Development of Gender Identity Flashcards
Gender identity
a person’s private experience of themselves on the gender continuum
Gender role
the set of behaviours socially defined as appropriate for one’s sex
3 Theories of Development
Biological
Social
Feminist
Biological theory
prenatal hormones, Freud’s psychosexual development, sociobiology
2 Social Development Theories
Kohlberg’s cognitive development theory
social learning theory
3 Feminist Theories of Development
Chodrow’s psychoanalytic theory
Bem’s gender schema theory
Eagly’s social role theory
Stages of psychosocial development
development of gender identity is non-consciously motivated by instinctual biological drives regarding sex and aggression (1st stage oral 1-2y, 2nd stage anal 2-3y, 3rd stage phallic 3-6y)
Sociobiology
application of evolutionary theory to understand the behaviour of animals including humans; evolutionary theory of natural selection can be applied to social behaviours; caring for one’s young → adaptive → reproductive fitness
maladaptive behaviours should be weeded out over time
Social learning theory (3 main mechanisms)
- reinforcement
- imitation
- observational learning
Reinforcement
boys and girls act in gender-appropriate ways due to conditioning
Imitation
children do what others do
Observational learning
learn by observing the behaviour of others
Kohlberg’s cognitive developmental theory
children acquire awareness and understanding about gender before their social experiences influence them (gender identity 2-3y, gender stability 4-5y, gender constancy 6-7y)
Chodorow’s psychoanalytic theory
regarded the development of gender identity as socially determined rather than biological, focusing on the mother-child relationship during the pre-oral stage
males: to ensure a masc identity, boys are encouraged to to separate from their mothers (autonomous sense of self)
females: done need to separate from their mothers to be feminine (relational sense of self)
Gender schema
a cognitive knowledge structure that contains gender-linked associations
Bem’s gender schema theory:
(masculinity) extent to which people endorse instrumental, agentic, active traits as self descriptive
(femininity) extent to which people endorse expressive, communal, passive traits as self descriptive
4 schemas (high/low masc/fem)
Low masc low fem
undifferentiated
18% females 27% males
High masc low fem
masculine
12% females 42% males
Low masc high fem
feminine
39% females 12% males
High masc high fem
androgynous
30% females 20% males
Eagly’s social role theory
physical specialization of the sexes & local economy/social structure → gendered division of labour → gender-role expectations/sex-types skills and beliefs → hormonal/social/self-regulation (gender differences in behaviour)
