Cognitive explanation: Kohlberg's Theory

Question 1

What are Kohlberg’s 3 stages of development?

Answer 1

Gender identity
Gender stability
Gender constancy

Question 2

What does Kohlberg’s theory suggest?

Answer 2

That a child’s understanding of gender becomes more sophisticated with age.

Question 3

Explain the gender identity stage of Kohlberg’s theory.

Answer 3

• Around the age of 2.
• Child can correctly identify themselves as a boy or a girl.
• At 3 most children are able to identify others as either male or female.
• Their understanding of gender tends to not go past simple labelling.
• Most children are not aware sex is permanent.

Question 4

Explain the gender stability stage of Kohlberg’s theory.

Answer 4

• Realisation that sex is permanent and remains consistent over time.
• Cannot apply this logic to others, and are often confused by external appearances.
• E.G. may describe a man with long hair as a woman and believe that people change sex if they engage in activities that are more often associated with the opposite gender (e.g. man is a nurse).

Question 5

Explain the gender constancy stage of Kohlberg’s theory.

Answer 5

• Around the age of 6, children recognise that gender remains constant and consistent across time and situations, and this understanding is applied to others too.
• They’re no longer fooled by external appearances, they’ll regard a man wearing a dress as unusual but recognise that it is still a man.

Question 6

Explain the imitation of role models in the development of gender.

Answer 6

• Children begin to seek out gender-appropriate role models to identify with and imitate.
• Once a child has a fully developed and internalised concept of gender at the constancy stage, they embark upon an active search for evidence which confirms that concept.

Question 7

State a strength of Kohlberg’s theory.

Answer 7

Evidence support:
Slaby and Frey - children were presented with split-screen images of males and females performing the same tasks. Younger children spent roughly the same time watching both screens whereas children at the gender constancy stage spent longer looking at the model who was the same sex as them.

Question 8

State 3 criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory.

Answer 8

Constancy not supported:
- Bussey and Bandura (‘feeling good’ when playing with gender-appropriate toys)
Methodological issues:
- Interviews
- Lack the vocabulary required to express their potentially complex understanding.
- Don’t have the verbal ability to articulate these so what they expressed may not truly represent their understanding.
Comparison with the SLT:
- SLT places emphasis on external influences and takes issues with the idea that gender development occurs as a consequence of natural processes of maturation.