The Development of Gender

1. Chapter 10: Becoming Who We Are: The Development of Self, Gender, and Morality The Development of Gender By Kati Tumaneng (for Drs. Cook and Cook)

2. The Development of Gender • Sex – The male or female physical and biological characteristics of the body. • Gender – All the physical, cognitive, and behavioral traits that characterize people of one sex. • Gender role – The social expectations for each sex within a particular culture. Sometimes called a sex role. • Gender concept – The understanding that a person’s sex is a permanent feature and cannot be altered through changes in surface features like hair or clothing. • Sex-typed behavior – Behavior that matches the gender-role expectations of a culture. More definitions: http://www.transgender.org/transcend/guide/sec131.htm

3. How Do Boys and Girls Differ? • In most areas, the similarities far outweigh the differences. • Cognitive Skills • Largest and most consistent differences are in verbal, language, and certain spatial skills. • Verbal skills favor girls. • Spatial skills favor boys. • Math – Only consistent differences in elementary school favor girls for computation and for grades; superior performance ends around age 15; by adolescence boys are favored in math problem solving (Halpern, 2000). Compare gender on Nation’s Report Card: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nrc/reading_math_2005/s0010.asp?printver

4. How Do Boys and Girls Differ? • Social Behavior and Personality Traits • Boys show higher activity levels from infancy onward. • Girls perform better on tasks involving flexibility and fine-motor coordination.

5. How Do Boys and Girls Differ? • Social Behavior and Personality Traits • Boys more physically aggressive and assertive (Feingold, 1994). • Girls show more relational aggression (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). • No consistent differences in prosocial behavior or emotions.

6. The Development of Gender Concepts and Sex-Typed Behaviors • Gender intensification – The process of conforming more and more closely to gender stereotypes in behavior, emotions, and activities. • The Development of Sexual Orientation • Begin to experience feelings of sexual attraction sometime during late childhood or early adolescence. • Sexual orientation – Tendency to be attracted to people of the same sex (homosexual orientation), of the opposite sex (heterosexual orientation), or of both sexes (bisexual orientation). • Nature or nurture debate More info on sexual orientation: http://www.apa.org/topics/sbehaviorsub1.html

7. The Development of Gender Concepts and Sex-Typed Behaviors • The Development of Sexual Orientation (cont.) • Development of homosexual identity (Troiden, 1988) • Stage 1 – Sensitization • Stage 2 – Identity confusion • Stage 3 – Identity assumption • Stage 4 – Commitment • Possible influences: Genetic, prenatal hormone levels, some areas of brain, environment. • “Exotic becomes erotic” theory (D. J. Bem, 1996, 2000) – Adolescents begin to see “exotic,” or very different, attributes and behaviors as erotic, or sexually attractive. More on Bem: http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/96/8.29.96/sex_orientation.html

8. The Development of Gender Concepts and Sex-Typed Behaviors • During 1970s, researchers began to think of masculinity and femininity as two separate dimensions (Bem, 1974; Constantinople, 1973). • Individual can possess masculine or feminine qualities to different degrees. • Androgyny – Possession of many masculine as well as many feminine psychological characteristics.

9. Dimensions of Masculinity and Femininity (Bem, 1974, p. 155; Bem, 1985, p. 195)

10. Theories of Gender Development • According to Freud’s theory, children will not show sex-typed behavior before the phallic stage (age 4-5), but many studies indicate that sex-typed behavior and preferences begin well before age 4. • Biological Approaches • Emphasize genetic basis for gender differences and focus on effects of hormones during prenatal development and at puberty. • Brain lateralization – The degree to which one hemisphere of the brain is active in a given task.

11. Theories of Gender Development • Socialization Approaches • Examine differences in social environment boys and girls experience. • Two major influences: direct and indirect reinforcement and observational learning.

12. Theories of Gender Development • Cognitive Approaches • Emphasize the child’s developing understanding of gender and the impact of that understanding on behavior. • Based on Piaget’s theory, Kohlberg’s cognitive developmental theory proposed that knowledge of gender and gender-related behavior constitutes a cognitive category and develops in the same way as knowledge of any other cognitive category (Kohlberg, 1966). • Gender identity (by 2.5 years) • Gender stability (by 4-5 years) • Gender constancy (by 6-7 years)

13. Theories of Gender Development • Cognitive Approaches (cont.) • Gender schema theory – The theory that gender knowledge consists of a gender schema, a cognitive network of gender-related information that organizes gender knowledge and guides expectations and behaviors. More info on theories of gender development: http://www.psy.pdx.edu/PsiCafe/Areas/Developmental/GenderDev/#Theories

14. Charts on Slide 4: from Cook, J. L., & Cook, G. (2005). Child development: Principles and perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 398). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. • Charts on Slide 5: from Cook, J. L., & Cook, G. (2005). Child development: Principles and perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 399). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. • Picture on Slide 8: from http://www.planetout.com/popcornq/movienews/oldnews/deep_hollywood_060697.html, retrieved March 9, 2006. • Charts on Slide 9: from Cook, J. L., & Cook, G. (2005). Child development: Principles and perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 396). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. • All other images retrieved from Microsoft PowerPoint Clip Art.