Gender development 1: Gender differences and theoretical approaches

Question 1

Are there gender differences?

Answer 1

For most things = very small
There are some domains = GD is larger e.g biological differences

Question 2

What are the gender differences in temperament?

Answer 2

Activity level = small- medium
Boys are more active than girls

Question 3

What are the gender differences in cognitive ability?

Answer 3

IQ scores = identical

Verbal skills = start out large in girls, decreases over time in childhood and adolescence

Reading advantage = small

Spatial skills = boys outperform girls, difference increases throughout childhood (Halpern, 2004)

Largest effect = mental rotation of 3D images

Question 4

What are the gender differences in academic ability in GCSEs?

Answer 4

GCSEs (2016 results):

71.3% girls at least one “C” vs 62.4% boys
24.1% girls at least one A* or A vs 16.8% boys

Question 5

What are the gender differences in A-level choices?

Answer 5

Biggest difference in what boys and girls choose
Maths = boys
Psych = girls

Question 6

What are the gender differences in social bhvr?

Answer 6

Self-regulation = moderate to large effects
Girls are more compliant (Smith et al., 2004)
Better able to resist temptation (Silverman, 2003)
Show more empathy and sympathy (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998)

Question 7

What are the gender differences in aggressive bhvr?

Answer 7

Direct – physical or verbal acts designed to harm = starts out high + declines across development, more pronounced for girls than boys

Indirect – social exclusion and gossip designed to damage social relationships = no difference in childhood, small difference in adolescence

Question 8

What is the biological/ evolutionary approach to why there are gender differences? Buss (1999)

Answer 8

Behavioural tendencies = evolved bc to offer reproductive advantage.
Girls concentrate = fostering close relationships, avoiding conflict + controlling their impulses = maternal
Boys = more physically active + aggressive = mates

Question 9

What is the role of hormones to why there are gender differences?

Answer 9

Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) = prenatal exposure to excess androgens lead XX children to play in more “masculine” ways (Nordenstrom et al., 2002).

Leads foetus to grow male genitalia.

Question 10

What is the bvhrl genetic approach to why there are gender differences? Iervolino et al (2005)

Answer 10

Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) = sampled all twins born in England and Wales in 1994-1996. 900MZ + 60 DZ + subsampled of younger sibling of twins

Parents asked about their children’s sex-types behaviour at ages 3 & 4:
Toys (e.g., guns, jewelry, dolls)
Activities (e.g., playing house, soldier, dressing up)
Characteristics (e.g., enjoys rough-and-tumble play, likes pretty things)

Replicated findings = large differences between boys and girls. Found that twins boys and girls = substantial similarity

Can use to find out the differences between environment and genetics to find the differences between girls and boys.

Question 11

What is social learning theory?

Answer 11

Children learn gender roles bc social agents teach them
(e.g., parents, teachers, peers)
Child is passive

Key processes are:
Reinforcement =fathers more positive to same-sex behaviour, + critical of other-sex behaviour in pre-school children

Modelling: BUT children’s gender-role behaviour is not
strongly correlated with their parents’ behaviour (Huston, 1983)

Question 12

What social cognitive theory

Answer 12

Bussey and Bandura (1999)
More recently = social + cognitive factors incorporated

Three key influences:
(1) Modelling in immediate environment
(2) Enactive experience
(3) Direct tuition

Importance of children’s outcome expectancies as a socio-
cognitive regulator

Question 13

What are the problems of socialisation theories?

Answer 13

Adevelopmental: doesn’t account for developmental changes in children’s gender-stereotyped beliefs. Nothing accounts for changes in development.

Major mechanisms of the theory (parental reinforcement and modelling) haven’t been supported consistently by research

BUT, it does acknowledge the role of the social environment

Question 14

What is cognitive development theory?

Answer 14

Kohlberg (1966)

Understanding of gender develops in a framework of
general cognitive development + starts gender
development

BUT, children prefer same-sex toys before they have a full
understand of gender (Weinraub et al, 1984)

Question 15

What are the stages of gender understanding?

Answer 15

Slaby and Frey (1976)

1. Gender identity = ability to label each by 2½ years
2. Gender stability = understand sex is stable over time by 3½ years
3. Gender constancy: understand permanence of sex by 6 years.

Question 16

What is Gender schema theory?

Answer 16

Martin and Halverson (1981)
Gender identity = central role rather than gender constancy

Networks of gender-related information guide gender-
stereotyped processing and behaviour

Develop own-sex schema before other-sex schema
But, no differences in boys’ + girls’ knowledge of gender-
stereotypes = theory does not explain the differences in boys’ and girls’ gender-typed preferences