Gender Development

10 Key excerpts on "Gender Development"

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  Gender in Childhood

  • Christia Spears Brown, Sharla D. Biefeld, Michelle J. Tam(Authors)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  In this Element, we offer an overview and review of the research on Gender Development in childhood from a developmental science perspective. We first define gender and contrast gender with the related concepts of sex and gender identity. Second, we discuss how variations in cultural context shape Gender Development around the world and how variations within gender groups add to the complexity of gender identity development. Third, we discuss major theor- etical perspectives in developmental science for studying child gender. Fourth, we examine, using the latest meta-analytic evidence, differences and similar- ities between girls and boys in their emotions and aggression, play and toys, and cognitive skills. Fifth, we discuss the development of gender, gender identity, and gender socialization throughout infancy, early childhood, and middle child- hood. We will focus on what children know and how children think about gender, how children learn about gender and gender stereotypes, and how gender impacts the emotional, social, and academic development of children. Last, we discuss future directions for the study of gender in childhood. 2 Defining Gender Before describing the field of Gender Development, it is important to define what we mean when we say gender and how gender and sex overlap and how they are distinct. Throughout the developmental literature, gender and sex are 1 Gender in Childhood often used interchangeably to refer to children’ s own gender identity, their sex assigned at birth, others’ perceptions of children’ s gender identity, as well as behaviors and dress associated with gender (Muehlenhard & Peterson, 2011). Although these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they are distinct constructs. Biological sex refers to the categories of female and male determined by chromosomes, hormones, and genitalia.

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  Sexuality Now

  Embracing Diversity

  • Janell Carroll(Author)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Cengage Learning EMEA

    (Publisher)

  2 Identify the hormonal conditions that may result in differences of sex development. 3 Differentiate between gender roles and gender traits, and explain how cross- cultural research helps us identify each. 4 Compare masculinity and femininity and explain how our ethnic groups’ cultural heritage may affect these concepts. 5 Which gender behaviors/traits are considered to be innate? 6 Are any gender differences universal? Review Questions socialization The process in which an infant is taught the basic skills for functioning in society. Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Gender Development, Gender Roles, and Gender Identity 91 Cognitive Development Theory: Age-Stage Learning Cognitive development theory assumes that all children go through a universal pattern of development, and there really is not much parents can do to alter it. As children’s brains mature and grow, they develop new abilities and concerns; at each stage, their understanding of gender changes in predictable ways. This theory follows the ideas of Piaget (1951), the child development theorist who suggested that social attitudes in children are medi- ated through their processes of cognitive development. In other words, children can process only a certain kind and amount of information at each developmental stage. As children begin to be able to recognize the physical differ- ences between girls and boys, and then to categorize themselves as one or the other, they look for information about their genders.

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  Transgenderism and Intersexuality in Childhood and Adolescence

  Making Choices

  • Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis, Friedemann Pfäfflin(Authors)
  • 2003(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  In his view, gender identity disorders (see below) stem from an incongruity between the assigned sex and the two-sided concept gender identity/role. However, in persons with a gender identity disorder, the gender role, which, according to Money, is the public expression of one’s gender identity, is, at least for some period, seri-ously blocked. Their gender identity, but not their gender role, may thus be opposite to their assigned sex. For this reason and because in research the concepts are usually dealt with separately, we prefer to use the term gender role as separate from gender identity. In the current literature gender role is defined as behaviors, attitudes, and personality traits which, within a given society and historical period, are typically attributed to, expected from, or preferred by persons of one gender or the other (Golombok & Fivush, 1994). A more neutral term with regard to etiology is sex-typed behavior. We use the term interchangeably with gender role behavior . Developmental psychologists have largely focused on cognitive compo-nents of gender identity (Fagot & Leinbach, 1985; Kohlberg, 1966; Ruble & Martin, 1998). For instance, Kohlberg (1966) defined gender iden-tity as the “cognitive self-categorization as boy or girl” (p. 88) and Fagot and Leinbach (1985) consider gender identity to be “the concept of the self as male or female” (p. 685). Much of the extensive research in this field con-centrates on the implications of achieving more or less sophisticated levels of understanding of being a boy or a girl. Recently, however, there seems to be more interest in more affective components, such as feeling of content-ment with one’s gender (Egan & Perry, 2001). In their formulations of the concept, clinicians have always put more emphasis than developmental psychologists on the affective aspects of gender identity.

