Aim

To understand the gender differences in COVID-19 fear amongst late adolescents

Gender refers to the attitudes, feelings and behaviors that a given culture associates with
a person's biological sex. Behavior that is compatible with cultural expectations is referred to as
gender‐normative; behaviors that are viewed as incompatible with these expectations constitute
gender non‐conformity (American Psychological Association, 2015).
Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially
constructed. This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl
or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct, gender varies from society
to society and can change over time (World Health Organization, 2019).
Gender identity involves a sense of one’s own gender, including knowledge,
understanding, and acceptance of being male or female (Egan & Perry, 2001). One aspect of
gender identity involves knowing whether you are a girl or boy, which most children can do by
about 2½ years of age (Blakemore et al., 2009). Many people describe gender identity as a
deeply felt, inherent sense of being a boy, a man, or male; a girl, a woman, or female; or a
nonbinary gender (e.g., genderqueer, gender-nonconforming, gender-neutral, agender,
gender-fluid) that may or may not correspond to a person’s sex assigned at birth, presumed
gender based on sex assignment, or primary or secondary sex characteristics (American
Psychological Association, 2015).
Gender expression refers to an individual's presentation — including physical
appearance, clothing choice and accessories — and behavior that communicates aspects of
gender or gender role (American Psychological Association, 2015). Gender expression may or
may not conform to a person’s gender identity. For instance, a person whose gender identity is of
a male can choose to have a gender expression typically considered of a female. Gender roles are
sets of expectations that prescribe how females or males should think, act, and feel (Santrock,
2012).
Gender Inequalities and health
Gender is hierarchical and produces inequalities that intersect with other social and
economic [Link] gender norms also harm people of different gender identities, who
are frequently subjected to violence, stigma, and discrimination. Access to health information
and services is often more difficult for women and girls than it is for men and boys. Mobility
restrictions, a lack of decision-making power, lower literacy rates, discriminatory attitudes
among communities and healthcare providers, and a lack of training and awareness among
healthcare providers and health systems of the specific health needs and challenges of women
and girls are all examples of these barriers.

Gender Stereotypes
Gender typing refers to acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role (Santrock,
2012). Gender Stereotypes are defined as the broad categories that reflect our impressions and
beliefs about females and males (Santrock, 2012). Gender stereotypes can include personality
traits (e.g. aggressive for men, emotional for women), physical characteristics (e.g. strong for
men, soft for women), occupations (e.g. engineering for men, teaching for women), and activities
or behaviors (e.g. fixing electricals for men, decorating for women).
Instrumental traits reflecting competence, rationality, and assertiveness, were regarded as
masculine; expressive traits, emphasizing warmth, caring, and sensitivity, were viewed as
feminine. Cross-cultural research in 30 nations reveals that the instrumental-expressive
dichotomy is a widely held stereotype around the world (Williams & Best, 1990).

Gender Stereotyping at Different Life Stages

According to Berk (2006), children label their own and others’ sex, using such words as
“boy”, “girl”, “man”, “woman” between 18 months and 3 years. Once these categories are in
place, children sort out what they mean in terms of activities and behaviors. Preschoolers have
trouble understanding that males and females can be different in terms of their bodies but similar
in many other ways. By age 5, gender stereotyping of activities and occupations is well
established. During middle childhood and adolescence, knowledge of stereotypes increases and
expands to areas of personality traits and achievement (Signorella et al.,1993). Older children
realize that gender-stereotypic attributes are associated, not defining, features of gender.
Consequently, beliefs about characteristics and capacities possible for males and females become
more flexible (Martin et al., 2002).

Influences on Gender Stereotypes

Gender is a key dimension of children’s development (Best, 2010; Martin & Ruble,
2010). Development is a co-construction of biological, cultural, and individual factors working
together (Baltes et al., 2006). This view suggests that both nature (biology) and nurture
(environment) influences give equally valuable insights into how gender-stereotyped knowledge
and behaviours are transmitted to children. The major influences are biological, environmental,
cognitive and cultural factors.

Biological Influences
Gender stereotyping served an adaptive function from the evolutionary standpoint
(Geary, 1999; Maccoby, 2002). Males were primed to compete for mates and females were
primed towards rearing children. Hence, these differences from an evolutionary perspective
suggests that biology can influence gender stereotypes. Biological influences on gender
stereotyping can be further explained by focusing on two important factors: cross-cultural
similarities in gender stereotypes and hormonal influences on gender-role behaviour.

