Title of Observation: To investigate the impact of gender differences on social behaviour
SITE OF OBSERVATION: YouTube retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYYuC6Sz8SQ
Title of Observation: To investigate the impact of gender differences on social behaviour
SITE OF OBSERVATION: YouTube retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYYuC6Sz8SQ
GOALS
- To describe human behaviour – the primary objective of social psychology is to describe how people think and behave in social settings. By describing behaviour responses between both the male and female characters, it will be possible to identify distinguishable differences that occur in social settings between genders. Data collected by observing the interaction of male and female characters in the selected film ‘The Fault in Our Stars’. Direct observation will provide primary data on the social behaviour of the social subjects and offer better insight into how people interact differently based on gender orientations.
- To explain underlying theories and assumptions – the second goal of the analysis is to explain the observed behaviour. While people behave differently in social settings, social psychology has proposed a variety of perspectives to help describe why people behave the way they do. To achieve this goal, it will be essential to review theories on social role theory as well as other social psychology theories to help explain why specific social, behavioural differences exist between people of a different gender.
- To determine the effect of social interaction between different genders – social interaction is a passive process where people exchange ideas and information. The exchange of ideas can influence change in perspective which may alter behavioural patterns of specific individuals. The goal aims to map any change in behaviour experienced over time as a result of social interaction
POPULATIONS:
- Women express more emotional behaviour compared to men since their social roles define them to have feminine values of caring and showing emotions. In the case of the research, Hazel displays strong compassion by often apologizing, expressing laughter, joy, crying, and anger.
- Men express more prosocial behaviour compared to women – prosocial behaviour comprises the capacity to help others and engage in selfless actions to make other people happy without expecting anything in return. This role is consistent with the social role of men as providers.
To investigate the impact of gender differences on social behaviour.
Introduction
Society is a large group of people that comprises people from different cultures and typologies interacting with one another. People think, feel, and behave differently in different social situations. The field of social psychology focuses on studying human behaviours, thoughts, and decision making in social settings to analyze how people behave or think the way they do. Social psychology relies on data to make sense of human behaviour. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the social psychology of Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters, two main characters from the film Fault in our Stars by John Green (Raj, 2015). The research adopts systematic observation as the primary method of data collection. Hazel is a sixteen-year-old character suffering from stage four thyroid cancer. Hazel was diagnosed with her terminal illness while she was thirteen. Due to her condition, Hazel experiences metastasis in her lungs and often uses assisted breathing equipment. Hazel meets August while attending a social support group for other people with cancer experience. Augustus is a cancer survivor who experienced amputation of his right leg. The two regularly interact and eventually develop a romantic relationship. Throughout their interaction, there are a variety of social behaviours that are distinguishable between the two characters. The research aims to evaluate differences in social behaviour observations and analyze the results from a social psychology perspective.
Aim of the research
The primary aim of the research is to explore the gender differences that exist in social behaviour. The research aims to explain how social behaviour differences exhibited in the interaction between Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters from the film, Fault in our Stars using selected theories of social psychology.
Research questions
The research questions guiding the research include:
- What are the distinguishable behaviours that exist between genders towards extraversion?
- What are the distinguishable behaviours that exist in neuroticism as a result of gender differences?
- What distinguishable behaviours exist in agreeableness between different genders?
Observations
One of the behaviour differences noted is the degree of extraversion between Hazel and Augustus. Extraversion refers to the degree of energy, positive emotions, and assertiveness an individual exhibits. Augustus is highly extraverted and shows a keen interest in interacting with his friends. Augustus expresses extraverted behaviour by always seeking exciting experiences such as travelling and engaging in more exciting activities. Augustus continually emphasizes that his goal in life is to make sure everybody remembers him and therefore tries to impact as many lives as possible positively. Hazel, on the other hand, is highly introverted. Augustus focuses on positively impacting other people’s lives and always tries to live a positive impact on everyone he talks to while Hazel keeps to herself (Raj, 2015). Hazel drops out of school and keeps away from her friends. She keeps to the house and declines any attempt to make new friends. Hazel mainly enjoys staying in the house to read a favourite book known as An Imperial Affliction, which Hazel, reads every day. Hazel requests her mother to get her a fake identification card which she can use to get into clubs to take alcohol alone. Augustus has a high degree of energy as compared to Hazel and is more optimistic than Hazel. Augustus does not think of the worst but instead invests in remaining positive and open-minded. Hazel, on the other hand, holds a lot of negative energy and regularly expresses pessimism (Raj, 2015). Hazel maintains emotional distance from Augustus since she fears abandonment. Hazel also fears that she will die and her parents will forget she ever existed.
