FMST 210 Study Guide Part 2 (blue highlighted)

Gender terminology - Androgyny

• integrating masculine and feminine characteristics (behaviour)

  • Example: if an individual (regardless of their gender identity) in a work environment can align with masculine traits/behaviour they are likely to be more successful in the workplace

    • Picking out specific traits (both masculine and feminine) to help one best succeed in their environment

  • Linked with positive adjustment 

    • Individuals who behave androgynously have higher self-esteem, more psychologically mature, have higher work, relationship, and general life satisfaction  → because they are able to be successful in these certain areas of life (able to be masculine at work and able to be successful there, able to be feminine at home and able to be successful there) 

Contextual influences on gender development: Parents

• Significantly influential 

• Have different perceptions and expectations for each gender (starts before the baby is born —> most parents want to know the sex of the baby through an ultrasound and gender reveals set specific standards and gender expectations for the kid)  

• Encourage and have expectations of gender-typed behaviour; discourage cross-gendered behaviour

  • Example: when a young boy gets hurt and starts crying, telling him “men don’t cry”

Contextual influences on gender development: Peers

Reinforce gender-typed behaviour and criticize cross-gender activities; bully or shun others that display cross-gender behaviour, particularly if boys do so 

Emerging sexuality: Normal for children to self-stimulate

• begins even at 2-3 years old

• when children stimulate their genitals, it’s not sexual, it just feels good → system in place to reach orgasm by 4-5 years old 

  • Parents scold their child thinking it’s inappropriate → shaming them will impact them and experience guilt → instead, parents should acknowledge their feelings but tell them it should be done in private 

Teen pregnancy - protective factors

• mother has knowledge on normal childhood development and basic parenting skills; more parenting skills they have, the more successful they’ll be in parenting 

  • Example: classes or books, etc.

• Family and community support

  • Example: parents don’t kick teen mom out of the house

• Accessible childcare

  • Example: school that lets you bring baby to school; having on site daycare at secondary school

• Stable living environment → she doesn’t have to move around a lot, and the people that live in the house with her doesn’t change

  • Example: teen mom lives in chaotic house with different people living there temporarily → more chaos negatively affects her

• Involvement of the baby daddy → financially contributes and is involved in raising the child so she doesn’t feel alone and feels supported (whether or not they are a couple or whatnot - just knowing that they’re there as a co parent) 

Sexual coercion/sexual assault - contextual influences

• Prevalence of rape myths and potential/actual perpetrators believing those myths, including blaming women for the way they act or dress

• Gender role stereotyping that encourages male dominance, aggression, and competition 

  • (1)  Including things like expectations of and social rewards for hyper masculinity and toxically masculine behaviors (“man up”) 

  • (2) Higher rates of perpetrators (and accused perpetrators) in male groups that value hyper masculinity (this does NOT mean that all men in these groups are likely to be perpetrators but rather perpetrators are drawn to these groups as they typically represent hyper masculinity)

    • a)  Athletes - university & professional

    • b) Military

    • c) Fraternities

      • Frats are more significant in the US

Sexual Activity in Adulthood - when is frequency of sexual activity the highest?

young adulthood; 20-25 y/o; Frequency is connected to young adulthood unless you consider new relationships → new couple starting their relationship in 40s is being more frequent even considering their age

Family formation - cohabiting households: statistics

Canada has the highest cohabitation rate out of all the G7 countries

Family formation - cohabiting households: who cohabits and which provinces have higher cohabitation rates than others (don’t need number)?

• Quebec and the three territories have a significantly higher cohabitation rate than the other provinces 

• Lower SES couples are more likely to be cohabiting than middle and upper class couples → they also have lower education which is connected to lower income and cohabiting because it saves money

  • Women with low SES tend to want to put off wedding/marriage until they are able to have a nice one 

Single-parent families: Children’s experiences (general)

Typically labelled as “adjustment problems”; psychosocial, emotional, and behavioural, sometimes academic hardly ever physical

Check by how the child is doing at school, relationships with friends and teachers, levels of anxiety, self-esteem, participation in delinquent behaviour; or for preschoolers, their cognitive development would suffer and/or progress would be reversed - their language development might suffer

Single-parent families: Children’s experiences (short term)

Typically seen in the first 2 years 

Single-parent families: Children’s experiences (long term)

• Compare adults whose parents divorced when they are children vs. adults who have parents who are still married

  • Adjustment problems in only 20% of these adults with divorced parents (80% of adults of divorced parents don’t look any different from adults with married parents); or adults with parents who are married, 10% show adjustment problems in adulthood 

    • Ultimately, the divorce itself is not a cause of adjustment issues in adulthood in 90% of adults with divorced parents → likely because the parents had a very volatile relationship and child was better without witnessing  

• Compared to children in non-divorced families

  • Better for parents to just get a divorce rather than staying together for the kids because then you are not modelling love and care but rather an unhealthy relationship 

Single-parent families: Children’s experiences - protective factors

• #1 protective factor is if parents can still get along 

• Child doesn’t have to move from where they’re living → try to stay in the same neighbourhood so that everything is still familiar to them (same friends, same school, same play areas, etc.) 

