Glossary
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- Alexis Bridley and Lee W. Daffin Jr.
- Washington State University
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(Eg. "Genetic, Hereditary, DNA ...") | (Eg. "Relating to genes or heredity") | The infamous double helix | https://bio.libretexts.org/ | CC-BY-SA; Delmar Larsen |
Word(s) | Definition | Image | Caption | Link | Source |
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Achievement motivation | Refers to an individual’s needs to meet goals and accomplish things. | ||||
Additive model of identity | Simply adds together privileged and disadvantaged identities for a slightly more complex picture. | ||||
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) | All types of abuse, neglect, and other potentially traumatic experiences that occur before the age of 18. | ||||
Affiliative speech | Refers to language used to establish or maintain connections with others. | ||||
Agency | Are the traits that facilitate leadership and success,such as assertiveness. | ||||
Agender | Without gender, and can describe people who do not have a gender identity, who identify as non-binary or gender neutral, have an undefinable identity, or feel indifferent about gender. | ||||
Aggression | Refers to any behavior that is intended to harm another individual. | ||||
Amygdala | The brain region that responds to emotional arousal. | ||||
Alleles | A the possible versions of a gene that can be inherited. | ||||
Ambivalent sexism | A concept of gender attitudes that encompasses both positive and negative qualities. | ||||
Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome | (AIS): Occurswhen a person has one X and one Y chromosome, but is resistant to the male hormones or androgens, and appears female at birth. | ||||
Androgyny | Possessing both stereotypical masculine and feminine traits. | ||||
Andropause | or late-onset hypogonadism: Refers to testosterone levels declining significantly in older males. | ||||
Anthropocentricism | A view that views humans as being the most important entity in the universe. | ||||
Asexual | The sexual orientation that pertains to little desire or sexual associations. | ||||
Benevolent sexism | The “positive” element of ambivalent sexism, which recognizes that women are perceived as needing to be protected, supported, and adored by men. | ||||
Between-group variance | Refers to the difference between the average score of each group. | ||||
Biocentricism | A view that endorses inherent value to all living things. | ||||
Bisexual | The term traditionally used to signify being attracted to both men and women, but it has recently been used in nonbinary models of sex and gender to refer to attraction to any sex or gender. | ||||
Booty calls | Relationships that are non-committal nor are they expected to be monogamous, but involve repeated sexual encounters. | ||||
Brody’s Transactional Model | Explains how children learn gender roles by focusing on the bidirectional influences between parents and children. | ||||
Broken rung | Not being able to take the first step up into a management position. | ||||
Bromance | A close heterosexual friendship between males. | ||||
Bullying | Unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. | ||||
Catastrophizing | Refers to assuming the worst case scenario when faced with a challenge. | ||||
Chosen family | A circle of friends who understand the challenges of being LGBTQ+ and who can support them. | ||||
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) | A group of genetic disorders which cause increased production of androgens due to an enzymatic deficiency (21-hydroxylase) resulting in an inability to produce cortisol and the overproduction of androgens. | ||||
Carriers | Those who have inherited only one recessive-gene. | ||||
Case studies | Descriptive records of one or a small group of individuals’ experiences and behavior. | ||||
Catharsis | A now debunked idea that observing or engaging in less harmful aggressive actions will reduce the tendency to aggress later in a more harmful way. | ||||
Cesarean section (c-section) | A surgery used to deliver the baby through the mothers’ lower abdomen. | ||||
Child abuse and neglect | : Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act, which presents an imminent risk of serious harm. | ||||
Chromosomes | Are strands of DNA. | ||||
Chronosystem | A concept in ecological systems theory that refers to the historical context in which experiences occur. | ||||
Cingulate gyrus | : A region of the brain that is important in processing emotions and regulating behaviors. | ||||
Cisgender | (cis): Refers to individuals who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. | ||||
Climacteric | Is the midlife transition when fertility declines. | ||||
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) | A treatment that assists sufferers by identifying distorted thinking patterns and changing inaccurate beliefs. | ||||
