Gender Role Development

Gender Role Development

What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails, And puppy-dogs' tails; That's what little boys are made of.

What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice, and all that's nice; That's what little girls are made of.

Gender refers to the identity a person adopts as a result of developmental processes. Gender identity is usually linked to biological sex organs but this is not always the case. Some women adopt a masculine identity, some men adopt a feminine identity.

Identity formation is an active cognitive process and is therefore open to influence from innate physiological processes as well as from social forces (such as media, cultures, parenting and so on). Gender role refers to the sets of behaviours, rights, duties and obligations of being male or female (Bee, 1995).

It is therefore a schema, a mental guide for action, steering an individual towards a socially agreed construction of gender expression.

What is Gender?

Some Native American and Canadian First Nation indigenous groups allow for multiple genders to exist at the same time in a person via the two-spirit concept. This concept recognises that an individual may possess both male and female identities.

In Oman, the Xanith form an accepted third gender in a strictly gender-segregated society. They are usually male homosexual prostitutes who dress as males but have female mannerisms. Xanith mingle with women but they also run their own households, performing all tasks of both male and female gender roles (Lorber, 1994).

Western cultures have a notion known as androgyny (Bem, 1974).

What is Gender?

So if you wanted to, could you

raise your child to be

gender neutral?

The vocabulary of sex & genderA. Biological Gender – anatomical and

physiological attributesDifference are universal, biological determined,

and unchanged by social influence. Some would say this leads to:the development of social roles? (Ev. Psy. – be

careful)Breast feeding = care for infantsStay close to home while men hunt and gather =

physical strength difference (Rossi, 1984)

The vocabulary of sex & genderB. Gender identity – one’s sense of maleness or

femaleness – an awareness & acceptance of one’s and others maleness or femaleness – age 2

• Gender consistency: no mater what you do/look etc. your gender remains the same – around age 7

C.Gender roles (typing) – What society says each gender should do (The IB focus!)what society/culture teaches children about what behavior

is appropriate for each sex – a process

D.What to attribute to nature/nurture is up for debate!

Gender BehaviourHigh degree of agreement across 30 cultures of

gender behavior/roles (Williams & Best, 1994)Male:

Aggressive, better a spatial abilities, assertive Females:

verbal, nurturing, emotionally more sensitive, gentle

Is this due to socialization (societies influence) or some other reason?

Theories of Gender Development

Zucker, 1999: “A persons gender identity depends on the interaction of genes, prenatal hormones, anatomical structures, and experiences.”

Children not passive, but select whom they copy (same sex) (Bandura & SLT)

Children are gender police Fagot, 1985 – observations study of

children between 21 – 28 months Those children who did not behave in

gender appropriate ways were made fun of by other children


Aggression: According to Maccoby & Jacklin (1974) and Weisfeld (1994), boys are more aggressive verbally and physically than girls, a difference which appears as soon as Social play begins (around two-and-a-half years). While both sexes become less aggressive with age, boys and men remain more aggressive throughout development.

However, some studies have shown that women score higher for certain kinds of indirect non-physical aggression (Durkin, 1995), while others have found no sex differences at all (e.g. Campbell & Muncer, 1994).

According to Schaffer (2004), when both physical and nonphysical aggression are taken into account, the gender difference almost disappears.


Verbal ability: From preschool to adolescence, the sexes are very similar with respect to verbal ability. But at age 11 females become superior, and this increases during adolescence and possibly beyond (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974). But again, evidence suggests that any such differences are so small as to be negligible (Hyde & Linn, 1988).

Spatial ability: Males' ability to perceive figures or objects in space and their relationship to each other is consistently better than females' in adolescence and adulthood (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974). But while there's male superiority on some spatial tasks, within-sex variability is large.

When between-sex differences are found, they're usually small (Durkin, 1995).

Mathematical ability: Mathematical skills increase faster in boys, beginning around age 12-13 (Maccoby & Jacklin,1974). But while there are significant sex differences, these are in the reverse direction to the stereotype (Hyde et al., 1990).


