Sex, Gender, and Androgyny

The psychology of gender is one of the most debated areas in the discipline. This lesson introduces the fundamental distinctions between sex and gender, examines the concept of androgyny, and explores cognitive explanations of how children develop their understanding of gender.

Key Definition: Sex refers to the biological differences between males and females, determined by chromosomes (XX/XY), hormones, and reproductive anatomy. Gender refers to the psychological and cultural differences associated with being masculine or feminine — including attitudes, behaviours, and social roles.

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Sex versus Gender

It is essential to distinguish between sex (biological) and gender (psychological/social):

Concept	Nature	Determined by	Examples
Sex	Biological	Chromosomes, hormones, anatomy	XX = female, XY = male; testosterone, oestrogen; genitalia
Gender	Psychological/social	Culture, socialisation, cognition	Masculinity, femininity; gender roles; gender identity

Key Definition: Gender identity is a person's internal sense of their own gender — whether they identify as male, female, both, or neither. It may or may not correspond to their biological sex.