Cognitive social learning theory | This theory emphasizes reinforcement, punishment, and imitation, but adds cognitive processes to explain how humans learn. | ||||
Collectivistic cultures | Value the needs of the group over individuals. | ||||
Communion | Are the traits that facilitate connection with and concern for others, such as kindness. | ||||
Constructionism | Argues that society creates what we believe to be true. | ||||
Contingency boost | Confirmation of masculinity elevates a man’s self-worth. | ||||
Contingency threat | The extent to which a lack of masculinity threatens a man’s self-worth. | ||||
Control group | Does not receive the treatment the experimenter is studying as a comparison. | ||||
Correlational research | Research designed to discover relationships among variables and to allow the prediction of future events from present knowledge. | ||||
Coverture laws | Stated that upon marriage a woman could no longer own property or enter into contract in her own name. | ||||
Cross over theory | Suggests that the changes in our social roles as we move through middle and late adulthood would likely lead to greater similarity between the genders in terms of how they see themselves. | ||||
Cult of true womanhood | Piety, purity, submission and domesticity were the tenants, and held that women were rightfully and naturally located in the private sphere of the household and not fit for public, political participation, or labor in the waged economy. | ||||
Cultivation theory | States that repeated exposure to media encourages beliefs depicted in that reality. | ||||
Cyberbullying | Involves bullying using electronic technology, including sending mean text messages or emails, creating fake profiles, and posting embarrassing pictures, videos or rumors on social networking sites. | ||||
Dead reckoning | Refers to estimating distances using space and orientation cues. | ||||
Debriefing | : A procedure designed to fully explain the purposes and procedures of the research after participation, and to remove any harmful aftereffects of participation. | ||||
Deception | Whenever research participants are not completely and fully informed about the nature of the research project before participating in it. | ||||
Degendering theory | Proposes that as people age, gender and the social expectations of gender becomes less central to people’s self-concept. | ||||
Dependent variable | A measured variable that is expected to be influenced by the experimental manipulation. | ||||
Descriptive research | Research that describes what is occurring at a particular point in time. | ||||
Developmental intergroup theory | A theory that postulates that adults’ focus on gender leads children to pay attention to gender as a key source of information about themselves and others, to seek out possible gender differences, and to form rigid stereotypes based on gender. | ||||
Discrepancy strain | Happens when a person fails to live up to the social standards for the gender role. | ||||
Disharmonious emotions | Emotions that convey a highly competitive motivation to achieve and dominate others, such as anger or gloating when defeating an opponent. | ||||
Displaced aggression | : Aggression that is directed at an object or person other than the person who caused the frustration. | ||||
Dispositional attributions | : The internal reasons people give for why someone behaves the way that they do. | ||||
Dominant gene | Expresses itself in the phenotype even when paired with a different version of the gene. | ||||
Double standard of aging | Refers to the idea that men’s social value increases with age, while women’s declines. | ||||
d statistic | Quantifies the difference between group means in standardized units. | ||||
Dyadic power | Refers to the power to initiate intimate relationships and control the decisions in those relationships. | ||||
Dysfunction strain | Suggests that some of the gender role norms are inherently psychologically and physically harmful. | ||||
Effect size | A way of quantifying the difference between two groups. | ||||
Ego identity | The self-image that we form in adolescence and young adulthood that is the integration of our ideas about who we are and who we want to be. | ||||
Ecological systems theory | Provides a framework for understanding and studying the many influences on human development. | ||||
Empathy | Refers to our ability to feel what others feel. | ||||
Endogamy | Cultural rules regarding the groups we should marry within and those we should not marry in. | ||||
Erectile dysfunction | Refers to the inability to achieve an erection or an inconsistent ability to achieve an erection. | ||||
Essentialism | The belief that characteristics that are a part of a category are assumed to be universal, inherent, and unambiguous. | ||||
Executive functions | Refer to higher order cognitive skills, including planning, cognitive flexibility, working memory, inhibitory behavior, goal-setting and problem solving. | ||||
