Discursive psychologists question the taken-for-granted status of the categories that are used to classify and investigate human experience (Potter & Edwards, 1996). Instead of assuming the "reality" of sex/gender and conducting empirical investigations into the qualities that characterize "each" of the sexes, discursive psychologists investigate how the concepts of "sex" and "gender" are constructed through their use in both scientific and everyday contexts. For discursive psychologists, there are no "pregiven" meanings attached to the categories of sex/gender. What these categories mean, what they signify, is a matter of negotiation and consensus. This chapter concerns how discursive psychologists have challenged the various assumptions underlying traditional sex differences research and considers alternate approaches drawn from discursive psychology to asking questions about sex/gender.

Item Type:	Research Book Chapter
Keywords:	discursive psychology, social construction, critical theory, choice feminism, evolutionary psychology
Research Division:	Psychology
Research Group:	Social and personality psychology
Research Field:	Gender psychology
Objective Division:	Law, Politics and Community Services
Objective Group:	Community services
Objective Field:	Gender and sexualities
UTAS Author:	Donaghue, N (Associate Professor Ngaire Donaghue)
ID Code:	135189
Year Published:	2018
Deposited By:	Office of the School of Humanities
Deposited On:	2019-10-04
Last Modified:	2022-05-23
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