Gender Development 1 Flashcards
Overview of gender differences
Gender similarity hypothesis: boys and girls are more similar than different, 70% of differences of are overlapping
but, large physical and biological differences such as height, muscles mass and fat
What are the psychological traits that are different?
Activity level Cognitive abilities Academic achievement A level choices Social outcomes Agression
Temperament differences
Activity level - in infancy, boys are more active but this is only small. This difference gets larger and increases into childhood
Cognitive abilities differences
IQ scores - practically identical
Verbal skills - girls have a 4/5 month advantage, but boys catch up eventually, reading advantage is small by secondary. Writing is medium
Spatial skills - boys outperform girls, the difference increases through childhood
Academic differences
Girls are doing better in GCSE
71.4% girls got a C vs 62.4% boys
24.1% of girls at least one A* or A vs 16.8% of boys
Girls outperform boys by half a grade in English and outperform in every subject but maths
Do equally well in maths
A level differences
No performance differences but differences in subjects chosen
Maths most popular for males
Psychology most popular for females
implications for workforce
Social outcomes difference
Moderate to large effects for self-regulation (controlling emotions, resisting temptations) - girls develop them earlier
girls are more compliant
better able to resist temptation
show more empathy and sympathy - pretend they like lemonade so they don’t hurt the teachers feelings
Agression differences
Direct aggression - declines for both genders but more for girls
Indirect - girls use it more than boys as get older
Why do gender differences exist?
Biological theories
Socalisation theories
Cognitive theories
What are the biological theories?
Evolution
Hormones
Genes
Evolutionary approach
Behavioural tendencies have evolved because they have given us reproductive advantage
Behaviours they learn through play mean they are more successful in ensuring offspring survive - e.g. girls concentrate on fostering close relationships, avoiding conflict, controlling impulses, boys more physically active and aggression, helps them compete for best mates
Hormonal influences
In cases where the foetus hasn’t developed normally, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, rental exposure to excess androgens lead female children to act in more masculine ways - more active, rougher and more tumble play
Behavioural genetic approach
Twins early development study sampled twins born, parents asked about their children sex types behaviour at age 3 and 4 (toys, activities and characteristics)
MZ twins = more similar, control were similar but not as similar as twins
Gendered activities are highly heritable, but more so for girls than boys
boys - 34% - environment affects them more
girls - 57%
What are the socialisation theories?
Social learning theory
Social cognitive theory
Social learning theory
Children learn gender roles because social agents teach them, child is passive
Key processes are:
reinforcement - fathers are more positive to same-sex behaviour and critical of other sex behaviour in pre-school children
modelling
But, children’s gender role behaviour is not strongly correlated with their parents behaviour
Social cognitive theory
Both social and cognitive factors incorporated together
Not entirely passive, actively exploring world
Three key influences:
modelling in immediate environment
inactive experience
direct tuition
What are the 3 key influences for a social cognitive theory?
Modelling in immediate environment
Inactive experience - watching what happens and father other kinds of information, end up with outcome expectancies
Direct teaching
Problems with socialisation problems
Adevelopmental - doesn’t account for developmental changes in children’s gender-stereotyped beliefs , believes same process for every stage of life
Major mechanisms of the theory haven’t been supported consistently by research
What are the cognitive theories?
Cognitive developmental theory
Gender schema theory
Cognitive developmental theory
Child is an active learner
Understanding of gender develops within a framework of general cognitive development and initiates gender development - cog is driving understanding and knowledge, causing their behaviour
Difficulty of the cognitive developmental theory
Children prefer same-sex toys before they have a full understanding of gender
Stages of gender understadning
Gender identity - label each by 2.5 years
Gender stability - understand sex is stable over time by 3.5 years, but still a bit confused by ‘are you a girl or a boy’ - superficial features matter
Gender constancy - understand permanence of sex by 6 years
Gender schema theory
We associate information in ways that help us make decisions and remember things
Gender identity has central role rather than constancy
Schemas drive thinking - e.g., surgeons will male
Develop own sex schema before other sex schema
Learn gender stereotypes then develop preferences
What does gender schema theory not explain?
The asymmetry in boys and girls gender typed preferences because there are no differences in boys and girls knowledge of gender-stereotypes
Problems with cognitive theories
They don’t address why males and females are valued differently
Largely ignore the social cortex within which gender development occurs
the predicted relationship between gender stereotypes and gender-typed behaviours is not found - gender stereotyped toy preferences were found before children knew gender-stereotypes