Exosystem | A concept in ecological systems theory that includes the larger contexts of community. | ||||
Experimental group | Receives the treatment under investigation. | ||||
Experimental research | Research in which a researcher manipulates one or more variables to see their effects. | ||||
Ex post facto research | Research in which groups of people are compared on a participant variable, such as men and women. | ||||
Extraneous variables | Variables that are not part of the experiment that could inadvertently effect either the experimental or control group, thus distorting the results. | ||||
Fear of success | The anxiety that women and men might feel when achieving success in an atypical gender situation. | ||||
Femininity | The attributes a culture most commonly associates with women. | ||||
Feminism | Encompasses many social movements that emphasize improving women’s lives and rectifying gender inequality in society. | ||||
Fraternal birth order effect | Suggests that the probability of a male identifying as gay increases for each older brother born to the same mother. | ||||
Friends with benefits | Relationships that involve friends having casual sex without commitment. | ||||
Frontal cortex | Is the region of the brain that is responsible for higher-level cognitive skills. | ||||
Gay | Sexual orientation that refer to men who are attracted to other men. | ||||
Gender | The cultural, social, and psychological meanings that are associated with masculinity and femininity. | ||||
Gender-affirming hormone treatment | Are hormones used to align one’s physical body with their gender identification. | ||||
Gender aschematic | A term used to describe individuals who do not use gender as a dimension for interpreting the world. | ||||
Gender-based violence | Violence against an individual based on their gender or gender identity. | ||||
Gender binary | The belief that there are two discrete gender categories, which are biologically based, apparent at birth, and stable over time, in which all individuals can be sorted. | ||||
Gender-critical feminism | Feminists who advocate reserving women’s spaces for ciswomen and do not view transgender women as women. | ||||
Gender discrimination | Differential treatment on the basis of gender. | ||||
Gender dysphoria | Refers to the distress accompanying a mismatch between one’s gender identity and biological sex. | ||||
Gender equality | Refers to not discriminating on the basis of a person’s gender when it comes to access to services, the allocation of resources, or opportunities. | ||||
Gender equity | Refers to there being fairness and justice in the distribution of resources and responsibilities on the basic of gender. | ||||
Genderfluid | Highlights that people can experience shifts between gender identities. | ||||
Gender identity | A person’s psychological sense of being male, female, both, or neither. | ||||
Gender role identity paradigm (GRIP) | Makes the assumption that successful personality development hinges upon the formation of a gender role that is consistent with the person’s biological sex. | ||||
Gender role intensification | At about the same time that puberty accentuates gender identity, gender role differences also accentuate for at least some teenagers. | ||||
Gender roles | The behaviors, attitudes, and personality traits that are designated as either masculine or feminine in a given culture. | ||||
Gender role strain | The pressure to live up to gender role ideals, and often results in psychological distress. | ||||
Gender schemas | Refers to conceptual networks of information about gender. | ||||
Gender schematic | A term used to describe individuals who are especially attuned to gender, and use it as a way of organizing and understanding the world. | ||||
Gender segregation effect | : States that children seek out and play with other children of the same gender. | ||||
Gender similarities hypothesis | States that females and males are similar on most, but not all, psychological variables. | ||||
Gender socialization | Refers to what young children learn about gender from society, including parents, peers, media, religious institutions, schools, and public policies. | ||||
Gender stereotypes | The beliefs and expectations people hold about the typical characteristics, preferences, and behaviors of men and women. | ||||
Gendered languages | Languages that mark nouns and pronouns for gender. | ||||
Genderfluid | People that can experience shifts between gender identities. | ||||
Genderless languages | Languages that do not mark either nouns or pronouns for gender. | ||||
Gender/sex | A term that is used to recognize that the biological (sex) and sociocultural (gender) are too intertwined to separate. | ||||
Genes | The segments of DNA that are recipes for making proteins. | ||||
Genotype | Refers to the sum total of all the genes a person inherits. | ||||
Glass ceiling | Refers to the invisible barrier that prevents women from advancing into top positions. | ||||
