Cognitive explanations- Gender Schema Theory Flashcards
Who created Gender Schema theory (GST)
-Carol Martin and Charles Halverson (1981)
What is a gender schema?
-An organised set of beliefs and expectations related to gender that are derived from experience. Such schema guide a person’s understanding of their own gender and gender-appropriate behaviour in general.
What happens after gender identity in GST?
-established gender identity at 2-3
-after this they will search the environment for information that supports the schema (different to Kohlbergs as he belives this occurs after gender constancy)
How does GS determine behaviour?
-Schemas are likely to be formed around stereotypes e.g. boys play football and girls play with dolls and this provides a framework that directs experience and child’s understanding.
-By 6, they have fixed and stereotypical outlook on gender-appropriate behaviour.
-For this reason children are more likely to forget or misremember information that is not in congruence with their schema
What is an ingroup and outgroup
Ingroup: children have better understanding of the schema that is appropriate to their gender
-Ingroup identity also bolsters childs self-esteem
Outgroup: children pay less attention to those of different genders and only pay attention to their own
-Not until 8 do they have schemas for both genders
Strengths of GST
-Research support: Halverson’s study (1983) found that children under the age of 6 were more likely to remember photos of stereotypically gender-appropriate behaviour (e.g. women washing the dishes) than gender-inappropriate behaviour when tested a week later and would often change the gender of the person doing the inappropriate behaviour.
-Explains cultural differences: Kendra Cherry( 2019) argues that GS influence how people process information and what counts as culturally-appropriate behaviour. In traditional cultures children will be passed the GS of their parents which are that women nurture and the father is the bread winner. In societies with less rigid boundaries children will have more fluid GS. This explains how GS is transmitted through people in society and how different cultures will have different GS. This opposes other explanations such as psychodynamic which suggest it comes from biological urges.
Limitations of GST
-Earlier gender development: A longitudinal study of 82 children (Zosuls et al. 2009) looked at the onset of gender identity. They used twice-weekly data reports of language from the mother from 9-21 months and said that when a child calls themselves a boy or a girl is when gender identity has been achieved. This occured on average at 19 months which is before 2-3 years. Therefore, gender identity occurs earlier than GST suggests.
-However, Martin and Halverson do not emphasize the specific ages that gender identity is achieved and instead highlight it is shifts in the child’s thinking and the ages are averages. Therefore, it is not a serious limitation to GST.
