Psychology Unit 1

SEX AND GENDER
Key Concpets
Sex-A biological term that tells us whether an individual is male of female.
Gender-A psychological term taht tells us whether an individual is masculine, feminine or androgynous.

Core theory:Biological Approach
The biological approach believes that a persons gender is decided at conception along with their sex. When a foetus is formed it has two chromosomes. Chromosomes are part of a cell that contain your genetic information. This pair of decide whether the foetus is male or female. Also the biological approach suggests that chromosomes decide if a child grows up to be masculine or feminine. The chromosomes that are associated with girls are XX and the chromosomes associated with boys are XY. Rarely babies get atypical chromosomes. For example if a boy gets the chromosomes of XXY, they tend to grown up to have more feminine traits as well as a feminine looking body. This shows the affect of chromosomes.

Also the biological appraoch suggests that human behaviour is instictive and we have deveolped these insticts to help us survive and reproduce. Therefore gender roles are insticitve. Although males and females have physical diffeneces they also have pscychological differences that help to reproduce. For example women are coyer then men. This is because women only produce 400 eggs in their lifetime while men produce millions everyday.