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  Growing Points in Developmental Science

  An Introduction

  • Willard W. Hartup, Rainer K. Silbereisen(Authors)
  • 2005(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  Sometimes the use of the word “stereotypes” is taken to mean that attributes assimilated to social categories are arbitrary, so that our concepts about the two sexes may be quite artificial or distorted. How accurate are our gender stereotypes? In their review, Deaux and LaFrance (1998) note that it is hardly possible to check the reality base of some of our stereotypes, since they refer to characteristics that are very difficult to measure objectively. People’s beliefs about certain attributes of the two sexes that can be objectively assessed, however, turn out to be quite accurate (e.g., that women are more involved than men in the care of young children). This work has been done with adults, and we can only assume that the accuracy of children’s gender stereotypes would improve with age, as they accumulate information about a larger and larger sample of exemplars.

  At the end of the twentieth century, then, a predominant perspective on Gender Development is a dual one focusing on individual differences. Its central themes are that children will differ in the degree to which they become sex-typed as a result of (a) the strength of the socialisation pressures they have experienced, and (b) the nature and coherence of their gender schemas—their knowledge about the characteristics stereotypically associated with each sex, and about what the social expectations are for persons of their own sex. Or course, socialisation and cognitive factors in Gender Development are not truly distinct. For example, socialisation pressures are one source of information enabling children to develop their knowledge concerning the gendered norms that they are expected to adopt. The direct socialisation experiences children have, in other words, constitute a major source of information upon which cognitive structures are built. Indeed, the whole cultural milieu in which a child grows up presents to children an array of cultural beliefs and practices concerning gender, and when children draw on these to construct their gender schemas, it can reasonably be said that they are being socialised by the surrounding culture into becoming co-practitioners of these cultural forms.

  An emphasis on cognitive and socialisation factors by no means precludes a recognition of possible biological influences that may generate different predispositions in boys and girls. Nowadays there is widespread recognition of the importance of biological factors. However, since biological sex and socially ascribed gender are so completely redundant, it has proved difficult to tease them apart. Something is known concerning sex differences in brain structures and functions. For example, in males, more functions are lateralised, so that they are associated with activation primarily in one hemisphere of the brain, whereas in females, the two hemispheres are more likely to be both activated for a specific function. However the possible behavioural impacts of these structural differences are far from being understood. A good deal is known concerning the physiological events during gestation that differentiate the genital structures of male and female foetuses. And we know, too, something about the way in which prenatal hormones organise the developing foetal brain so as to create different propensities and sensitivities in the two sexes—tendencies that will manifest themselves behaviourally at various times during postnatal development, perhaps requiring either a biological or environmental trigger for their activation.

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  Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science, Cognitive Processes

  • (Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  The chapter is divided into six sections. First, I present an overview of major social-cognitive theories pertinent to our contemporary understanding of Gender Development. Second, I summarize developmental patterns and variations in children's gender cognitions. Third, I examine the development of gender-typed play. Fourth, I review research comparing girls' and boys' competence and achievement in academic, athletic, socioemotional, and other domains. Fifth, I consider possible explanations for these average differences. Finally, to close the chapter, I offer two recommendations for future theory and research.

  Overview of Major Theories and Conceptual Models

  When Maccoby and Jacklin's (1974) review was published 40 years ago, only a handful of theoretical approaches guided developmental research on Gender Development. In subsequent decades, theories and models have proliferated. I briefly review some of the major approaches relevant to the study of Gender Development. These include cognitive-developmental and information-processing theories, intergroup theories, motivation theories, and theoretical models of person–environment interactions. In subsequent sections, I elaborate on how these theories are relevant to our understanding of various facets of Gender Development.

  To limit the scope of the chapter, the focus is on social and cognitive explanations, although it is important to acknowledge that genes, hormones, and the nervous system influence Gender Development. A separate chapter in the current Handbook addresses these processes (see Hines, Chapter 20, this Handbook, Volume 3).

  Cognitive-Developmental and Information-Processing Theories

  Several cognitive theories relevant to children's Gender Development similarly address the importance of observation and making inferences about the world. According to these theories, children actively use their understandings of gender to guide behavior. In this manner, the theories characterize Gender Development as a process of self-socialization. They vary in some of their assumptions or the relative emphases they place on particular processes.