Cross-Cultural Similarities. Initially the concept of instrumental and expressive traits

attributed to men and women respectively was thought to be on the basis of genetic differences
between the sexes. To understand it’s social implications cross-cultural studies were done (Berk,
2017).
These studies showed varying results. For example in Nyansiongo in Kenya both male
and female kids are given the responsibility of household chores such as washing dishes and
taking care of small children. Therefore, as compared to other tribal settings, girls score more on
dominance and assertiveness and boys display help-giving and emotional support (Witting &
Edwards, 1988a). These results are in contrast to earlier mentioned instrumental and expressive
traits of boys and girls. Cross-cultural studies have proved to be inconclusive, nevertheless they
suggest the role of culture can somewhat reduce gender stereotyping but these roles aren’t
completely reversed.

Sex Hormones. Hormones are chemical substances that are secreted by endocrine glands
into the bloodstream. Androgen is the male sex hormone and Estrogen is the female sex
hormone. Androgens exhibit male-typical sexual behaviour and aggression suppress maternal
care-giving in a variety of species (Lephart et al., 2001; Sato et al., 2004).
Significant amount of studies are done to understand the linkages between sex hormones
and certain behaviours that lead to gender stereotyping. Although a greater number of studies
focus on the effects of androgen in males and how it contributes to “masculine” behaviour,
female behaviour is viewed in the opposite light of these “masculine” traits.
A study revealed that higher fetal testosterone levels measured from amniotic fluid were
linked to increased male-typical play, such as increased aggression, in 6- to 10-year-old boys and
girls (Auyeung et al., 2009). By the age of two, girls withdraw from aggressive and physical
rough play activities of boys. They prefer quiet and much calmer activities involving cooperative
roles. The tendency to evaluate one’s own sex more positively and expectations of negative
reactions from others for play with other-sex children also contribute to gender segregation (
Ruble et al., 2006) and consequently leads to gender stereotyping.
Estrogen and Androgens are released in both males and females but they differ in
concentration. Usually, oestrogen is in higher concentration in females and androgen is produced
in higher quantities in males. Although there are some exceptions.

Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). It is a genetic physical disorder where adrenal

glands enlarge and release more androgens. Girls born with this disorder are born with
masculinised male external genitals (Berk, 2017). As a result, girls with CAH show more
inclination towards activities that are usually associated with males. For example, they like
playing with boys’ toys in childhood. Greater the exposure to prenatal androgens, the more
“masculine” their play and career interests are (Hall et al., 2004, Servin et al., 2003). Hence, girls
with CAD are less likely to follow traditional female attributed behaviours.

Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. In this genetic condition, androgen receptor sites are
partially or completely impaired (Berk, 2017). As a result, the level of androgen in the body is
reduced. Males with this condition show a feminine gender-typed behaviour, including toy
choices, play behaviour and preference for girl playmates (Jurgensen et al., 2007).
These are some cases of exceptional sexual development and people with these genetic
disorders fail to conform to gender-role adoption and gender stereotyping.

Environmental Influences
As mentioned earlier, both biology and environment have an influence on maintaining
gender-stereotypes. Biology (genes) sets a limit and within that limit the environment influences
development (including gender, and gender stereotyping). An individual’s environment includes
various influences such as parents, teachers, media and peers.

Parents. Parents constitute an intimate environment of the children and adolescents.

They also influence gender-stereotyping behaviours. In many cases parents provide differential
treatment to girls and boys. In childhood fathers more than mothers encourage
“gender-appropriate” behaviour, and they place more pressure to achieve on sons than on
daughters (Wood et al., 2002). Younger children receive more direct training in gender roles than
older children- as gender stereotyping occurs rapidly in early childhood (Golombok et al., 2008).
From infancy onwards parents provide different environments to boys and girls, their
rooms are painted differently, usually blue for boys and pink for girls. They also actively
reinforce independence in boys and closeness and dependency in females (Berk, 2017) . During
adolescence also, this differential treatment continues, boys are encouraged to be more
independent and their requests for help are ignored while daughters are encouraged about asking
for help. In a recent study, parents selected more language and arts related courses for girl
children and more science courses for sons. (Tenenbaum, 2009). Hence, parents create an
environment that develops gender-stereotypes in young children.

Teachers. In classrooms, men and women teachers usually value obedience and
discourage assertiveness (Fagot, 1985a). This thought is harmful for both boys and girls, boys
feel out of place and girls who are more likely to conform experience a lesser sense of
independence and self-esteem. Teachers’ frequent disapproval and controlling discipline with
boys grows from the expectation that boys misbehave more than girls - this belief is based on
gender- stereotypes (Berk, 2017). Hence, it further propagates gender-stereotypes in children and
they internalise this belief in them.