Freud: Gender development

Oedipus complex – boysDesire for motherFrustration – hostility towards fatherCastration anxiety

Elektra complex – girlsDesire for fatherFrustration – hostility towards motherPenis envy

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Freud: Gender development

Identification with same sex parent ‘I want to be (like) you’

Internalisation of same sex parent A representation of the father/mother in

incorporated into the psyche1. Ideals to aspire to2. Moral rules3. Gender identity

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Biological Theories of Gender Development

1. Biology (hormones) & Gender rolesA. Evolutionary Psychology

Natural selection based on division of labor has created different gender roles Know the mechanisms of evolutionary theory

E.O. Wilson – different gender roles equal to division of reproduction & labor Males hunt & females tend babies because of physical

features Mating strategies = roles/behavior Parental investment theory (Kenrick, 1994)

Society organized by gender to exclusive meet female needs


1. Biology (hormones) & Gender rolesA. Evolutionary Psychology

Critics: gender roles not the result of evolution, but a consequence of culture assigning roles

There are cross-cultural differences as well as similarities in gender roles Development of gender roles should be

seen as an interaction of biological & social-cultural factors

1. Biology (hormones) & sexual IdentityB. Hormones influence on gender

(Testosterone/androgens) – “Theory of psychosexual differentiation” In prenatal development testosterone is

released This influences brain development

Male ‘brain circuitry’ – spatial abilities, aggression How do we know?

Use of case studies – naturally occurring events


2) Hormone influence on gender roles Bailey, 2003: 200 healthy children

Found positive correlation between levels of testosterone in amniotic fluid and later measure of male-type play

CAH (Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia) disorder: XX exposed to high levels of testosterone in uterus – have high levels of androgens (male sex hormones) Girls have more male type behavior


B. Hormones (cont.) Chromosome (XX & XY) influence: case studies

1) Chromosome influence on gender roles & how society ‘labels’ them & subsequent behavior

Reiner & Gearheart, 2004: longitudinal study of 16 genetic males - rare disorder of being born without a penis – otherwise everything else is normal (had testicles) 2 raised as male & developed male gender identity 14 surgically altered and assigned female role

8 have since declared themselves male 5 living as females 1 is unclear in gender identity

Money (1974): Accidental penectomy –– David Reimmer born male, raised female, unhappy, became male


Cognitive Development TheoryKohlberg (1966)

Gendered knowledge precedes gendered behaviour argued children acquire greater understanding of gender as

cognition matures – this means children can only acquire gender identity and enact appropriate role behaviours when they are mentally ready.

Initially, children acquire a gender concept and then actively seek information from members of the same gender for clues on how to behave. Once they understand gender is fixed and they are to be a boy or a girl forever, they become increasingly motivated to find information on appropriate behaviours.

Cognitive Theories of Gender Development

Cognitive Development TheoryKohlberg thought gender identity was acquired

between the ages of 2 and 3. Gender constancy – realisation gender will always be

the same.Three stages:

Gender identity – age 2-3 – aware of one’s own gender and that of others

Gender stability – realise that a girl grows to a woman etc – gender does not change

Gender consistency – girl remains a girl even when she has short hair and plays with trucks – age 3-7


Cognitive Development TheoryMarcus and Overton (1978) report gender conservation

occurs at the same time as other forms of conservation suggesting the process has clear cognitive developmental origins.

Slaby and Frey (1975) divided 2–5-year-olds into two groups: one group they considered to have high gender constancy, and the other group they considered to have low gender constancy. They showed a film with a split screen; one side had male models performing a task, the other side had female models performing a task. Children with high gender constancy had more same-sex bias in their attention. This shows children actively seek and then respond to appropriate gender models.


3. Gender Schemas (Cognitive Perspective)A mental network of attitudes, ideas, etc of what

it means to be male/female, Bem, 1993By age 9 months schemas start developing –

differentiate between male and female faces (Fagot, 1993)

Actively constructed gender schemasdevelops fully by age 4

Martin & Halverson, 1983: Experiment – 5-6 year olds showed gender congruent & incongruent picturesWeek later – remembered boy, not girl, playing with

gun

Gender Schema Theory

Liben and Signorella (1993) found that children who were shown pictures of adults engaged in perceived gender inversion behaviour (e.g. a male nurse) disregarded the information and forgot it – suggesting children are actively engaged in constructing their world view and only select information that supports their vision of gender-appropriate behaviour.

Hidden ReinforcersAdults respond/reinforce aggressive boys,

talkative girls (Fagot et al, 1985)“Boys will be boys”

(Jacobs & Eccles, 1985) Math – boys – you’re a natural whiz, Girls – you must have worked hard

Socio-Cultural Theories of Gender Identity

Social ConstructionA. Any differences in gender roles between cultures

supports the idea of learned rolesB. Margaret Mead (1935) – claimed that gender is

cultural – Cultural determinist – 3 New Guinea tribes – all had different concepts of gender1) Changed her mind after birth of own child &

study of more cultures• Motherhood = biological inclination, Fatherhood =

social invention

2) Biological determinist! (1949)


