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

Humans:

• Cannot do experimental research for ethical reasons

– Correlational research

• 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 Stability

• Understanding that gender is stable over time

– Emerges between 3 and 5 years

– Gender Constancy/Consistency

• Understanding that gender is constant/consistent across situations regardless of appearance or activities

– Emerges between 5 and 7 years

• Kohlberg: Gender constancy leads to adoption of gender roles

– Why is this incorrect?

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

• Children show biases in their memory for information about gender

– More likely to accurately remember information that is consistent with gender stereotypes

– More likely to forget or distort information that is inconsistent with gender stereotypes