kohlbergs theory

Question 1

stage one of gender development

Answer 1

Basic gender identity (2-3 years)
- children can identify themselves as boy or girl
- merely labelling, unaware sex is permanent

Question 2

evidence for stage one

Answer 2

Researchers found that 2 year olds were 76% correct in identifying their own sex, 3 year olds were 90% correct

Question 3

stage 2 gender development

Answer 3

Gender Stability (4-5 years)
- awareness that gender is stable over time
- confusion about stability of gender in: other people (boys with long hair)
and other situations (female builder or male nurse)

Question 4

evidence for gender stability stage

Answer 4

Researchers asked young children question such as: “when you grow up will you be a mummy or a daddy?”
Infants only started to give correct answers once they recognised gender was stable over time (stage 2)

Question 5

Stage 3

Answer 5

Gender Constancy (6 years onward)
- realise gender remains fixed for everyone across all situations, regardless of appearance or behaviour
- children begin to seek out gender appropriate role models to identify with and imitate. once they have reached gender constancy, they look for evidence which confirms it and gender stereotyping begins to occur