Peers. Peer context is a potent source of gender-role learning (Berk, 2017). Children who
spend more time with same-sex peers show greater gains in gender-stereotyping- in terms of toy
choices, activity level and aggression (Martin & Fabes, 2001). This is because they spend more
time and energy with same-sex friends and internalise various habits and behaviours from them.
Children also develop social influences based on learnt gender-stereotypes. Boys rely on
commands, threats and physical force whereas girls use polite requests, persuasion and
acceptance. As boys and girls separate and form same-sex groups, in-group favouritism occurs
and results in “two distinct sub-cultures” of shared knowledge, beliefs, interests and behaviours.
(Maccoby, 2002 ; Ruble et al. 2006).
This peer learning that further propagates gender-stereotyped narratives can be modified.
Mixed-sex activities and recreational activities can help broaden the development of both sexes
and reduce gender-stereotyped behaviour to some extent (Berk, 2017).

Media. Media portrayals are mostly gender-typed. Media includes movies, cartoons,
magazines, newspapers, TV commercials, storybooks and more. In various cartoons, males are
main characters, and take main characters and the plot is centred around the male. Females are
given background roles and assist the male character. Males display assertiveness, creativity and
heroic gestures while females are submissive, dependent and passive (Tepper & Cassidy, 1999;
Turner-Bowker, 1996). This gender-typed portrayal can be learnt by children through
observational learning.

Cognitive influences
Cognitive factors include mental actions or processes of acquiring knowledge and
understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. It is an important factor in
understanding how a person's own thoughts propagate gender stereotypes and reflects that in
their behaviour. Gender Schema Theory helps in understanding this concept. It is an information
processing approach that explains how environmental pressures and children’s cognition work
together to shape gender typing (Martin et al., 2002). It integrates various elements of gender
typing into a unified picture of how masculine and feminine orientations emerge and are often
strongly maintained ( Berk, 2017 ) .
Children observe various gender roles and learn them, in addition to this, they organise
these experiences into gender schemas, categorisation into feminine and masculine traits (Berk,
2017). Because of the development of gender schemas, they feel these schemas should be
consistent with their behaviour. Therefore, it colours their self perception and it becomes gender-
typed.

Gender Similarities and Differences

Gender is undoubtedly a very large part of our identity. These differences are reflected in
many gender stereotypes like men rarely share their feelings, while women are extremely
emotional as individuals. Through centuries there are several attributes that are consistently
identified as masculine or feminine, their broad acceptance, and their stability over time suggest
that gender stereo- types are deeply ingrained patterns of thinking within all of us ( Berk,2017 ).

Physical development
There are a lot of studies that show that women and men are physically different. Women
have about twice the body fat of men, most con- centrated around breasts and hips. In males, fat
is more likely to go to the abdomen. On the average, males grow to be 10 percent taller than
females relatively. From conception on, females have a longer life expectancy than males, and
females are less likely than males to develop physical or mental disorders as well. Males have
twice the risk of coronary disease as females. And when it comes to our brains those are much
alike, whether the brain belongs to a male or a female (Halpern et al, 2007). Later however,
researchers have found some differences in the brains of males and females as well (Hofer et al,
2007). For example, An area of the parietal lobe that functions in visuospatial skills is larger in
males than females (Frederikse et al, 2000). And the areas of the brain involved in emotional
expression show more metabolic activity in females than males (Gur et al, 1995).
Cognitive Development
There are not a lot of gender differences in general intelligence that have been found but
some gender differences have been found in cognitive areas (Blakemore et al, 2009). For
example, Research has shown that in general girls have slightly better verbal skills than boys,
although in some verbal skills areas the differences are substantial as well (Blakemore et al,
2009). There are some other differences too like one such area is math that has been examined
for possible gender differences is visuospatial skills, which include being able to rotate objects
mentally and determine what they would look like when rotated. A recent research review also
revealed that boys have better visuo- spatial skills than girls (Halpern et al., 2007).

Socioemotional Development
Three areas of socioemotional development in which gender similarities and differences
have been studied extensively are aggression, emotion, and prosocial behavior. One of the most
consistent gender differences is that boys are more physically aggressive than girls are
(Baillargeon et al, 2007; Brendgen, 2009). The difference occurs in all cultures and appears very
early in children’s development (White, 2001). The physical aggression difference is especially
pronounced when children are provoked. Both biological and environmental factors have been
proposed to account for gender differences in aggression. Biological factors include heredity and
hormones. Environmental factors include cultural expectations, adult and peer models, and social
agents that reward aggression in boys and punish aggression in girls.

