ABSTRACT
What is the meaning of gender and what are its social consequences? Psychological literature distinguishes between sex, i.e. a biological component, and gender, a social component, and various gender-related concepts such as gender attitudes, stereotypes, identity and orientation. This chapter provides an outline of these constructs alongside psychological approaches explaining measurement and development of gender identity. Theoretical approaches ranging from biological and evolutionary through psychoanalytic, cognitive and developmental to social will be discussed here to explain the links between gender and its social consequences. This chapter provides a useful context for the consideration of the role of media and advertising in maintaining gender status quo – a topic I address later in this volume.
