cognitive theories of gender development

Question 1

what was kohlbergs theory of gender development?

Answer 1

child’s understanding of gender becomes more sophisticated with age, as their intellectual reasoning becomes more developed.
- a 3 stage process

Question 2

stage 1 - gender identity

Answer 2

• child recognises that they are male or female
• knowledge is fragile
• child may not realise that little boys grow into men
• little girls grow up into women.
• age of 2

Question 3

stage 2 - gender stability

Answer 3

• retain their gender for a lifetime
• unable to apply logic to other people
• believe that if someone engages in behaviour that is typical of the opposite sex, that that person’s gender changes.
• if a man puts on a skirt, he becomes a women
• superficial characteristics to determine someone’s gender, e.g. hair length
• age of 4

Question 4

stage 3 - gender constancy

Answer 4

• gender is permanent and remains consistent across time and situations for others as well as for themselves.
• a man wearing a dress as strange and unusual,they still recognise that he is a man.
• gender consistency they come to value the behaviours and attitudes associated with their gender, and identify with adults who possess these qualities.
• age of 6

Question 5

rabban 1950

Answer 5

found through questioning about gender that children’s thinking changes as they age.
By three years, most children demonstrated gender identity, but did not have an understanding of what gender they would grow into. By five years, 97% demonstrated gender stability, supporting the view that understanding of gender develops as Kohlberg suggested

Question 6

McConaghy (1979)

Answer 6

found that if a doll was dressed in transparent clothing so its genitals were visible, children of 3-5 years judged its gender by its clothes, not its genitals, supporting Kohlberg’s belief that children of this age use superficial characteristics to determine gender