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  Child Psychology

  Development in a Changing Society

  • Robin Harwood, Scott A. Miller, Ross Vasta(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  These widely held beliefs are enacted in everyday life in the gender roles that males and females adopt (Deaux, 1993; Gentile, 1993). Gender identity refers to one’s perception of oneself as male or female. Gender typing, on the other hand, is the process by which children develop the beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and roles that their society deems appropriate for their gen- der. Gender typing, apparent in 3-year-old Kaylie’s femi- nine preferences, is assumed to involve a combination of biological, social, and cognitive influences (Huston, 1985; Powlishta et al., 2001). ■ How did these children become so “gendered” at such a young age? To what extent are their “masculine” and “feminine” preferences hardwired, and to what extent are they learned? How do sex differences and gender roles develop? (© Lawrence Migdale/Photo Researchers) FIGURE 13.1 Two Possible Patterns for Sex Differences Pattern (a) shows completely separate sex dif- ferences, while pattern (b) shows overlapping sex differences. Which pattern is more preva- lent, and what is the meaning of that finding? Chapter 13 ■ Sex Differences and Gender Role Development 514 Differences among males and among females are greater than differences between males and females. All sex differences are the product of both biological and environmental processes acting in concert. Physical Differences Physical differences include differences in physical maturity and vulnerability, in activity level, and in motor development. At birth, girls generally are healthier and more develop- mentally advanced than boys, despite being somewhat smaller and lighter. Although girls are less muscular, they are better coordinated neurologically and physically (Garai & Scheinfeld, 1968; Lundqvist & Sabel, 2000; Reinisch & Sanders, 1992; Tanner, 1990). On average, girls also reach developmental milestones earlier than boys. For instance, on average girls lose their first tooth at a younger age and begin (and end) puberty sooner.

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  Child Psychology

  A Canadian Perspective

  • Alastair Younger, Scott A. Adler, Ross Vasta(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  The process of self-socialization requires a good deal of knowledge about gender and related attributes. What children know about gender and when they know it is the focus of the next section. Some studies have shown that young children adapt their toy preferences to win approval from peers. (Banana Stock/Media Bakery) Understand how society, parents, peers, and the self contribute to gender-role socialization. 1. How can gender-role development be viewed as a process of socialization? 2. What roles do parents play in the socialization of gender? 3. How do peers and self contribute to gender-role development? LEARNING OBJECTIVE 16.4 644 Chapter 16 – Gender-Role Development and Sex Differences UNDERSTANDING GENDER ROLES AND STEREOTYPES We have reviewed considerable evidence that socialization processes are involved in sex typing. In this section, we turn to the cognitive processes that influence gender-role development. Of par- ticular interest is the developing child’s increasing understanding of gender roles and stereotypes. THE DEVELOPMENT OF GENDER IDENTITY We have already mentioned Kohlberg’s (1966) stage model of gender constancy, which includes gender identity (“I am a boy/girl”), gender stability (“I will grow up to be a man/woman”), and gender consistency (“I cannot change my sex”) (Martin et al., 2002; Ruble et al., 2007). Data from a number of studies have confirmed this theoretical progression. By 3 years of age, almost all chil- dren display gender identity. Gender stability follows around 4 years of age, and gender consistency around age 5. Children have a full understanding of gender constancy at around 6 years of age (Halim & Ruble, 2010). Males and females progress through these stages at approximately the same rate (Bem, 1989; Fagot, 1985; Martin & Little, 1990).

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  Visualizing Psychology

  • Siri Carpenter, Karen Huffman(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  Most research emphasizes two major theories of gender-role development: social learning (shown in the diagram) and cognitive developmental. One way to over-come gender-role stereotypes is to combine “masculine” and “feminine” traits (androgyny) . Gender-role development • Figure 10.7 + Social-learning theory Rewards and punishments Observation and imitation of models Gender-typed behavior (boys playing with trucks and girls playing with dolls) • Our culture shapes how we define and understand our -selves. In individualistic cultures , the needs and goals of the individual are emphasized; in collectivistic cultures , the person is defined and understood primarily by looking at his or her place in the social unit. THE PLANNER ✓ ✓ Critical and Creative Thinking Questions 279 3 Developmental Challenges Through Adulthood 272 • Developing realistic expectations and avoiding violence and abuse are vitally important to good relationships and social development. However, resiliency helps some children survive and even prosper in harsh, abusive environments. • The activity theory of aging proposes that successful aging depends on having control over one’s life, having social support, and participating in community services and social activities. The older disengagement theory has been largely abandoned. According to the socioemotional selectivity theory , people don’t naturally withdraw from society in late adulthood but deliberately decrease the total number of their social contacts in favor of familiar people who provide emotionally meaningful interactions, as shown in the graph. Infancy Adolescence Middle age Old age Knowledge needs Emotion needs High Low Salience of social motives Socioemotional selectivity • Figure 10.11 Key Terms RETRIEVAL PRACTICE Write a definition for each term before turning back to the referenced page to check your answer.