The second observation of social behaviour relates to neuroticism and low emotional stability. Neuroticism refers to the degree of vulnerability an individual experiences towards feelings of anger, anxiety, and depression. In this case, I observed that Augustus has higher neuroticism while Hazel has less neuroticism. Hazel’s social behaviour reveals that she has low self-esteem. As a result of her illness, Hazel drops out of school to avoid continually seeing her friends who are healthy and normal. Hazel considers herself complicated and describes herself as a grenade that will one day explode and negatively affect those around her. Augustus, on the other hand, appears to be more composed and confident in his interactions. Augustus has strong emotional stability and is less anxious and emotionally vulnerable as compared to Hazel. Augustus is assertive and often expresses himself using a more straightforward approach. Augustus embraces his problems more openly and describes his worst fear to be oblivion. Hazel, on the other hand, experiences constant anxiety as a result of her condition and lives in denial by pretending to be subtle about her inevitable death (Pangestu & Sunardi, 2016). She always worries about being abandoned and leaving others behind after she dies. Hazel also exhibits low neuroticism as a result of low self-esteem. Hazel often thinks that she is less worthy compared to other ‘healthy’ and ‘ordinary ‘people. After the cancer diagnosis, Hazel feels like an outcast drops out of school and avoids any social interaction since she considers herself abnormal. Augustus, on the other hand, believes Hazel is the most beautiful person she has ever seen and describes her with a lot of attention to detail and admiration (Raj, 2015). While Hazel focuses on her condition and how being a stage four cancer patient defines her, Augustus focuses on maintaining happiness and on how beautiful she is. Augustus shows some level of emotional instability after he realizes that he is about to die but is continuously encouraged by Hazel to remain positive.
The third aspect of social behaviour that is different between Hazel and Grace is the degree of agreeableness. Agreeableness refers to the practice of showing emotions, compassion, and cooperation towards other people. According to my observation, Hazel shows a high sense of agreeableness as compared to Augustus. As compared to Augustus, who is more open to romantic relationships, Hazel has a genuine fear of intimacy. Hazel fears that getting emotionally involved with anyone will cause other people to harm and therefore chose to maintain emotional distance. Hazel cares about the people around her and is empathetic about how they will feel when she eventually dies. She particularly feels compassionate about her mother and worries about how she will handle grief once Hazel dies (Raj, 2015). Hazel consistently displays her emotions by smiling and laughing more as compared to Augustus, who seldom laughs. Hazel also cries often throughout the film due to her strong tendency to show compassion.
An example is when Augustus boldly speaks about his upcoming death. Hazel cries while Augustus maintains an optimistic view with no vivid display of emotion. Augustus openly speaks about his upcoming death and often prepares Hazel and his close friend Isaac for his funeral.
Abstracts
The research by Weisberg, DeYoung & Hirsh (2011), aims to examine the differences in personality traits exhibited through social interaction in different genders. The research draws from the big five personality models, which, states that human social behaviour depends on either extraversion, openness or conscientiousness. According to the research, men express more extraversion since they are more assertive and excited while women express extraversion in areas of warmth and gregariousness. According to the research, women express more agreeableness as compared to men, while men express more neuroticism compared to women. The abstract reinforces the information collected from the direct observation of the film ‘The Fault in Our Stars ‘by offering a primary data perspective to gender behaviour differences. The abstract also explores social psychology concepts and theories that will be crucial for conducting my analysis of data.
The research by Eagly & Wood (2013), aims to investigate the differences in social behaviour that occur as a result of gender differences. The research adopts a meta-analysis approach to the research and evaluates a range of quantitative studies on the topic. The findings of the research reveal that there exist differences in social behaviour attributed to gender differences. The study attributes the differences in social behaviour to the social role theory and suggests that social behaviour conforms to socially assigned roles of the different genders. The research is relevant to my direct observation of the film as it provides plausible theoretical information on why there exist differences in social behaviour between people of different genders.
The research by Ismatullina & Voronin (2017), aims to investigate the difference in male and female personalities and how the differences affect social behaviour. The research won a sample of Russian high school male and female students. The research was conducted based on the big five personality traits to determine how personality influences affect social behaviour. The research assumes that there exist significant differences in male and female models of social behaviour. The research is relevant to my observation because it provides general information on how personality traits influence gender differences in social behaviour. The research addresses the concepts of neuroticism, extraversion, and agreeableness which are the main focus of my research.