Lesbian & gay families - Children’s experiences

• Historically believed “bad” for children to grow up in LGBTQ families → research has shown that there are virtually no differences compared to growing up in heterosexual families 

  • Society is more accepting now than back then 

  • Benefits found to growing up in non-heterosexual household (typically lesbian-headed household)

    • Kids scored higher on social competence

    • Slightly higher academic competence

    • Exhibit lower levels of aggression (behavioural), significant different is that kids growing up with two moms express less gendered behaviour and don’t adhere to traditional gendered roles regardless of the child’s gender  

  • Kids that grow up with two moms or two dads are not more likely to grow up to identify as lesbian or gay → was a strong belief previously 

List the four parenting styles

Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive (aka indulgent), Uninvolved (aka indifferent)

Authoritative parenting (warmth, control, outcomes for children)

• Warmth and control

  • Warmth: high

  • Control: high

  • Have rules and there are consequences if children don’t follow the rules → BUT these rules are explained to the children so that kids understand why they are expected to follow and why there are consequences if they don’t → these rules are open to negotiation (example: their curfew is 10pm but the child can ask to have their curfew extended for a specific event as there are also other parent chaperones, etc.)

• Outcomes for children

  • Tend to have higher academic achievement 

  • Very cooperative with others (peers, siblings, even other adults as kids) 

  • Higher psychological maturity 

  • If the child gets into trouble, they are likely to turn to their parents for help without lying because they know that no matter what they do, their parents will always love them (secure attachment) 

Authoritarian parenting (warmth, control, outcomes for children)

• Warmth and control

  • Warmth: low

  • Control: high

    Provide structure and routine, have rules and consequences if rules are broken (but rules aren’t explained to children - example: “my house my rules,” “do as I say, not as I do” → these parents just want high obedience because there is low warmth attached to their control); rules are not open to negotiation 

• Outcomes for children

  • Low academic achievement 

  • Less mature 

  • Not good at compromising or conflict resolution / no negotiation skills because their parents never did that with them 

Permissive/indulgent parenting (warmth, control, outcomes for children)

• Warmth and control

  • Warmth: very high

  • Control: very low

    Love their children unconditionally, create a secure attachment and trust; provide very little routine and structure; No consequences to their actions

• Outcomes for children

  • Spoiled —> may seem to have more control than the parents when they’re older; not well socialized 

  • Lower academic achievement

  • Lower achievement

  • Lack impulse control and self regulation 

Uninvolved/indifferent parenting (warmth, control, outcomes for children)

• Warmth and control

  • Warmth: low

  • Control: low

    Do not form a secure attachment; do not love their kids unconditionally; do not create sense or trust; don’t socialize them or keep them safe; Unsocialized and unloved

• Outcomes for children 

  • Aggressive 

  • Behavioural problems 

  • Typically rejected by their peers because they don’t have much emotional or social competence 

  • Participate in delinquent activity (ditching school, shoplifting, drug and alcohol use, early sexual activity, etc.)

Differences in Parenting Approaches (western vs. eastern vs. indigenous) - tbh not sure if this slide is needed

• Western parenting

  • Takes a more individualistic, independent approach → because Western cultures value individuality (being your own person) 

  • Authoritative parenting style falls under this 

• Eastern parenting

  • Eastern cultures value collectivist beliefs 

  • Values selflessness; thinking about others before you do something

  • Have a duty to your family, community

• Indigenous parenting 

  • “It takes a village to raise a child” approach

  • Community in which you live → all the adults are parents and all the children can be parented/disciplined by any of the adults (done in a very positive way - each parent sees it as having each other’s backs) 

  • Comes from wanting to protect community 

Differences in Parenting Approaches - Social class differences in North America: Middle & upper class

• Concerted cultivation → concerted = obvious, strong presence; cultivation = get things to grow 

  • Parents put enormous amounts of time, effort, and money into cultivating their child’s talents; make sure that anything their child is capable of doing, that they’ll do it really well (example: has a tutor, goes to summer camp, has extracurriculars, has the newest devices, etc.) 

    • Often one stay at home parent is doing their best to make sure their child is reaching their full potential (driving them from class to extracurricular, etc.) 

  • Parents want to ensure that their child is going to be as successful as possible in work, school, etc.  