Glass cliff | Women hired for leadership potions are sometimes placed in precarious positions after a crisis and are set-up to fail. | ||||
Glass escalator | Many men experience their token status in female occupations as an advantage in hiring and promotion | ||||
Gray matter | Refer to neuronal cell bodies in the brain. | ||||
Greater male variability hypothesis | States that more men than women have very high, as well as very low, intelligence. | ||||
Healthy Life Expectancy | Takes into account current age-specific mortality, morbidity, and disability risks and refers to the number of years of life that is disability free. | ||||
Hegemonic masculinity | A dominant set of expectations that serve as the foundation of cultural beliefs about what it means to be a man. | ||||
Heteronormative | society supports heterosexuality as the norm. | ||||
Heterosexual | Sexual orientation that indicates that the individual is attracted to the other sex; also referred to as straight. | ||||
Heterozygous | When we receive a different version of the gene from each parent. | ||||
Hippocampus | : The brain region that is responsible for memory processing and storage. | ||||
Homogamy | Marriage between individuals who are similar on various indicators (e.g., education, wealth). | ||||
Homophily | The idea that people affiliate more with those like themselves. | ||||
Homophobia | A range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. | ||||
Homozygous | When we receive the same version of a gene from our mother and father. | ||||
Hookups | Refers to uncommitted sexual encounters. | ||||
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) | Medication that contains female hormones, taken to replace the estrogen that the female body stops making during menopause. | ||||
Hostile sexism | The negative element of ambivalent sexism, which includes the attitudes that women are inferior and incompetent relative to men. | ||||
Hot flash | Is a surge of adrenaline, and is one of the common symptoms of the climacteric in women. | ||||
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) | A virus that weakens a person’s immune system by destroying important cells that fight disease and infection. | ||||
Hypergamy | Refers to women “marrying up” in educational attainment and wealth. | ||||
Hypogamy | Refers to women “marrying down”. | ||||
Hypotheses | Specific statements about the relationship between variables. | ||||
Identities | The categories we use to define both ourselves and other people. | ||||
Implicit bias | Unconscious attitudes and stereotypes. | ||||
Incomplete dominance | When a dominant gene does not completely suppress the recessive gene. | ||||
Independent variable | The causing variable that is created or manipulated by the experimenter. | ||||
Individualistic cultures | : Emphasize the individual rather than the group. | ||||
Informed consent | Explaining as much as possible about the true nature of the study, particularly everything that might be expected, prior to participants agreeing to participate. | ||||
Institutionalized homophobia | Refers to religious and state-sponsored homophobia. | ||||
Intelligence | Refers to the ability to think, learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt to new situations. | ||||
Internalized Homophobia | People with same-sex attractions internalize, or believe, society’s negative views and/or hatred of themselves. | ||||
Intersectional theory | The study of how overlapping or intersecting social identities relate to oppression, domination or discrimination. | ||||
Intersectionality | Views race, class, gender, sexuality, age, ability, and other aspects of identity as mutually constitutive; that is, people experience these multiple aspects of identity simultaneously and the meanings of different aspects of identity are shaped by one another. | ||||
Intersex | Refers to individuals whose external genitals and/or internal reproductive structures, hormones, or sex chromosomes do not match or are indeterminate. | ||||
Interviewed | Participants are directly questioned by a researcher. | ||||
Intimate terrorism | : Refers to one partner consistently using fear and violence to dominate the other. | ||||
Jacob’s syndrome (XYY) | Results when an extra Y chromosome is present in the cells of a male. | ||||
Kinkeeper | Refers to the person, or persons, who keep the family connected and who promote solidarity and continuity in the family. | ||||
Klinefelter syndrome (XXY) | Refers to an extra X chromosome in the cells of a male and results in infertility. | ||||
Laboratory observation | Research conducted in a setting created by the researcher. | ||||
Latinx paradox | A tendency of Latinx Americans to have as good, if not better, health than non-Latinx White Americans despite having less education and a lower socioeconomic status. | ||||
Lesbian | Sexual orientation that refers to women who are attracted to other women. | ||||
