Gender - Social Explanations of Gender Flashcards
What are the key features of social learning theory being applied to gender development?
- gender is learned observation and reinforcement in a social context
- gender-appropriate behaviours are differentially reinforced
- vicarious reinforcement and punishment
- children will identify with role models
- behaviour can be modelled by someone and then imitated
- mediational processes - the cognitive factors that determine the production of an observed behaviour
How does the social learning theory explain gender development?
Social learning theory acknowledges the role of social context in gender development.
Gender behaviour is learned from observing others and being reinforced for the imitation of the behaviour.
SLT draws attention to the influence of the environment (nurture) in shaping gender development. Influences can include peers, parents, teachers, culture and the media.
How are gender-appropriate behaviours differentially reinforced?
Children are reinforced for gender-appropriate behaviour.
For example, boys may be praised for being active and assertive and punished for being passive or gentle.
Differential reinforcement explains why boys and girls learn distinctly different gender behaviours - they are reinforced for different behaviours, which they then reproduce.
How does vicarious reinforcement and punishment play a role in gender development?
Vicarious reinforcement: If the consequences of another person’s behaviour are favourable, that behaviour is more likely to be imitated by a child (e.g. if a girl sees her mother being complimented when wearing a pretty dress and make-up).
Vicarious punishment: If the consequences of behaviour are seen to be unfavourable (i.e. punished), behaviour is less likely to be imitated (e.g. if a little boy sees another boy teased for displaying feminine or ‘sissy’ behaviour, they are unlikely to copy it).
Who are children likely to identify with?
A child will identify with people around them that they perceive to be like them, or someone they want to be.
These role models tend to be:
- part of the child’s immediate environment (parents, teachers, siblings, etc.)
- in the media (pop or sports stars)
- attractive, high status
- the same sex as the child
How does modelling occur in gender development?
Modelling in gender development occurs in two ways:
- A mother may model stereotypically feminine behaviour when tidying the house or preparing dinner.
- When a girl copies her mother setting the table, or attempts to feed her doll using a toy bottle, she is modelling the behaviour she has observed (imitation).
How are mediational processes involved in learning gender behaviour?
Four mediational processes in learning gender behaviour:
- Attention: For instance, a little boy might follow closely what his favourite footballer does.
- Retention: Remembering the skills of the footballer and trying to reproduce these when he plays.
- Motivation: Desire to be like his hero.
- Motor reproduction: Be physically capable of doing it.
What are the strengths of the social learning explanation of gender development?
- there is supporting evidence for differential reinforcement
- SLT can help explain changing gender roles
What are the weaknesses of the social learning explanation of gender development?
- SLT does not explain the developmental process
- SLT does not fully consider biological factors
- SLT cannot explain unconscious influences
What supporting evidence is there for differential reinforcement?
Smith and Lloyd (1980) observed adults with four 6-month-old babies who (irrespective of their actual sex) were dressed half the time in boys’ clothes and half the time in girls’ clothes.
Babies assumed to be boys were encouraged to be adventurous and active and given a hammer-shaped rattle. Babies assumed to be girls were reinforced for passivity, given a doll and praised for being pretty.
This suggests that gender-appropriate behaviour is stamped in at an early age through differential reinforcement and supports the SLT explanation of gender development.
How can SLT help to explain changing gender roles?
Stereotypically masculine and feminine behaviour is less rigid than it was. SLT can explain it as a shift in social expectations/norms leading to changes in what is reinforced.
However, there has been no corresponding change in people’s basic biology within the same period so the biological approach cannot explain changes over time.
This means SLT offers a more complete explanation of recent gender development than other alternatives.
How does SLT not explain the developmental process?
SLT acknowledges that there are some physical and intellectual age limitations on gender-related behaviours but generally implies that modelling of gender-appropriate behaviour can occur at any age.
However, Dubin (1992) suggests that despite a child observing the behaviour of same-sex role models at an early age, the selection and imitation of such behaviour comes later.
Thus the influences of age and maturation on gender development are not properly considered by SLT and therefore the explanation is incomplete.
How does SLT not fully consider biological factors?
The case of David Reimer (biological male, castrated at birth, raised as a female, male identity) suggests that it is not possible to override biological influence.
Now psychologists tend to accept that there are innate differences between boys and girls and these are reinforced through social interaction and cultural expectations.
So SLT only provides a partial explanation of the process of gender development. An interactionist account is a more complete explanation.
Why cannot SLT explain unconscious influences?
Both SLT and Freud explain gender development through ‘identification’ with same-sex individuals.
The theories differ in the level of consciousness. SLT suggests that mediational processes are conscious whereas Freud talked in terms of unconscious processes.
This assumption that our gender behaviour is determined by factors within our control may be a limitation of SLT.
