Chapter 15 - Gender Development

How Children Develop

sex

sex

• the distinction between genetic females (XX) and genetic males (XY), as well as other genetic sex compositions (ex. XO, XXY, XYY)

gender

• the social assignment or self-categorization as “a girl” or “a boy” or both, neither, or a different category

cisgender

• individuals who identify with their gender assigned at birth (or biological sex)

transgender

• individuals who do not identify with the gender assigned at birth

nonbinary

• individuals who do not identify exclusively as one gender; also referred to as genderqueer

genderfluid

• individuals who self-identify with different gender categories depending on the context

bigender

• individuals who identify with two genders

agender

• those who do not identify with any gender category

• although researchers are increasingly studying gender development in transgender and non-cisgender children, there is relatively _______ research on these youth

• little

gender-typing

• the process of gender socialization

gender-typed

• behaviours stereotyped or expected for a given person’s assigned gender

cross-gender-typed

• behaviours stereotyped or expected for the gender other than that of a given person

gender nonconforming

• individuals who are highly cross-gender-typed in relation to their assigned gender

only a few cognitive abilities, personality traits, and social behaviours show ___________ but most tend to be fairly small

consistent gender difference

effect size

• the magnitude of difference between two group’s averages and the amount of overlap in their distributions

4 levels of effect sizes

• negligible, small, medium, and large

negligible

• if the two distributions overlap more than 85%

small

• 67% and 85%

medium

• 53% - 66%

large

• less than 53%

very large differences

• overlap less than 30%

statistically signifiant signifiance

difference is p < .05

meta-analysis

• statistical method used to summarize average effect size and statistical significance across studies

• used to infer overall patterns

gender similarities hypothesis

• it is important to appreciate that similarities far outweigh differences on most attributes

all behaviour and thinking are __________ because they depend on the functioning of the brain and organs and all experiences lead to changes in the brain’s organization

biologically based

there are _________ documenting direct links between genes and gender-typed behaviour in humans

no known studies

androgens

• a class of steroid hormones that occur at a slightly higher level in males than females.

• affect physical development and functioning from the prenatal period onward

organizing influences

• potential result of certain sex-linked hormones that affect brain differentiation and organization during prenatal development or at puberty

activating influences

• potential result of certain fluctuations in sex-linked hormone levels, affecting the simultaneous activation of the nervous system and corresponding behavioural responses

it is _____ to what extent any average sex differences in adult brain structure are due to genetic of environment influences

unclear

self-socialization

• active process where children’s cognitions lead them to perceive the world and act in accord with expectations and beliefs

Lawrence Kohlberg’s cognitive development theory of gender-role development

• proposed children actively construct knowledge about gender in the same ways Piaget theorized they do about the physical world

2 distinctive contributions of Kohlberg’s theory

1. children actively seek to understand the meaning of gender through observing and interacting with the world around them

2. there are cognitive developmental chanes in children’s understanding of gender during early childhood

Kohlberg’s 3-stage process

• gender identity

• gender stability

• gender constancy

gender identity

• the self-identifying as a boy, girl, both, or neither

• happens around 30 months of age

gender stability

• the awareness that gender remains the same over time

• begins at around 3-4 years of age

gender constancy

1. the realization gender is invariant despite superficial changes in a person’s apperance or behaviour

Kohlberg _________ consider the possibility of trans or nonbinary gender identities

did not

Reserach has supported the idea that children’s understanding of gender develops in the _______ Kohlberg hypothesized and that the attainment of gender constancy occurs at more or less the same age as when children are successful on conservation problems

sequence

Recent research found that gender identities of trans children were ________ as strong as those of cis children

equally

gender schema theory

• alternative to Kohlberg’s explanation of children’s gender development

• holds that the motivation to enact gender-typed behaviour begins as soon as children can label their own and other’s gender (which is usually at about 3 years of age, which is younger than when gender constancy is attained)

gender schemas

• mental representations that incorporate everything the child knows about gender

own-group schema

• consists of detailed knowledge about how to do things that are consistent with their own gender’s stereotypes

ingroup/outgroup schema

• used to classify others as “the same as me” or not

gender schemas are also responsible for _______ processing and remembering information about gender

biased

gender schema filter

• the initial evaluation of information as relevant for one’s own gender

interest filter

• initial evaluation of information as being personally interesting

Liben and Bigler’s modification to gender schema theory helps to account for findings indicating that children are often ___________ in their gender-typed interests

inconsistent

Some other children have intense interests in cross-gender-typed toys and activities, in which case the _______ may override the gender schema filter

interest filter

If the discrepancy between gender-role pressures and strong personal interests is too great, some of these children may come to identify with a more _______ gender category

compatible

Although gender schemas are resistant to change, they can be modifed through _________

explicit instruction and encouragement

Social Cognitive Theroy

• this theory depicts a triadic model of reciprocal causation among personal factors (cognitive, motivational + biological processes), environmental factors, and behaviour patterns

• primarily addresses cognition and motivation

tuition

• learning through direct teaching

enactive experience

• learning to take into account the reactions one’s past behaviour has evoked in others

observational learning

• learning through watching other people and the consequences they experience due to their actions

