Actual Gender Differences There are a number of documented gender differences
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Transcript of Actual Gender Differences There are a number of documented gender differences
Actual Gender Differences
• There are a number of documented gender differences
– Exs: aggression, activity level, compliance, emotional expressivity
But:
• Relatively few documented differences
– Gender stereotypes suggest more differences than are actually documented by research
• Even documented differences are relatively small in size
– Average performance of males and females is not extremely different
Gender Typing
• Process by which a child:
– Becomes aware of his or her gender
– Acquires information about the characteristics and behavior viewed as appropriate for males or females (gender stereotypes)
– Acquires the characteristics and behaviors viewed as appropriate for either males or females (gender roles)
Developmental Trends in Gender Typing
• By 2.5 to 3 years, children label their own sex and that of other people
• Do not yet understand that sex is a permanent characteristic
Development of Gender Stereotypes
• By 2.5 years, children have some knowledge of gender stereotypes
• Over the preschool/early school years, learn more about toys, activities, and achievement domains considered appropriate for boys versus girls– Ex (achievement): boys are good at math;
girls are good at English
• By late elementary school, children know gender stereotypes associated with psychological characteristics (personality traits)
– Ex: males are assertive, aggressive, ambitious; females are emotional, nurturing, dependent
• Preschoolers’ gender stereotypes tend to be rigid
– Don’t usually realize that characteristics associated with sex (e.g., activities, clothing) don’t determine whether one is male or female
• May be one reason they treat gender stereotypes as “rules” rather than as beliefs
• By elementary school, children’s gender stereotypes are more flexible
– Understand that stereotypes are beliefs, not “rules”
– But older children do not necessarily approve of “cross-gender” behavior
Development of Gender Role Behavior
• Between approximately 14-22 months, children begin to show sex-typed toy preferences
• Sex-typed toy play increases through the preschool years
• Children begin to avoid peers who violate gender roles
• Gender segregation develops by ages 2 to 3 years
– Tendency to associate with same-sex playmates
• Typically lasts until around the onset of puberty
• Gender Intensification: A magnification of sex differences early in adolescence
– Associated with increased pressure to conform to traditional gender roles (from parents, peers)
– Gender intensification declines over the course of adolescence
Biological Influences on Gender Typing(Hormonal Influences)
• Experimental animal studies indicate that exposure to androgens (male sex hormones):
– Increases active play in male and female mammals
– Promotes male-typical sexual behavior and aggression and suppresses maternal caregiving behavior in a wide variety of species
• In boys, naturally occurring variations in androgen levels are positively correlated with
– Amount of rough-and-tumble play
– Levels of physical aggression
• Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)
– Disorder in which child is exposed to high levels of androgens from the prenatal period onward
– Compared to girls without CAH, girls with CAH show
• Higher activity levels• Greater interest in “male-typical” toys, activities,
and occupations• Better spatial/mathematical abilities
Environmental Influences on Gender Typing
• Social Learning Theory
– Gender typing results from
• imitation of same-sex models and reinforcement for this behavior
Parental Behavior
• On average, differences in parental treatment of boys and girls are not large
• Does not mean that parental behavior is unimportant because:
– Younger children receive more direct training in gender roles than older children
– Some parents probably practice differential treatment more intensely than others
• Parents create different environments for boys and girls beginning in infancy (e.g., bedrooms, toys)
• Parents give toys that stress action and competition to boys (e.g., guns, cars, tools, footballs)
• Give toys that emphasize nurturance, cooperation, and physical attractiveness to girls (e.g., dolls, tea sets, jewelry, jump ropes)
• Parents reinforce independence in boys – React more positively when boys demand
attention, run and climb, or try to take toys from others
• Parents reinforce closeness/dependency in girls– More likely to direct play activities, provide
help, encourage participation in household tasks, and refer to emotions
• Fathers tend to treat boys and girls more differently than do mothers
– Engage in more physically stimulating play with infant sons than daughters
– Less likely to give “girl toys” (e.g., dolls) to sons
Pasterski et al. (2005)
• Comparison of toy choices in girls and boys with CAH and their siblings (without CAH)
– Girls with CAH played with “boys’ toys” more and “girls’ toys” less than their unaffected sisters
– No differences between boys with CAH and their unaffected brothers
• Parental Behavior
– Parents gave more negative responses to their unaffected sons than to their unaffected daughters for play with “girls’ toys”
– Parents gave more positive responses to daughters with CAH than to unaffected daughters for play with “girls’ toys”
• Parental Behavior and Children’s Toy Choices
– For unaffected children, parents’ positive and negative responses to children’s toy choices were related to children’s play behavior
• Positive responses to children’s play with certain toys related to more play with those toys (and vice versa for negative responses)
– For children with CAH, parental behavior was not related to children’s toy choices
Peer Behavior
• By age 3, children reinforce each other for “gender-appropriate” play (e.g., by praising, imitating, or joining in)
• Criticize children who engage in “cross-gender” activities – Boys are especially critical of other boys
• Male and female peer groups promote different styles of interaction
– Boys more often rely on commands, threats, and physical force
– Girls use polite requests, persuasion—works with girls but not with boys
• Cognitive theories emphasize children’s active role in the process of gender typing (self-socialization)
Cognitive Developmental Theory (Kohlberg)
• Three Stages:
– Basic Gender Identity:
• Recognition that one is a boy or a girl
– Emerges between 2.5 and 3 years
– Gender Constancy/Consistency
• Understanding that gender is constant/consistent across situations regardless of appearance or activities
– Emerges between 5 and 7 years
Gender Schema Theory:
• Young children construct gender schemas
– Schemas: Organized mental representations incorporating information about gender
• Include children’s own experiences and information conveyed by others, including gender stereotypes
• Schemas are dynamic—change as children acquire additional information
• Once children achieve basic gender identity, their motivation to adopt gender roles increases
– Prefer, pay attention to, and remember more about others of their own sex
– Use their gender identity and their gender schemas to guide their behavior
Martin et al. (1995)
Study 3:
– Children used gender labels given to toys to guide their behavior
• Ex: If a toy was labeled as a “boy” toy, girls reported that they were less interested in it and that other girls would also be less interested in it than if the toy was labeled as a “girl” toy (and vice versa for boys)
– True even if the toy was very attractive