Gender socialisation Flashcards
What is gender socialisation?
The process through which individuals learn gender norms, roles, and behaviors that society considers appropriate for males and females.
What is the main aim of gender socialisation?
To internalize societal expectations and roles associated with one’s gender.
What are the primary agents of gender socialisation?
Family, peers, education, media, and culture.
How does the family contribute to gender socialisation?
Parents reinforce gender roles through toys, clothing, and activities.
Differential treatment: Boys may be encouraged to be independent, while girls are taught to be nurturing.
How do peers influence gender socialisation?
Peer groups reinforce gender-typical behaviors by rewarding conformity and discouraging non-conformity.
Boys often face pressure to conform to masculine traits like toughness, while girls face expectations to be nurturing and cooperative.
How does education reinforce gender roles?
Teachers may unconsciously treat boys and girls differently, e.g., encouraging boys in STEM subjects and girls in arts.
Gendered curricula and materials perpetuate traditional roles.
What role does media play in gender socialisation?
Media portrays stereotypical gender roles, e.g., men as strong and women as nurturing.
Advertising often targets boys with action toys and girls with domestic or beauty-related items.
How does culture influence gender socialisation?
Cultural norms dictate expectations for men and women, with variations across societies.
Collectivist cultures may emphasize traditional roles more than individualist cultures.
How does Social Learning Theory explain gender socialisation?
Gender roles are learned through observation, imitation, and reinforcement. Children observe same-gender role models and imitate their behavior.
What evidence supports Social Learning Theory in gender socialisation?
Bandura’s Bobo Doll Study (1961): Demonstrated that children imitate observed behaviors, especially from same-gender models.
Perry and Bussey (1979): Found that children prefer to imitate same-gender adults in activities.
How do reinforcement and punishment shape gender roles?
Gender-appropriate behaviors are rewarded, while deviations are discouraged (e.g., praising boys for toughness and girls for politeness).
What is Gender Schema Theory?
A cognitive explanation suggesting that children develop mental frameworks (schemas) about gender roles based on societal expectations.
How does Gender Schema Theory explain selective attention to gender-typical behaviors?
Children actively seek information about gender roles that align with their identified gender and ignore inconsistent information.
What research supports Gender Schema Theory?
Martin and Halverson (1981): Found that children misremembered gender-inconsistent information, such as a boy playing with a doll.
Bradbard et al. (1986): Showed that children paid more attention to toys labeled as for their gender.
What evidence demonstrates cross-cultural differences in gender roles?
Mead (1935): Found that gender roles varied across tribes in Papua New Guinea, suggesting socialization influences roles rather than biology.
Williams and Best (1990): Showed that traditional roles (e.g., males as dominant) are found in many cultures, but the degree varies.
