Gender, in psychology, is the socially constructed roles, behaviors, expressions, and identities that cultures attribute to being male, female, or neither on the traditional binary. Gender, unlike sex, is based on how individuals perceive and perform themselves relative to cultural standards and expectations, rather than on biological traits like chromosomes and anatomy.
An example is that in a given culture, a man is supposed to be competitive and a woman should be nurturing but these are not universal and tend to vary with time or location. In contemporary psychology, gender is understood as diverse and fluid, and is open to identities other than male and female, including nonbinary or genderqueer.
It has been found that strict gender roles may restrict individual freedom and have harmful mental health outcomes and that tolerance of different gender identities contributes to well-being, inclusion, and resilience. The perception of gender should help minimize stigma, foster equity, and help individuals express themselves in the most authentic way.