Life expectancy | The average number of years that members of a population (or species) live. | ||||
Limbic cortex | The region of the brain that is involved in emotional processing. | ||||
Macrosystem | : A concept in ecological systems theory that includes the cultural elements. | ||||
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) | Uses magnetic fields and radio waves to create images of the body. | ||||
Male reference group identity dependence | The extent to which a male is dependent on a male reference group for his gender role self-concept. | ||||
Masculinity | Refers to the attributes most commonly associated with men in a culture. | ||||
Masculinity Contingency | The extent to which a man’s sense of self-worth is related to his sense of masculinity. | ||||
Masculine ideology | A man’s endorsement and internalization of cultural belief systems about masculinity and the male gender. | ||||
Matriarchy | Is the term used to describe societies that place structural power and resources in the hands of females. | ||||
Matrilineal | Societies where the lineage and wealth is passed down from mothers. | ||||
Matrilocal | Cultures where men move to live with or near their wife’s family. | ||||
Maudsley Approach | Treatment that has the parents of adolescents with anorexia nervosa be actively involved in their child’s treatment. | ||||
Maximalist approach | Emphasizes differences and often assumes no real overlap in the performance of different genders. | ||||
Medicalization | The process where more normal functions of the body come under medical influence, and treatments emerge for what were previously viewed as non-medical problems./ | ||||
Meiosis | The process by which the gamete’s chromosomes duplicate, and then divide twice resulting in four cells containing only half the genetic material of the original gamete. | ||||
Menarche | The first menstrual period. | ||||
Menopause | Is defined as 12 months without menstruation. | ||||
Mental rotation | Refers to the ability to rotate an object in one’s mind. | ||||
Mesosystem | : A concept in ecological systems theory that includes the larger organizational structures, such as school, the family, or religion. | ||||
Meta-analysis | A technique for analyzing and integrating the results from several studies. | ||||
Microsystem | A concept in ecological systems theory that includes the individual’s setting and those who have direct, significant contact with the person, such as parents or siblings. | ||||
Minimalist approach | Assumes that although the difference is statistically significant there is likely considerable overlap between the genders. | ||||
Minority stress model | : States that an unaccepting social environment results in both external and internal stress which contributes to poorer mental health. | ||||
Mitosis | The process by which all cells, but the gametes, duplicate and create an exact copy of all the chromosomes and split into two new cells. | ||||
Morbidity-mortality paradox | How women have higher rates of chronic, nonfatal, but debilitating health problems, yet tend to live longer than men. | ||||
Motherhood mandate | The social expectation that females will have children. | ||||
Mullerian ducts | Are the primitive female internal sex organs. | ||||
Muscle dysmorphia | : An extreme desire to increase one’s muscularity. | ||||
Natural gender languages | Languages that mark gender with third-person singular pronouns (e.g., he, she, his, her). | ||||
Naturalistic observation | Research method that involves the observation and recording of behavior that occurs in everyday settings. | ||||
Nature | Refers to the contribution of genetics to one’s development. | ||||
Negative correlations | : High values for one variable is associated with low values for another variable. | ||||
Non-binary/ | genderqueer: Refers to gender identities beyond binary identifications of man or woman. | ||||
Nurture | Refers to all the environmental influences that affect an individual. | ||||
Objectification Theory | Focuses on how the female body has become an object of the male gaze. | ||||
Occupational sexism | Involves discriminatory practices, statements, or actions, based on a person’s sex, that occur in the workplace. | ||||
Ovaries | The gonads that produce ova and ovarian hormones. | ||||
Pansexual | Sexual orientation that refers to being attracted to all sexes and gender identities. | ||||
Parental investment | A concept in evolutionary theory that refers to the amount of investment a parent makes that will increase the survival of the offspring. | ||||
Parietal cortex | Is the region of the brain that is involved in spatial perception, among other skills. | ||||
Partial Androgen Insensitivity syndrome (PAIS) | A mild form of androgen insensitivity syndrome that occurs when the body’s tissues are partially sensitive to the effects of androgens and may appear female, male or indeterminate at birth. | ||||