Aggression
Aggression is one of the most significant sex difference. The sex differences in verbal
aggression (threats of physical harm, name-calling, and hostile teasing) and relational aggression
(aimed at damaging another’s social relationships) are minima. Girls often appear much more
relationally aggressive than boys because many girls use relational tactics nearly exclusively.
Boys, by contrast, draw on a diversity of means to inflict harm—whatever works at the moment.
Although children of both sexes find relational aggression to be very hurtful, girls find it
especially so, reporting more distress and judging it to be more unjust than boys do (Galen &
Underwood, 1997; Murray et al, 2006). Because girls place a high value on close relationships,
harming a friendship is a powerful way to hurt a peer. There are other reasons, too, that relational
aggression accounts for the large majority of girls’ hostile acts. As girls spend more time in close
proximity to adults and are more sen- sitive to adult approval. They may emphasize relational
aggression because it is hard for adults to detect and, therefore, to punish.
Since centuries it has been accepted that boys should grow up to be masculine and girls to
be feminine. In the 1970s, however, as both females and males became dissatisfied with the
burdens imposed by their stereotypical roles, alternatives to femininity and masculinity were
proposed. Instead of describing masculinity and femininity as a continuum in which more of one
means less of the other, it was proposed that individuals could have both masculine and feminine
traits. This led to the development of the concept of androgyny.

Androgyny
Androgyny refers to the presence of positive masculine and feminine characteristics in
the same person (Bem, 1977; Spence & Helmreich, 1978). The androgynous boy might be
assertive (masculine) and nurturant (feminine). The androgynous girl might be powerful
(masculine) and sensitive to others’ feelings (feminine). Gender experts, such as Sandra Bem,
argue that androgynous individuals are more flexible, competent, and mentally healthy than their
masculine or feminine counterparts. For example, One study found that girls and individuals
high in femininity showed a stronger interest in caring than did boys and individuals high in
masculinity (Karniol et al., 2003).

Depression
Depression is a feeling of being sad, frustrated, and hopeless about life, accompanied by
loss of pleasure in most activities and disturbances in sleep, appetite, concentration, and
energy—is the most common psychological problem of adolescence. And it very much exists
actively amongst girls and boys. It has been studied that girls are more prone to Depression in
comparison to boys and stressful life events and gender-typed coping styles seem to be
responsible. Early-maturing girls are especially prone to depression, par- ticularly when they also
face other stressful life events. And adolescent gender intensification may strengthen girls’
passivity, dependency, and tendency to ruminate on their anxieties and problems—maladaptive
approaches to tasks expected of teenagers in complex cultures. Consistent with this explanation,
adolescents who identify strongly with “feminine” traits ruminate more and tend to be more
depressed, regardless of their sex (Lopez et al., 2009; Papadakis et al., 2006). Girls who
repeatedly feel overwhelmed develop an overly reactive physiological stress response and cope
more poorly with challenges in the future (Hyde et al, 2008; Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). In this
way, stressful experiences and stress reactivity feed on one another, sustaining depression. In
contrast, girls with either an androgynous or a “masculine” gender identity show low rates of
depressive symptoms (Priess et al., 2009; Wilson & Cairns, 1988).

Emotional gender differences

In a study by Blakemore et al in 2009, it was found that girls are more likely to express
their emotions openly and intensely than are boys, especially in displaying sadness and fear.
Girls also are better at reading others’ emotions and more likely to show empathy than are boys.
Males usually show less self-regulation of emotion than females, and this low self-control can
translate into behavioral problems (Eisenberg et al., 2004).

Differences in Prosocial behaviour

Females view themselves as more prosocial and empathic (Eisenberg & Morris, 2004).
Across childhood and adolescence, females engage in more prosocial behavior (Hastings et al.,
2007). The biggest gender difference occurs for kind and considerate behavior with a smaller
difference in sharing.

Gender in Context
Considering gender in context is an extremely important aspect to study as most of our
behaviour differs with different situations at hand. Both the concept of androgyny and gender
stereotypes talk about people in terms of personality traits such as “aggressive” or “caring.”
However, which traits people display may vary with the situation (Leaper & Friedman, 2007).
Thus, the nature and extent of gender differences may depend on the context (Blakemore et al.,
2009) consider helping behavior. The stereotype is that females are better than males at helping.
But it entirely depends on the context. As in situations in which males feel a sense of competence
and that involve danger, males are more likely than females to help. (Eagly & Crowley, 1986).
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