Gender Scheme Theory

Question 1

what is similar about kolbherg therapy and gender schema therapy

Answer 1

Both Kohlberg and Schema theory emphasise the role of a child’s thinking in their gender development. Schema theory (Martin and Halverson) and Kohlberg both believe that the key to development is in knowledge acquired over time.

Question 2

describe gender theory

Answer 2

• The main concept in GST is the concept of schema. Children learn schemas related to gender from interactions with children and adults, as well as television/videos.
• Such schema is thus related to cultural norms. Gender schema organizes and structures other information about gender that is presented to children.
• They learn about what toys are appropriate to each gender, what clothes to wear and so on.
• They are like ‘naïve’ theories about appropriate behaviour for men and women.

Question 3

Ingroups and Outgroups

Answer 3

• The term ingroup refers to the groups with which a person identifies.
• A girl identifies themselves as part of the ingroup of girls and will identify with other groups like the town they come from e.g.
• Once a person identifies with a group, they positively evaluate this group.
• People then find outgroups that they don’t identify with and negatively evaluate these groups.
• This evaluation motivates a child to be like their own group and the behaviours of the other group. It also leads them to actively seek information about what the ingroup does.
• GST says that before constancy, children focus on ingroup schemas and avoid behaviours that belong to outgroup schemas.

Question 4

Resilience of Gender Beliefs

Answer 4

• GST can explain the power of gender beliefs.
• Gender beliefs lead children to have very fixed gender attitudes as they ignore any information that is not consistent with their ingroup.
• E.g, if a boy sees a male nurse, he won’t acknowledge it as males are not nurses in his ingroup.
• In this way gender schemas have a profound effect on what is remembered and perceptions of the world around us.

Question 5

Peer Relationships

Answer 5

• Play with other children leads children to believe that all girls share the same interests, and all boys share the same interests, and to avoid children of the opposite sex because they are ‘not like me’ and therefore less fun to play with.
• Same-sex peers, on the other hand, are ‘like me’ and therefore more fun to play with for children.
• Children also develop knowledge of the potential consequences associated with different social relationships like being teased for playing with the opposite sex, thus they avoid these circumstances.
• Gender schemas therefore influence the development of social relationships with same/different sex peers (Martin, 1991).