Participant variables | These are naturally occurring characteristic of the research participant, (e.g., age, gender, race), and they are measured rather than manipulated. | ||||
Patriarchy | Is the term used to describe societies that place power and resources in the hands of males. | ||||
Patrilineal | : Societies where lineage and wealth in a family is passed down from fathers. | ||||
Patrilocal | Cultures where women leave their families to live with or near their husband’s family. | ||||
Pearson correlation coefficient | : Symbolized by the letter r, is the most common statistical measure of the strength of linear relationships among variables. | ||||
Perimenopause | Refers to a period of transition in which a woman’s ovaries stop releasing eggs and the level of estrogen and progesterone production decreases. | ||||
Phenotype | Refers to the features that are actually expressed. | ||||
Polygenic | When more than one gene influences that characteristic. | ||||
Polysexual | Sexual orientation that refers to being attracted to people of many sexes and gender identity. | ||||
Population | The people that the researcher wishes to know about. | ||||
Positive correlation | High values for one variable is associated with high values for another variable. | ||||
Precarious manhood hypothesis | : Proposes that men have a tenuous social status that is difficult to attain, but easy to lose. | ||||
Primary sexual characteristics | The changes in puberty that allow for sexual reproduction., | ||||
Process model of romantic relationships | Proposes that interpersonal processes, such as closeness, trust, commitment, and interdependence are the mechanisms that can guide relationships in different directions. | ||||
Psychophysiological Assessment | A record of psychophysiological data, such as measures of heart rate, hormone levels, or brain activity to help explain behavior. | ||||
Pubertal blockers | Are medications that suppress puberty by halting the production of estrogen or testosterone and should be taken before puberty starts and stopped by age 14. | ||||
Puberty | The period of rapid growth and sexual maturation. | ||||
Quasi-experimental research | Research that includes both participant variables and experimental (manipulated) variables. | ||||
Queer | Signifies a range of different sexual orientations and gender behaviors, identities, or ideologies. | ||||
Random assignment | Using chance to determine which condition of the experiment research participants receive. | ||||
Rape | The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part of object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim. | ||||
Recessive gene | Expresses itself in the phenotype only when paired with a similar version gene. | ||||
Reference group | The group we use for self comparison. | ||||
Relational aggression | Verbal aggression that is intended to harm relationships. | ||||
Representative sample | A sample that includes the same percentages of genders, age groups, ethnic groups, and socio-economic groups as the larger population. | ||||
Research design | The specific method a researcher uses to collect, analyze, and interpret data. | ||||
Role congruity theory | One’s characteristics should align with typical social roles. | ||||
Sample | The people chosen to participate in the research. | ||||
Sandwich generation | Refers to adults who have at least one parent age 65 or older and are either raising their own children or providing support for their grown children. | ||||
Schemas | The categories into which people actively organize their own and others’ behavior, activities, and attributes. | ||||
Scientific method | The set of assumptions, rules, and procedures scientists use to conduct research. | ||||
Secondary/Content Analysis | Analyzing information that has already been collected or examining documents or media to uncover attitudes, practices or preferences. | ||||
Secondary sexual characteristics | The visible physical changes of puberty not directly linked to reproduction, but signal sexual maturity. | ||||
Self-assertive speech | Refers to language used to influence others. | ||||
Self-confidence | The belief that one can be successful in a specific area. | ||||
Self-efficacy | One’s belief about being able to accomplish some task or produce a particular outcome . | ||||
Self-esteem | Refers to the positive regard one has for oneself. | ||||
Sex | Biological category of male or female as defined by physical differences in genetic composition and in reproductive anatomy and function. | ||||
Sex typing | Is the process by which individuals acquire patterns of gendered behavior. | ||||
Sexism or gender discrimination: | Is a form of prejudice and/or discrimination based on a person’s sex or gender. | ||||
Sexual abuse | A type of maltreatment that refers to the involvement of the child in sexual activity to provide sexual gratification or financial benefit to the perpetrator, including contacts for sexual purposes, molestation, statutory rape, prostitution, pornography, expo-sure, incest, or other sexually exploitative activities. | ||||
