Evaluation of the Biological Explanation of Gender
Supporting Evidence:
David Reimer supports biological explanations as when he was brought up as a girl, going against his chromosomes he was unhappy and still behaved in a masculine way. He eventually changed back to being male. This shows nature is more important than nurture.
The biological approach is based on scientific tests; this makes it reliable as the measures can be replicated. Evidence comes from lab experiments and animal studies – these are carefully controlled with operationalized variables allowing cause and effect conclusions to be made.
Biological explanations are valid as different research methods are used with come up with similar findings e.g. evidence for sex differences in
brain lateralisation comes from lab experiments using transsexuals, brain damaged patients and comparisons between males and
females.
Opposing Evidence:
Studies of genes and hormones usually conducted on animals, may not be credible or generalisable to humans. However animals do share
many characteristics to humans, so it may be that findings are applicable.
Daphne Went is a pseudo-hermaphrodite who is chromosomally male but has a female appearance; she was successfully brought up as a female and lives as a woman despite having a Y chromosome.
It is difficult to study without considering the environment – males and females may have different strategies to do tasks rather than different
brain structures
Different Explanation:
Social learning theory suggests environmental factors contribute to gender development e.g. observational learning and role models. However
David Reimer goes against this. Interaction – most psychologists agree it is likely to be a combination of nature and nurture and both biological and learning accounts shape our development. E.g. a child biologically male will be reinforced into this role with games typically suited to males such as cars and play fighting.
Application:
Understanding the role of genes can be used in gene therapy. This can help families with children with abnormalities, such as klinefelter’s, turner, or hermaphrodites. It can also help transsexuals explain their feelings for wanting to change sex.
Supporting Evidence:
David Reimer supports biological explanations as when he was brought up as a girl, going against his chromosomes he was unhappy and still behaved in a masculine way. He eventually changed back to being male. This shows nature is more important than nurture.
The biological approach is based on scientific tests; this makes it reliable as the measures can be replicated. Evidence comes from lab experiments and animal studies – these are carefully controlled with operationalized variables allowing cause and effect conclusions to be made.
Biological explanations are valid as different research methods are used with come up with similar findings e.g. evidence for sex differences in
brain lateralisation comes from lab experiments using transsexuals, brain damaged patients and comparisons between males and
females.
Opposing Evidence:
Studies of genes and hormones usually conducted on animals, may not be credible or generalisable to humans. However animals do share
many characteristics to humans, so it may be that findings are applicable.
Daphne Went is a pseudo-hermaphrodite who is chromosomally male but has a female appearance; she was successfully brought up as a female and lives as a woman despite having a Y chromosome.
It is difficult to study without considering the environment – males and females may have different strategies to do tasks rather than different
brain structures
Different Explanation:
Social learning theory suggests environmental factors contribute to gender development e.g. observational learning and role models. However
David Reimer goes against this. Interaction – most psychologists agree it is likely to be a combination of nature and nurture and both biological and learning accounts shape our development. E.g. a child biologically male will be reinforced into this role with games typically suited to males such as cars and play fighting.
Application:
Understanding the role of genes can be used in gene therapy. This can help families with children with abnormalities, such as klinefelter’s, turner, or hermaphrodites. It can also help transsexuals explain their feelings for wanting to change sex.