May 30): Final exam: Thursday,
May 29,