Gender

Gender.

According to Mathews, the concept of gender gives recognition to the fact that every known society distinguishes between women and men. Therefore the term / concept of gender is a systematic way of understanding men and women socially and the patterning of relationships between them.  Gender refers to the attitudes, feelings and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person's biological sex. Behavior that is compatible with cultural expectations is referred to as gender‐normative; behaviors that are viewed as incompatible with these expectations constitute gender non‐conformity (APA, 2012).
The concept of gender helps to study the differences in behaviour between men and women and to analyse the basis of these differences as basically biological or as social constructions by the society.

Gender identity

Gender identity refers to “one’s sense of oneself as male, female, or transgender” (American Psychological Association, 2006). When one’s gender identity and biological sex are not congruent, the individual may identify as transsexual or as another transgender category.

Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation refers to the sex of those to whom one is sexually and romantically attracted. Categories of sexual orientation typically have included attraction to members of one’s own sex (gay men or lesbians), attraction to members of the other sex (heterosexuals), and attraction to members of both sexes (bisexuals).