Shift to modern worldGoffman, 1977: predicts that gender roles will switch

from a belief that gender roles are due to biological differences to a belief in general social equitySupport for this in new role of males & females in

Western cultureReinicke, 2006 – young fathers in Denmark find

childcare an important part of their identityEngle, 1994 – found that if fathers participated in

parenting classes, they took on more of a caregiver role


3.Gender is expressed in a Social ContextWe behave in both male & female ways

depending on the social contextStrong gender producing situations

produce strong gender roles: Geis, 1991DatingMakeup of group

4.Social Role Theory, Eagly, 1987: Gender roles come from different work role


Socio-Cultural Theories of Gender IdentitySocial learning theory

Social learning theory assumes children learn gender-appropriate and gender-inappropriate behaviour via processes present in the environment/culture such as modelling and conditioning through reward and punishment.

Reinforcement can be direct and explicit:

‘You look like a girl in that hat’ (said to a boy)

‘Girls don’t wear jeans’ (said to a girl).

Or it can be more subtle in the form of media images and expectations in peer groups.

Socio-Cultural Theories of Gender IdentitySupport for Social learning theory

Sears el al. (1957) found that parents allowed sons to be more aggressive in their relationships with other children, and towards their parents, than daughters. For some mothers, 'being a boy' meant being aggressive, and boys were often encouraged to fight back. Although parents believe they respond ill the same way to aggressive acts committed by boys and girl s, they actually intervene much more frequently and quickly when girls behave aggressively (Huston 1983) .

Socio-Cultural Theories of Gender IdentitySupport for Social learning theory

Boys were more likely to imitate aggressive male models than were girls (Bandura el al., 1961, 1963).

Children are also more likely to imitate a same-sex model than an opposite-sex model, even if the behavior is 'sex-inappropriate'

Although parents are important models, SL theorists are also interested in media portrayals of males and females. A large body of evidence suggests that gender role stereotypes are portrayed by the media, as well as by parents and teachers (Weber et al. , 1987).

Moreover, children categorised as ' heavy' viewers of TV hold stronger stereotyped beliefs than 'lighter' viewers (Gunter, 1986).

Socio-Cultural Theories of Gender IdentityFindings not supporting Social learning theory

According to Maccoby & Jacklin (1974), there are no consistent differences in the extent to which boys and girls are reinforced for aggressiveness or autonomy. In fact, there appears to be remarkable uniformity in how the sexes are socialised. This is supported by Lytton & R.omney (1991), who found very few sex differences in terms of parental warmth, overall amount of interaction, encouragement of achievement or dependency, restrictiveness and discipline, or clarity of communication.


Although Bandura et al's research is often cited, the evidence concerning imitation and modelling is actually inconclusive, and some studies have failed to find that children are more likely to imitate same-sex models than opposite-sex models. Indeed, children have been shown to prefer imitating behaviour that's 'appropriate' to their own sex regardless of the model's (Maccoby &Jacklin, 1974).


The view that TV can impact upon a passively receptive child audience with messages about sex- role stereotyping, and mould young children's conceptions of gender is over-simplistic. For Gunter & McAleer (1997), children respond selectively to particular characters and events, and their perceptions, memories, and understanding of what they've seen may often be mediated by the dispositions they bring with them to the viewing situation. While ‘heavy' TV viewers might hold stronger stereotyped beliefs than other children, no precise measures were taken of the programmes they actually watched.


While modelling plays an important role in children's socialisation , there's no consistent preference for the same-sex parent's behaviour (Hetherington, 1967).

Instead, children prefer to model the behaviour of those with whom they have most contact (usually the mother). Also, there 's no significant correlation between the extent to which parents engage in sex-typed behaviours and the strength of sex-typing in their children (Smith & Daglish, 1977). However, fathers' adoption of either traditional (sex-typed) or egalitarian attitudes has been found to correlate with four- year-olds' perceptions of sex roles (Quiery, 1998) .

Learning the Rules of Gender Identity Lamb and Roopnarine (1979) observed nursery-age children at play and found

they reinforced each other for gender-appropriate play. They also noted reinforcement was more potent if it came from the same gender as the child being reinforced.

Leary et al. (1982) found children who were frequent television watchers are more likely to hold stereotyped ideas about gender and conform more to gender role preferences – suggesting the potency of modelling behaviour from media.

Lewis (1972) observed parent–child interaction and found boys were encouraged to be active and independent and girls were encouraged to be passive and dependent.

It should be noted, these Western-centric studies have a degree of ecological validity as they were conducted as observations but they were also in a time when gender roles were more clearly defined and caution must be used when contemporizing the results either to current Western society or to other cultures.

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Gender Role Development