Sexual harassment | A form of gender discrimination based on unwanted treatment related to sexual behaviors or appearance when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. | ||||
Sexual orientation | Refers to the direction of emotional and erotic attraction toward members of the opposite sex, the same sex, both sexes, or neither sex. | ||||
Sexual selection | Refers to members of one gender (usually males) competing among themselves for mating access to the other gender (usually females), and those being competed for (usually females) having preferences for and actively choosing to mate with members of the opposite gender (usually males). | ||||
Sexual strategies theory | Suggest that gender differences in mate preferences reflect the evolutionary roles of men and women. | ||||
Sexuality | Refers to the capacity for sexual responses and experiences. | ||||
Single determinant model of identity | Presumes that one aspect of identity, say, gender, dictates one’s access to or disenfranchisement from power. | ||||
Situational attributions | The external reasons people give for why someone behaves the way that they do. | ||||
Situational couple violence | Violence that results when heated conflict escalates between a couple. | ||||
Social desirability | A problem in self-report measures where respondents may lie because they want to present themselves in the most favorable light. | ||||
Social learning theory | Argues that behavior is learned through observation, modeling, reinforcement, and punishment. | ||||
Spatial location memory | : Is the ability to remember the location of objects in physical space. | ||||
Spatial perception | Refers to the ability to perceive and understand space relations between objects. | ||||
Spatial visualization | Refers to complex, sequential manipulations of spatial information. | ||||
Spermarche | The first ejaculation of semen. | ||||
Stage theory of romantic relationships | Proposes that there is a linear sequence of stages that are associated with increasing commitment. | ||||
Statistical significance | A measure of how unlikely the difference between groups was due to chance. | ||||
Stereotype | Refers to a shared belief about a social group. | ||||
Stereotype threat | Refers to the anxiety that people feel when they risk confirming the cultural stereotype for their group. | ||||
Sticky floors | Keep low-wage workers, who are more likely to be women and minorities, from being promoted contribute to lower wages. | ||||
Structural power | Refers to power that determines who makes the decisions and laws that govern the society, and who holds, and metes out, resources. | ||||
Submissive emotions | Emotions that communicate vulnerability, such as anxiety or sadness. | ||||
Suffrage | The right to vote. | ||||
Survey | A measure administered through either a verbal or written questionnaire to get a picture of the beliefs or behaviors of a sample of people of interest. | ||||
Telomeres | : Disposable DNA on the end of chromosomes that protect the genes. | ||||
Temporal lobe | The brain region that is associated with language comprehension and processing. | ||||
Testes | The gonads inside the scrotum that produce sperm and testosterone. | ||||
Thalamus | The region of the brain that acts as a relay station for sensory information. | ||||
Third variable | A variable that is not part of the research hypothesis but produces the observed correlation between two variables. | ||||
Toxic masculinity | : The socially regressive male traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia, and violence. | ||||
Trans | Is an abbreviated term and individuals appear to use it self-referentially is an all-inclusive umbrella term which encompasses all nonnormative gender identities. | ||||
Transgender | Generally refers to individuals who identify as a gender not assigned to them at birth. | ||||
Transgender children | : Refers to children who identify with a gender that is different than the one assigned at birth. | ||||
Trauma strain | The notion that the socialization of males to achieve the traditional masculine gender-role is traumatic. | ||||
Triple jeopardy | A concept that refers to the ageism, racism and sexism faced by older, minority women. | ||||
Triple X syndrome (XXX) | Refers to the presence of an additional X chromosome in the cells of a female. | ||||
Turner syndrome (XO) | Is the absence of, or an imperfect, second X chromosome. | ||||
Variable | Anything that changes in value. | ||||
Verbal fluency | Is the ability to generate words. | ||||
White matter | Refers to the myelinated axons of neurons in the brain. | ||||
Within-group variance | Refers to variation in the scores within a group. | ||||
Wolffian ducts | : Are theprimitive male internal sex organs. | ||||
Work-family conflict theory | Theory that states that work and family roles are incompatible, given conflicting expectations for time, energy, and behaviors. |