• Gender roles are expected behaviors for males and females based on culture

• Gender stereotypes are a schema children develop about the behavior of people based on their gender

Gender Schema Theory

• Proposed in 1981

• Children actively form mental categories (schemas) for masculinity and femininity

• They also recognize their own role and choose activities that match that role

• Children recognize and then align themselves with the norms of the culture

• Children may meet disapproval if they do not conform to gender norms, or feel pressure to fit into what they are told to

• More than just observational learning, but operant understandings as well