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Sociocultural Differences

Variations in male and female psychology, particularly personality differences, can be partly attributed to sociological factors. Specifically, the impact of gender roles in a society have been explored as a contributor to gender differences in psychology. Role theorists have come to the consensus that people are socialized to develop personality traits that best suit their societal roles. In American society, for example, women have historically acted as homemakers and mothers, causing them to develop personality traits best suited towards domestication and motherhood. With this logic, one can deduce that a shift in gender roles within a society leads to a subsequent shift in personality traits of the affected population.

'''Cohort Effects of Female Assertiveness '''

Literature shows that the personality trait of assertiveness is more commonly seen in men than women. However, studies assessing the cohort effects of female assertiveness in America reveal that women’s assertiveness levels vary generationally. Self report scales completed by young American women reveal that assertiveness levels amongst women increased from 1931 to 1945, decreased from 1946 to 1967, and increased again from the years 1968 to 1993. In contrast, male assertiveness levels have remained particularly stable over time, showing no significant cohort differences in their levels of assertiveness or dominance.

The results of the study reveal that women’s ratings on assertiveness tends to mirror societal trends. Cohort changes can be attributed to changing expectations of women’s roles in society throughout the 1900s. The increase in female assertiveness throughout the 1930’s can be attributed to the Great Depression, a time when women became more independent as men lost their jobs and could no longer be relied upon to serve as the sole provider of the household. The increase in independence as assertiveness of women was further sustained by the onset World War II, when wartime mobilization resulted in further expansion of women’s roles as more women entered the workforce. However this increase in independence did not sustain through the post-war period, as female workers were replaced with men and women were expected to return to a solely domestic role. Female assertiveness levels subsequently decreased as female expectations in society shifted to back homemaking and child rearing, a result of the booming economy and steep rise in birth rates that characterized the 1950’s. Subsequently, The onset of the 1960’s brought about a period of “second-wave feminism,” a movement characterized by a demand for an increase in women’s right that sustained for two decades. Women’s levels of assertiveness increased during this period, a result of the movements towards freedom and equality that maintained throughout the 1990s. Women’s roles in American society have fluctuated over the course of the 1900’s, and continue to do so today. However, men’s societal status has remained relatively stable over time, which explains the stability in male assertiveness levels throughout the 1900’s.