Cognitive Explanations - Kohlberg's Theory Flashcards
As a cognitive approach what does the theory focus on?
How children’s thinking about gender develops, with thinking occurring in qualitatively different stages. Gender identity is something children actively structure from their own experiences
When does Kohlberg believe gender-role behaviour becomes apparent?
Only after an understanding emerges that gender is fixed and constant
Who was Kohlberg influenced by?
Piaget, who was children progressing through stages of understanding as their biological maturity allowed them to do so
What are gender concepts seen as occurring through?
Environmental interactions and restricted, biologically controlled mental capabilities at a given time
What does a child’s discovery that they are male or female cause them to do?
Identify with members of their own gender
How many stages does Kohlberg see children acquiring understanding of ‘male’ and ‘female’ in?
Three - they understand increasingly more sophisticated gender concepts, with a new stage appearing only after thinking has matured to a certain point
Why do children understand gender differently at different ages?
Children actively structure their social experiences. It is not a passive social learning process occurring through observation and imitation
What are the three stages?
Gender labelling, Gender stability and Gender constancy (consistency)
What is gender labelling and when does it occur?
Basic gender identity - refers to children’s recognition of being male or female. This knowledge is fragile with ‘man’ and ‘woman’ being little more than labels. Children may choose the wrong label and don’t realise girls become women and boys become men
Occurs at between 18 months and 3 years
What does Kohlberg see an individuals understanding of their gender as?
A realisation that allows them to understand and categorise their world
What is gender stability and when does it occur?
Most children recognise that people retain gender for life but rely on superficial, physical signs to determine gender. If someone is superficially transformed e.g. woman having long hair cut short, children would infer the woman has changed gender
Occurs by the age of 3-5
What is gender constancy and when does it occur?
Children realise that gender is permanent e.g. if a women shaves her head she is still a woman. Constancy represents an understanding that things remain the same despite changing appearances
Gender understanding complete when children appreciate that gender is constant over time and situations
Occurs by age 6-7
What can only happen after gender constancy is reached?
Children start to develop gender concepts to suit their own gender
Children will value behaviours and attitudes associated with their gender
They will then identify with adults possessing the qualities seen as relevant to their concept of themselves as male or female e.g. imitating same-sex models and following sex- appropriate activities
What did Maccoby and Jacobson call the part after gender constancy where children develop gender concepts to suit their gender?
Self-socialisation as it doesn’t depend on external reinforcements
What was Slaby and Frey’s research?
Gave questions to 2-5 year old children to assess their level of gender constancy and then several weeks later showed them a film of a man and woman performing gender-stereotypical activities. Children with higher levels of gender constancy paid more attention to same-sex models than children with low-levels of gender constancy, suggesting that high gender-constancy children watch their own gender to acquire information about gender appropriate behaviours, supporting Kohlberg’s theory that gender is an active process.
Also showed gender constancy is a cause rather than an effect of the imitation of same-sex models
What was Rabban’s research?
Found by asking questions about gender, that children’s thinking changes with age
By age 3, most children demonstrated gender identity but didn’t not have an understanding of what gender they would grow into.
By 5 - 97% demonstrated gender stability - supporting K’s theory
What was Thompson’s research?
Found that by 2, children given pictures of boys and girls could select same-sex ones, demonstrating that children could self-label and identify the gender of others
By 3, 90% showed ender identity, compared with 76% of 2 year olds, showing the developmental nature is inline with what K suggested
What was McConaghy’s research?
Found that if a doll was dressed in transparent clothing so its genitals were visible, children aged 3-5 judges its gender by its clothes, not its genitals - supporting K’s idea that at this age children use superficial indicators to determine gender
What was Frey and Ruble’s research?
Informed children that certain toys were either ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ toys. Boys who had a higher level of gender constancy played with the ‘boy’ toys even if they were uninteresting. Girls of the same stage exhibited similar tendencies but to a lesser degree - supporting K
What is a strength of Kohlberg’s theory?
Research evidence suggests that the concepts of gender identity, stability and constancy occurs in that order across many cultures lending support to K’s theory and suggesting biological mechanisms
What is a problem with Kohlberg’s theory?
It predicts little or no gender specific behaviour before children acquire gender constancy but even in infancy boys and girls show preference for stereotypically male or female toys - children generally demonstrate gender-appropriate behaviours and reward such behaviours in peers before they have reached gender constancy - casting doubt on K’s ideas of universal stages of development
What did Kohlberg underestimate - weakening his theory?
The age at which gender cognition occurs - Bem believes that children have an awareness of gender and gender-specific behaviours from around the age of 2 due to the development of gender schema
Why is the focus on cognitive factors a weakness?
The theory overlooks important cultural and social factors such as the influence of parents and friends
Is Kohlberg’s theory reductionist?
It is more holistic than reductionist - it combines SLT and biological developmental factors
What is the final weakness of the theory?
It is mainly descriptive - it outlines the process of gender development but does not really explain how developments occur and therefore lacks depth
