Gender Development - Lecture 2 Flashcards
How do Toddlers think about gender?
Infancy/Toddlerhood
* Can discriminate between male and female, but focus on superficial cues
* Some awareness of gender-stereotypes?
* Look longer at own-gender stereotyped toys
* Look longer at gender-inconsistent pictures
3-4 months- babies can tell apart male
and female faces and voices
this si largely a perceptual *
discrimination, they distinguish by
superficial cues such as earings, hair
~2 years- babies have
sensitivity to gender
stereotypes. @2 years
babies will look longer at
their gender stereotyped
toys
How do people think about gender in childhood? according to Lawrence Kohlberg’s Cognitive Developmental Theory of Gender
What are the 3 stages?
- Childhood
- Changes in cognitive development -> shifts in thinking about gender
inspired by piaget
** watched a video where younger kids thought if
you gave a boy doll a purse the doll would become
a girl. but older kid just thought it was still a boy
that has a purse
Gender Identity
2-2.5 years
(can label their own gender and other ppls gender)
Gender Stability
3-4 years
idea that you will
always stay the same
gender across time.
kids dont have this
gender stability until this
age. kids younger might
say “im a boy but i will
grow up to be a
mommy”)
Gender Consistency
5-7 years
(gender as consistent
across situations/
appearance.
at younger age- they *
think if you give
John a purse he’s a
girl)
(this stage aligns with
piaget’s concrete
operational stage-
passing conservation
tasks)
note: Similar age to
pass
conservation
tasks
How do children think about gender in temrs of essentialism vs not?
What are the island at birth studies?
Childhood
* Changes in cognitive development shifts in thinking about gender
* Shift from gender essentialism to thinking of gender roles as socially
influenced
- Increase in knowledge of gender stereotypes in childhood
- Peak of rigid application of stereotypes at ~ 5-7 years, then decline (kids are strict about gender)
~8/9, increased flexibility in
gender stereotypes. this is
the same age where they
think of gender as socially
determined
gender essentialism- gender is innate and
deterministic. if you’re a girl that will
determine how you act/what you wear
island at birth studies- when chris
was born she went off to live with her
uncle on an island. chris is the only girl
on the island, surrounded by boys.
once chris turns 10, does she have a
body like a boy or girl? does she grow
up to be a mommy or daddy? will she
plays with dolls or play football?
before 8y, kids answer in essentialist *
way. regardless of how shes been
raised, she’ll act in girl ways. want to
play with dolls, etc
~age 9, kids think gender is more *
socially influenced. chris will
probably play football, get in fights,
etc
How do adolescents think about gender?
Adolescence
* Gender-role intensification:
heightened concern about adhering
to traditional gender roles
(May be more in behaviour,
more common in
early/middle adolescence)
- Gender-role flexibility: allowing for
traditional gender conventions to be
transcended
(May be more in beliefs, more
common in later
adolescence)
What is true about the variation in gender/sex differences?
- More variation WITHIN
genders than between
genders! - Differences are based
in averages do not
apply to all individuals! - Most research
conducted has
assumed participants to
be cisgender
more variation across individuals than within
the differences between the gender averages
studies often conflate sex/gender, not really looking at
gender identity often
What is true about physical gender/sex differences?
In infancy/childhood, few physical
differences based on sex assigned at birth
* Puberty
* Physical growth
* Development of primary sex characteristics, which results in hormone changes that enable
reproduction
* Development of secondary sex characteristics (breasts, genitals, pubic/facial/body hair)
Following puberty, increase in sex-linked
differences
* Boys greater physical strength & speed
What are the cognitive sex/gender differences?
How does this relate to the Bian et al. paper?
- IQ tests
- Girls slightly better at verbal
tasks - Boys slightly better at spatial
tasks - Academic achievement
- Girls better grades/school
performance - Girls more positive feelings
about school, to put in more
effort
girls report to putting in more effort
in school . could be realted to academic perofrmance
Bian et al:
By age 6-7, girls are less likely
than boys to believe
members of their own gender
to be “really, really smart”
(Bian et al., 2017)
asked to in=dentity WHO this really really smart
person is.
age 5 no difference (pick their own gender)
*
age 6/7, girls less likely to think of girls as really *
really smart. they still think girls get better grades
overall, but less likely to think of their own gender
as “brilliant”
What are the gender/sex differences in play?
- Toys girls more likely to play with dolls,
kitchen sets, dress-up; boys more likely to
play with action figures, construction toys,
video games - Style of play boys more physically active,
competitive; girls more cooperative - Fantasy play boys more likely to involve
heroes, combat; girls more likely to involve
household roles, romance - Size of play group girls more likely to play
in pairs/threesomes; boys in larger groups
What are gender/sex differences in emotion?
- Girls report expressing more
emotions - Except for anger!
- Girls appear better at emotion
regulation at earlier ages - Mental health
- Beginning in adolescence, girls
more likely to experience
depression, low self-esteem
this does not necessarily mean girls feel more
emotion.
% of teens ages 12-17 who have had at least one major depressive episode in the past year 2007-2017. WAYYYY more girls
What are the interpersonal gender/sex differences?
How does this relate bian et al. 2017?
- Aggression
- Boys more likely to engage
in direct aggression - Mixed findings on
indirect/relational aggression (rumours, excluding ppl, etc)
Altruism
* Girls more likely to show
kindness to others; share
By age 6-7, boys are less likely
than girls to believe members
of their own gender to be
“really, really nice” (Bian et
al., 2017)
age 5- equally likely to say their
own gender
age 6- boys less likely to think
about their own gender as really
really nice
