Gender

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Gender is a salient social category used to make sense of others and ourselves. This chapter providesa synthesis of current social psychological research, with connections to relevant work in relatedfi elds, on gender and gender-based disparities. This summary integrates consideration of diverseand intersecting gender identities, as well as changing views of gender across time and culture. Thechapter consists of six main sections. The fi rst section describes how gender is a social category thatis unique in several ways and offers defi nitions that distinguish between gender and relatedconstructs. The second section continues with a review of research on gender differences andsimilarities and a consideration of biological and historical perspectives that contribute to present-day gender segregation into different roles, occupations, and positions of status. The third sectionreviews how these disparities are encoded into cultural stereotypes that both describe and justify agendered status hierarchy. The fourth section discusses how these gender stereotypes, as culturalconstructs, can be internalized into the self, depending in part on the early development of one’sown gender identity. The fi fth section then reviews research on gender-based prejudice, with aspecifi c focus on how prejudice maintains gender conformity and the degree to which sexism variesacross time and culture. The sixth section summarizes how research on gender stereotyping andprejudice informs our understanding of how bias and discrimination unfold through interpersonalprocesses and can be embedded in systems and environments. Finally, the seventh sectionconcludes with a consideration of how social psychological research informs and is informed byongoing societal efforts toward gender equality and the need for broad cross-gender supporttoward these efforts.