Cognitive Explanations of Gender - Kohlberg’s Theory Flashcards
Kohlbergs Gender Consistency Theory
Was heavily influenced by Piagnet - CONSERVATION
=> young childrens inability to conserve prevent understanding gender
=> once a child learns to (6-7) they do
Cognitive Development Approach
cognitive - a child’s thinking about their gender is emphasised
developmental - theory is concerned with changes in thinking over time
Gender Development Parallels Intellectual Development
Piaget proposed that the way a child thinks changes w/ age - a bio process based in brain changes
Kohlberg identified 3 stages in gender related to P’s ideas
=> gradual transitions between stages
Stage 1 - Gender identity (~2yrs)
@2 - can identify themselves as boy/girl
@3 - can identify others genders + and select right picture when asked “which is like them”
Understanding of gender is just labels + has no permanence
Stage 2 - Gender Stability (~4yrs)
realise their own gender is fixed but can’t apply same logical to
- others: e.g man w/ long hair = woman
- situations: ppl change gender depending on activity’s association w/ a gender e.g. female builder
Stage 3 - Gender Constancy - (~6yrs)
recognise gender is constant across time + situations & applies to others + self
understands differences between sex and external expression
Gender Constancy - Search for role models
seeks out gender appropriate role models to identify w/ + imitate
Kohlberg suggest once a child has fully developed + internalised concept of gender
- will seek confirming evidence + start stereotyping
(S) Supporting research evidence for Constancy - Damon et al (‘77)
P: told children story of George - boy who plays w/ dolls
F: 4yrs - said it’s fine, 6yrs - said it was wrong
Conc - 6yrs had developed rules about what they should do based on gender
Suggests => children who reach constancy form rigid stereotypes as expected
(L) Bussey + Bandura (‘99) contradicts when constancy occurs
Found children as young as 4 reported
- “feeling good” when playing w/ gender appropriate toys
- “feeling bad “ with opposite gendered toys
Suggests support for gender schema theory - absorb gender appropriate info when they self identify
(L) Methodology of Supporting Studies - Bem (‘89)
Suggests children are confused by changes in appearance as we determine gender by clothes, hair etc
=> found 40% of children aged 3-5 demonstrated constancy if shown a pic of child naked first
Suggests => method of testing gender constancy misrepresents what younger children know
(L) May be different degrees of constancy - Martin et al (‘02)
1st - help children choose friends/ seek gender info - before age 6
2nd - heightened responsiveness to gender norms under conditions of conflict e.g choosing clothes/attitudes
Suggests => constancy is a more gradual process and starts earlier than Kohlberg thought
Extra - Is theory nature or nurture?
Nature - theory has cross cultural support (Munroe et al, ‘84), suggesting changes are universal so biological
Nurture - (Bussey + Bandura, ‘99) claim observation, imitation + identification w/ role models is more influential on gender than cognition
Suggests => is likely gender development in maturing children involves interaction of both