The research by Ballet et al. (2011), aimed to investigate the role of gender in cooperation outcomes. The study involves a meta-analytic study of previous research on the topic. According to the research, men and women show no significant differences in the level of cooperation while in social settings. However, the research suggests that there exist several moderating factors that influence gender differences toward cooperation. According to the study, women express less cooperation in female to female interactions as compared to men. Men also show more cooperation in cases of repeated interaction. The research is relevant to the observations conducted in the research as they cover a broader approach to the social behaviour of agreeableness. The aspect of cooperation relates to agreeableness. The research will inform the underlying factors that affect cooperation between male and female individuals.
The research by Hyde (2014), aims to evaluate gender differences in social and cognitive interactions. The research evaluates a range of social, cognitive, and psychological theories to explore gender-based differences. The research will be relevant for my research as it helps offer a theoretical background for gender differences in behaviour.
Results
Based on the research, women tend to express more emotional behaviour while engaging in social interactions as compared to men. Based on research by Weisberg, DeYoung & Hirsh (2011), women score higher in agreeableness as compared to men. This gender difference is highly related to the social role theory that depicts women as better caregivers than men. According to the social role theory, socially defined gender roles of both males and females have a substantial effect on their gender-differentiated social behaviour. Due to the social role of providing care, cooperation, and empathy for others in society, women maintain emotional bonds in social interactions, which leads to more agreeableness. The universal definition of male roles is to provide and be independent, which leads to less cooperation and display of empathy. The research also shows that men have more extraversion as compared to women.
According to research by Hyde (2014), the differences between the degree of extraversion between men and women depend on particular aspects of social behaviour. Men tend to show higher extraversion when it comes to assertiveness and experiencing exciting events. These roles can be depicted in the film Fault in our Stars since Augustus shows a high affinity for exciting activities such as going for picnics and engaging in travel activities. However, women tend to score higher in extraversion when it comes to warmth and confidence in speech. Women can express more warmth in interaction and will often express emotions such as laughing to make conversations warmer. Women will also be more confident and commanding in speech as compared to men. The gender differences based on extraversion traits are, therefore, relative.
The research also showed that women have a lower level of emotional stability as compared to men. According to the research, women are more vulnerable to experience anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression as compared to men. Men are, however, more vulnerable to experience anger and aggression as compared to women (Ismatullina & Voronin, 2017). The difference in social behaviour can further be explored using hormonal theories. According to the hormonal theories, males and females may portray different social behaviour when it comes to emotional stability due to differences in hormonal differences. Men experience higher levels of testosterone, which is associated with a higher incidence of aggression and dominance. Female hormones, on the other hand, influence mood changes and may cause women to experience anxiety and low self-esteem. According to Hyde (2014), women tend to be competitive and may feel intimidated by other people, often leading to feelings of self-loathe or reduced self-esteem. The social role attributed to men also drives aggression and risky behaviour as an avenue for dominance and exercise of power.
References
Balliet, D., Li, N. P., Macfarlan, S. J., & Van Vugt, M. (2011). Sex differences in cooperation: a meta-analytic review of social dilemmas. Psychological Bulletin, 137(6), 881.
Eagly, A. & Wood, W. (2013). Explaining Sex Differences in Social Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Perspective. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 17. 306-315. 10.1177/0146167291173011.
Hyde, J. S. (2014). Gender similarities and differences. Annual review of psychology, 65, 373-398.
Ismatullina, V., & Voronin, I. (2017). Gender differences in the relationships between Big Five personality traits and intelligence. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 237, 638-642.
Raj, J. (2015), The Fault in our Stars 2014 full HD movie, Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYYuC6Sz8SQ
Pangestu, N. & Sunardi, D. (2016). AN INCOMPLETE PSYCHOLOGICAL NOVEL: A PSYCHOANALYTICAL ANALYSIS OF HAZEL LANCASTER IN JOHN GREEN’S THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. Journal of Language and Literature. 16. 20-28. 10.24071/joll.2016.160103.
Weisberg, Y. J., DeYoung, C. G., & Hirsh, J. B. (2011). Gender differences in personality across the ten aspects of the Big Five. Frontiers in psychology, 2, 178.