Part 2. Questions 66 – 75
Read the passage below and choose the best answer to each question
Sex–trait stereotypesmay be defines as a set of psychological attributesthat characterize men more frequently than women. Thus, males are oftendescribed as ambitious, unemotional, and independent and, on the otherhand, like selfish, unrefined, and insensitive. Females are described as emotional,irrational, high-strung, and tentative. In spite of the egalitarianmovement,recent studies have demonstrated that sex-trait stereotypes remain commonamong young adults today. In fact, such stereotyping has proved to be thepsychological justification for social beliefs concerning the appropriateness ofvarious activities for men and women that further perpetuatethe different sex roles traditionally ascribedto men and women.
The awareness of sex – trait stereotypes in the United States developes alinearfashion between the ages of four and ten. Generally, knowledge of malestereotypical characteristics develops earlier, whereas knowledge of femalecharacteristics increases more rapidly between the ages of four and seven. While the reasons for this learning are not fully understood, evidence suggeststhat at the preschool level children’s literature and television programs providepowerful models and reinforcement for stereotyped views.Studies designed to compare sex-trait stereotypes cross–nationally show ahigh degree of correspondence in the characteristics ascribed to men and women. As finding have been obtained in the other countries, two hypotheseshave been advanced to explain the commonalities in sex trait stereotyping. Onestates that pancultural similarities play a role in the psychologicalcharacteristics attributed to men and women, and the second states that thegeneral picture is one of cultural relativism.