Module 4-What are the Theories for Gender Identity?

Gender Identity

Interaction between biological and environmental influences

Gender Role

Socially constructed expectations associated with being male or female

Cognitive-Developmental Theory

• Gender constancy

• Gender identity (2 yrs old)

• gender role learning

Gender Identity (2-3 years)

Child starts to use the label, boy or girl, to refer to themselves and others

Gender Stability (3-7 years)

Child understands that gender is fixed, but is confused by conflicting signs of gender (i.e. a woman with short hair)

Gender Consistency (7-12 years)

Child recognizes that gender is constant and that gender stays the same despite superficial changes

Gender dysphoria

Distress accompanying a mismatch between one’s gender identity and biological sex

Gender socialization

Focusing on what children learn about gender from society, including parents, peers, media, religious institutions, and public policies

Developmental intergroup theory

Adults’ heavy focus on gender leads children to pay attention to gender as a key source of information about themselves and others, to seek out any possible gender differences, and to form rigid stereotypes based on gender. These are subsequently difficult to change.

Gender schema theory

Children actively organize others’ behavior, activities, and attributes into gender categories (gender schemas)

Gender schematic

Those who are attuned to gender and use it as a way of organizing and understanding the world

Gender aschematic

Those who don’t use gender as a dimension for interpreting the world

Social Learning Theory

That behavior is learned through observation, modeling, reinforcement, and punishment

Sex typing

The process by which individuals acquire patterns of gendered behavior

Cognitive Social Learning Theory

Emphasizing reinforcement, punishment, and imitation, but adds cognitive processes

Objectification Theory

Focuses on how the female body has become an object of the male gaze

Ecological Systems Theory

A framework for understanding and studying the many influences on human development