4 key processes of observational learning

1. attention

2. memory

3. production

4. motivation

attention + memory

• to learn new info, it must be attended to and stored in memory

production

• practicing the behaviour that has been observed

motivation

• depends on incentives or disincentives they experience relative to behaviour

gender development becomes a process of ________ where children monitor their behaviour and evaluate how well it matches personal standards, and after making this evaluation, children may feel pride or shame depending on whether they meet their standards

self-regulations

Social identity theory

• addresses the influence of group membership on people’s self-concepts and behaviour with others

2 processes that occur when a person commits to an ingroup

1. ingroup bias

2. ingroup assimilation

ingroup bias

• tendency to evaluate individuals and characteristics of the ingroup more positively than or as superior to those of the outgroup

ingroup assimilation

• the process where individuals are socialized to conform to the group’s norms, demonstrating the characteristcs that define the ingroup

The characteristics associated with a high-status group are typically valued ___ than those of a low-status group

more

Social identity theory helps explain why gender-typing pressures tend to be more _____ for boys than girls as members of high-status groups are usually more invested in maintaining group boundaries than members of low-status groups

rigid

intersectionality

• the interconnection of social identities like gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and class, especially in relation to overlapping experiences of discrimination and disadvantage

2 efforts that illustrate theoretical synthesis

1. developmental intergroup theory

2. gender self-socialization model

Developmental intergroup theory (DIT)

• integrates ideas from cognitive-developmental theory, gender schema theory, and social identity theory

• highlights three key processes that contribute to the development of stereotyping and prejudice based on a person’s gender

1. establishing the psychological salience of gender

2. categorizing individuals based on their gender

3. developing stereotypes and prejudices based on this categorization

Examples of psychological salience in everyday lives

• gender-differentiated colours, hair, clothing styles

• gendered nouns, and pronouns

• gender-designated bathrooms

• gender-segregated sports

• single-gender schools

Once the psychological salience of gender is established, the stage is set for ___________

stereotyping and prejudice

Gender self-socialization model (GSSM)

• introduced David Perry

• bridges gender schema theory, social cognitive theory, social identity, and other theoretical approaches

• emphasizes how much of gender development is a process of self-socialization

• builds on balanced identity theory

Balanced identity theory

• based on the premise that individuals seek to attain cognitive consistency across their group identities (“I am a girl”), personal-social attributes (“I like dolls”) and group-attribute beliefs (“Girls like dolls”)

3 hypothesized ways this balance tends to occur during gender development

1. stereotype emulation hypothesis

2. stereotype construction hypothesis

3. identity constructional hypothesis

stereotype emulation hypothesis

• the more children identify with their gender ingroup, the more motivated they will be to adhere to the stereotypes for their gender ingroup

stereotype construction hypothesis

• specifies that children are apt to form generalized beliefs or stereotypes about their gender ingroup based on their own personal-social attributes

identity constructional hypothesis

• states that children are more likely to identify with their gender ingroup when their own person-social attributes match their stereotyped beliefs about their gender ingroup

The GSSM implies that reducing cultural gender stereotypes about personal-social attributes will mean children will not need to ___________ with a particular gender

associate particular activities

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model

• differentiates among interconnected systems within the child and in the child’s environment.

• range from the microsystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.

opportunity structure

• the economic and social resources offered by the macrosystem

child socialization practices in the family, peer group, and other facets of the child’s microsystem serve to prepare children for these ___

adult roles

Play activities provide young children with opportunities to practice_____________________

particular social behaviours and cognitive abilities

Children’s development is largely an adaption to their existing opportunities, and changes in children’s macro and micro systems can lead to greater _________

gender equality

During their first year, infants can figure out that there are 2 groups of people in the world: females and males due to _______________________________ which all provide infants with gender cues

clothing, hairstyle, height, body shape, motion patterns, vocal pitch, and activities

By 2.5 to 3 years of age, most children use ________ to refer to themselves and other children

gender terms

gender self-labeling is usually consist with children’s gender assignment at birth, but some do not identify ________________ and they might identify as transgender, genderfluid, or agender

with their assigned gender as they grow older,

During ____________ children lack gender constancy

preschool

Most young children rigidly ___________ until they develop more cognitive flexibility

endorse gender stereotypes

gender segregation

• children’s tendency to associate with same-gender peers and avoid other-gender peers - happens

the reasons for children’s same-gender peer preferences involves a combination of_______________

temperamental, cognitive, and social forces, and relative influences change over time

assertion

• the tendency to take action on behalf of the self through competitive, independent, or aggressive behaviours

affiliation

• the tendency to affirm connection with others through being emotionally open, empathetic, or supportive

assertion and affiliation are often blended together in a style known as ____________

collaboration

children do violate ___________ (assertive girls, collaborative boys), and when this is often reacted to negatively by peers through teasing

gender-role norms

gender-role intensification

• heightened concerns with adhering to traditional gender roles

________ is a time when many are exploring personal identities and many internalize traditional gender roles in personal values

adolescence

ambivalent sexism

• a model of sexism that has two components: hostile sexism, and benevolent sexism

hostile sexism

• whereby men are dominant and women who seek equality are disparaged

benevolent sexism

• whereby men are supposed to protect women in straight relationships

  • helps perpetuate gender differences in status and power

both hostile and benevolent sexism tend to occur together, so rates of __________ rise during the same period heterosexual dating is also increasing

sexual harrassment