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  The Cambridge Handbook of the International Psychology of Women

  • Fanny M. Cheung, Diane F. Halpern(Authors)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  SUGGESTED READINGS Blakemore, J. E. O., Berenbaum, S. A., & Liben, L. S. (2009). Gender Development. New York: Psychology Press. Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33, 61–83. doi:10.1017/S0140525X0999152 Hines, M., Constantinescu, M., & Spencer, D. (2015). Early andro- gen exposure and human Gender Development. Biology of Sex Differences, 6, 3. doi:10.1186/s13293–015-0022-1 Hyde, J. S., Bigler, R. S., Joel, D., Tate, C. C., & van Anders, S. M. (2019). The future of sex and gender in psychology: Five challenges to the gender binary. American Psychologist, 74, 842–844. doi:10.1037/amp0000307 Smiler, A. P., & Epstein, M. (2010). Measuring gender: Options and issues. In J. C. Chrisler & D. R. McCreary (Eds.), Hand- book of gender research in psychology (pp. 133–157). New York: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-1465-1_7 Stoet, G., & Geary, D. C. (2015). Sex differences in academic achievement are not related to political, economic, or social equality. Intelligence, 48, 137–151. doi:10.1016/j. intell.2014.11.006 Zell, E., Krizan, Z., & Teeter, S. R. (2015). Evaluating gender similarities and differences using metasynthesis. American Psychologist, 70, 10–20. doi:10.1037/a0038208 Ivy Wong is an Assistant Professor in the Gender Studies Program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a Gender Development psychologist focusing on the expression of gender and its devel- opment at the intersection of socialization, cognition, and biol- ogy. She studies gender and sexu- ality across the life span. Her expertise includes gender-typed play, gender differences and similarities, sex segregation, gender socialization, gender variance, gender stereotypes, and sexual orientation. She is interested in bridging the gap between the West and other cultures in research on the psychology of gender. Wong was born in Mainland China, and moved to Hong Kong when she was 6.

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  Identity, Gender, and Sexuality

  150 Years After Freud

  • Peter Fonagy, Rainer Krause, Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber, Peter Fonagy, Rainer Krause, Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  In all cases, a child's sense of authenticity is com-promised (Coates). Developmental research on childhood gender identity disorder • Commentary 137 Indeed, the sexual link as a fundamental concept in thinking is universal and embedded in the language. Throughout the building industry, tradesmen, craftsmen, and technicians rely on the concept of male and female in relation to the components of construction. There is a line in Alan Bennett's play Forty Years On (1968), where a sardonic schoolmaster, instructing a rather slow-witted boy, says This is a nut and that is a bolt. It is a long-established custom that the one goes inside the other, thus. If your forefathers, Wigglesworth, had been as stupid as you are, the human race would never have succeeded in procreating itself. GID manifests such a stark contradiction between the felt self and the reality of the body that severe mental splitting seems to be indi-cated. A sense of reality based on an experience of the self as one having mental and physical attributes (rather than a mind in a body) develops from processes involving the linking and integration of ex-perience, both internal and external. When integration is obstructed or compromised, mental bifurcation into twin-track functioning may occur, so that two different and completely contradictory percep-tions of reality and the self can be entertained simultaneously. A split between material and psychic satisfaction develops. The following case draws attention to such issues in relation to sexual reassignment surgery and is germane to the problem so viv-idly represented in Colin's Story. The patient, female, was referred to me at an NHS psychotherapy clinic: she complained of depression and of feeling persecuted and bullied by other patients at the gender clinic which she had been attending for some time.

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