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Gender Development
Gender Development – Lecture 6 (part 1) The main focus: Basic concepts Social learning accounts Biological accounts Cognitive accounts Lifespan perspectives Gender…
knowledge & understanding about male & female categories & psychological,
emotional & behavioural attributes associated with gender group membership… including stereotypes produced & reproduced by upbringing & social convention.
to be distinguished from sex - biological characteristics…However, stereotypes are
created once we have been assigned our sex at birth (based on biological characteristics: genitals) What do we mean by Gender?
From what age do children know there are two groups : ‘boys/girls’? And that they
themselves belong to one of them? When do they begin to understand gender constancy?
When do boys start to ‘be like’ boys: play more with boys, do “boys’ stuff” (and girls
‘be like’ girls)?
How do children decide what are
“boys’ stuff” or “girls’ stuff”? And which are ‘for them’? Gender: Key Concepts Gender labelling: Recognition of the two sexes; correct identification of oneself & others as male or female
From 24mo most children can sort female/male pictures (e.g. Thompson, 1975)
From 31mo most children can categorise themselves as boy/girl (Weinraub et al.,
9-12mo respond differently to female/male strangers & photos (Smith & Sloboda,
More sophisticated knowledge Gender stability – idea that gender is normally stable over time – that it is a permanent group membership ◦“Are you a boy or a girl?”… “Girl” ◦ “When you grow up, will you be a daddy or mummy?”... “A daddy” Gender constancy – gender group membership cannot be changed after temporary superficial transformation ◦“If a boy grows his hair really long & wears a dress, will he be a boy or a girl?” (“A boy!”) ◦To a boy: “If you really want to be a girl, can you be a girl?” (“No!”) A simple gender constancy testing procedure: Better performance if children know genital differences (Bem,1989) Thinking and Behaviour
Gender Development
Gender stereotyping – beliefs about what is appropriate for, or typical of the sexes;
e.g. “play with dolls/cars”; “like to talk/ fight”, “strong”, “soft-hearted”
Gender-segregated play and socialisation – division & differentiation in behaviour in
the way boys and girls play; e.g. more same-sex friends; stereotyped toys in bedroom Social Learning accounts Different societies hold different conceptions of gender-typical behaviour & such expectations change over time – environment must play a role Child as a recipient of social information: ügender identity is acquired (rather than given by genes or constructed by child) üproduct of accumulating learning experiences Socialising agents: parents, teachers, peers, media
Bandura, Mischel, Maccoby, etc.: learning operates via complementary processes of
reinforcement and modelling
Reward – behaving in gender-appropriate ways; cross-gender behaviour
punishment
Observing others’ behaviour & consequences of others’ behaviour – examples of
gender norms & illustrations of conforming/not conforming to norms Adult reinforcement à Will, Self and Datan (1976) classic study of sex-typing (‘Baby X’): Same baby dressed in different colours: ADAM or BETH Adults can choose from 3 toys: TRAIN or DOLL or FISH “Beth” gets doll more often and receives more smiles à Caldera, Huston and O’Brien (1989): 18 to 23mo child receives positive responses for picking up role-appropriate toys, negative ones for inappropriate toys Adult modelling gender “labels”: doll – girls; truck – boys Ascribing a label to object – sex-typing (stereotypes)
Fagot, Leinbach and O’Boyle (1992): children of more “traditional” mothers learn
labels more quickly
Leaper (2000): Activity context (e.g. foods & plates) accounts for much variation in
effects of modelling Peer influence Gender is dominant force in peer playmate preference, regardless of ethnicity (Halim et al.
Even 3-4-year-olds will criticize peers engaged in what they see as gender-
inappropriate activities
Reproduce rigid stereotypes:
“Daddies don’t cook”
Gender Development
Biological accounts Men & women: clear differences in physiology – size, shape, weight, capacity, amount, genetic make-up Differences in functioning by brain chemistry, hemispheric specialisation, etc, as early as 1mo observed in MRI studies (Dean et al., 2018) Some instincts (sexuality/aggression) notably different Gender-role pattern – outcome of those ‘facts’ of nature evidenced through human evolution Biological differences in early gendered behaviour If biological, should see signs before social experiences ♂ – testosterone; ♀ – oestrogen (aggression/sexuality) Early animal studies: extra dose of testosterone to pregnant monkeys à female offspring more ‘rough and tumble’ (Young et al ., 1964) Mixed findings: à Genetic defects: girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (Berenbaum & Synder, 1995) à Exposure to pre-natal (synthetic) androgens (Atkinson et al. , 2000) Biologically-engineered differences Biological accounts - limitations Evidence from biological dysfunction difficult to obtain & ambiguous...However, quite strong for early play behaviour or aggression & sexual orientation (Patterson, 1995) Still doesn’t explain cases of gender identity disorder (cases of early transsexuals) without observable biological abnormalities Freud psychosexual theory: bisexual potential Sex differences early/indisputable, but so is socialisation – difficult to tease out biological factors alone Cognitive accounts “…Our approach to the problems of sexual development starts directly with neither biology nor culture, but with cognition.” Kohlberg (1966; p.82) Development as constructive process – (active) child is guided by reason (“logic”) (Piagetian thought):
- gender-role knowledge + cognition = motivation to take gender role
Gender Development
Piaget’s theory: gender concepts follow growth of cognitive abilities – 3 stages during pre-adolescence... Mapping Piaget’s Cognitive-development theory on to gender development Stage 1 - 2.5 to 3.5 years – gender labelling early recognition of terms male and female, but treats ascription to self as a “personal name” (Slaby & Frey, 1975) - egocentric Stage 2 - 3.5 to 4.5 years – gender stability unable to grasp idea of gender constancy (as in Bem experiment) Emmerich, Goldmann, Kirsh and Sharabany (1977) – parallel conservation error (Piagetian) ◦ Stage 3 - 4.5 to 7 years – gender constancy gender seen as permanent, constant and consistent across contexts ( conservation achieved ) Kohlberg’s cognitive-developmental theory “A child’s gender identity can provide a stable organizer of the child’s psychosexual attitudes only when he is categorically certain of its unchangeability” (Kohlberg, 1966:95). Support from Slaby and Frey (1975) – Gender Concept Interview: Effect for gender stability Male model watched more Gender schema theory Martin and Halverson (1981): Gender labelling alone is enough to form a (gender) schema… Key : discovery is own gender – subsequent gender beliefs hinge on it Stereotyping is…an information processing approach: allows for recall of gender info (Ruble & Stangor, 1986) guides play (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1987) determines preferences for toy choice Schematic processing model of stereotyping
Gender Development
Biological accounts: behavioural tendencies triggered by sex differences due to genes & evolved characteristics Cognitive accounts: child’s role in constructing identity using recognition & knowledge of their group membership Need for a transactional model