Differences in Parenting Approaches - Social class differences in North America: Working and under (poverty)

• Accomplishment of natural growth

  • Let the kid figure out what they’re good at naturally with whatever they have available to them (don’t have the time or the money to support the child in extracurriculars/pursuing a talent) 

  • Kids typically have more contact with extended family because the parent relies on them for after school care because they can’t afford to pay for after school support 

Concerted cultivation vs. Accomplishments of natural growth

see previous

Inductive discipline (definition and 3 subheadings)

• discipline method based on reasoning and guidance

  • parents model effective conflict resolution

  • focuses on behaviours and not child’s characteristics

  • helps children internalize rules and standards

Ineffective forms of discipline (what and which parents typically resort to it)

• Parents who use physical discipline - Spanking and other power assertions

  • Typically parents who are younger and inexperienced

  • Typically parents who have a lot of stress in their life 

  • Parents of low SES 

  • Mothers are more likely to spank than fathers (likely because they spend more time with their child) 

  • Most parents (90th percentile) justify the spanking; most will say that they were angry when they spanked and didn’t know what else to do → this is where parenting education is important (having parenting tools in the toolbox) 

Sibling relationships - parental contributions (positive and negative)

• Positive influence → being an authoritative parent because you are looking to socialize the kids; secure attachment kids are less likely to act out; role modelling healthy relationships (parents with one another, parents with their own siblings); promote cooperation among the children by facilitating conflict resolution between the siblings 

• Negative influence → parents that don’t form a secure attachment, don’t use authoritative parenting, don’t get along with their own siblings, don’t try to help resolve the conflicts, favour one child over the other 

Peer relationships in childhood: Childhood play

• Rough-and-tumble play: running, climbing, chasing, jumping, and play fighting (very movement oriented) 

  • Usually more common with males 

  • Parents (often fathers) are more likely to do rough-and-tumble play with sons than daughters 

• Sociodramatic play: taking on roles and acting out stories and themes

  • Socio part of it → almost always has to do with relationships 

  • Example: playing family and going to “work” (assign roles of mommy, daddy, etc.), play school (assign roles of teacher, student, etc.), play doctor/nurse/firefighter/police (anything they’re familiar with, they’ll try to imitate), sometimes will play explorers (often a theme in movies and tv shows so they’ll try to copy) 

Peer relationships in childhood: childhood play physical and socioemotional benefits

• Physical benefits → moving around and doing things which improves their gross and fine motor skills

• Socioemotional benefits → have to come to agreements/compromise with their peers when they make up the “rules” of playing

  • **play is not nonsensical; it’s important for their development and has physical & socioemotional benefits 

Importance of mastering reading and mathematics in primary school

• Don’t have to excel at the skills, but need to master is to move onto Grade 2

• Reading is the foundational skill (need to be able to read to do math problems, etc.) → early reading deficits follow a child all the way throughout their educational career  (impedes their ability to succeed in the subjects they need to do well in)

  • Kids with reading deficits also tend to have behavioural issues → Example: if teacher assigns quiet reading time for X minutes, the child who struggles with reading won’t be reading and will likely disturb other children 

• Math is a different way of thinking; it is symbolic and abstract, not concrete 

  • Connection between the way that you have to think in math to the way you do other non-concrete things (like music) → because you have to think in different ways; allows you to become better problem solver 

Achievement motivation 

= the willingness to persist at challenging tasks and meet high standards of accomplishment 

• Achievement motivation lies in infant’s earliest activities

  • Experts believe it’s internal and can be influenced by others, but in the very beginning we have it → internal drive to achieve 

• Mastery motivation: begins with an infant’s drive to explore, understand, and master their environment

  • Example: Piaget’s first stage (sensorimotor stage)  → rolling over, crawling, and walking 

  • Fostered by engaging and nurturing environments (could be at home, club sports, musical instruments → as long it is engaging and nurturing by people like parents, coaches, teachers, etc.) in which infants, toddlers, and young children have an opportunity to exert control over stimuli and interactions

    • Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Stages

      • Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

      • Initiative vs. Guilt

      • Industry vs. Inferiority 

  • Mastery motivation influences many aspects of development 

    • Related to self-concept and self-esteem 

    • Helps with school readiness

    • Facilitates self regulation

    • Past primary school, into secondary school → when you move from mastery motivation to achievement motivation, as you start to think about the end goal / bigger picture (like attending post-secondary) 

Contextual influences on achievement motivation: Parents

• Parenting approach to Erikson’s stages

  • When parents encourage autonomy, initiative and industry → kids will have higher achievement motivation 

• Availability to opportunities and resources

  • Low SES homes → children will have less opportunity to achieve different things because parents cannot afford to pay for them (example: sports, musical instruments, tutors, etc.) 

Career development: Parental influences on vocational choice

• Influence the child’s educational attainment (if the parent doesn’t think education is important, likely that the child will think the same and won’t pursue further education) → how much parents stress the importance of education will influence the child’s future occupation 

• Parents’ occupation → parents talk about their job to the child and the child may be influenced (either positive of negatively - will want to do the same or not) 

• “Some people work to live and some live to work”

  • Working to live → if you didn’t need money, you wouldn’t work

  • Living to work → working is what keeps them going because they have fulfillment in what they do 

Work life balance - Paid vs. unpaid work

• Paid work → getting a salary for doing work 

• Unpaid work → childcare, household chores, errands, preparing meals, etc. 

  • Found that women are spending 17.5 hours a week vs. men spending 10 hours a week for unpaid work