Cognitive explanation- Kohlberg’s theory (gender)

Question 1

Kohlberg’s first stage of gender understanding

Answer 1

Age 2-

GENDER IDENTITY
- child recognises own sex and others sexes
- doesn’t understand that gender is a fixed concept

So boy might say ‘ I want to be a mummy when I’m older’

Question 2

The second stage of gender understanding is…

Answer 2

Age 4-5

GENDER STABILITY
- child understands that their own sex is fixed, but gets confused by external superficial appearances of others, as unaware that other peoples genders are also fixed

• so a child in this stage may identify a woman with short hair as a man

Question 3

The 3rd stage of gender understanding is…

Answer 3

Age 7

GENDER CONSTANCY
- child knows that sex remains constant for everyone even if the outside appearance of someone may change

Question 4

What do the stages in Kohlberg’s theory show?

Answer 4

• a child’s developmental process in understanding gender
• this occurs due to the maturation of the child’s brain and therefore understanding of gender concept increases