kohlbergs theory Flashcards
Kohlberg suggested that all children mature through the same 3 stages of gender development
this occurs in line with
biologically determined development in terms of physical appearance and intellectual/cognitive development
kohlbergs theory argues that a
children’s understanding of gender becomes more advanced and accurate with time
stage 1
gender identity
occurs between the ages of 2-3
identify their own gender , but not others
do not understand that gender remains the same across time and different situations
stage 2
gender stability
occurs between ages of 4-5
recognises their gender remains the same over time and situation
do not recognise that others gender stays the same is confused by external characteristics ie short hair
stage 3
gender constancy
occurs at the age of 6
knows their gender and others says the same across time and situation , no longer confused by external characteristics
they will seek out and imitate same sex models to confirm their beliefs and expectations about appropriate behaviour
Kohlberg suggested that through SLT children
imitate and devlop the characteristics/perosnality traits of sex role appropriate role models who potentially have been identified as society or the media as being ideal representations of what a male of female should be like
- may therefore be the beginning of the development of sex role stereotypes , and so may not always be a positive outcome
a strength is their is evidence to support kohlbergs theory of gender development and particularly the differences in behaviours displayed by children in the different stages for example slaby and Frey 1975 found that
children in kohlbergs stage 2 of gender stability paid more attention and were more attracted to same sex models who appeared on screens both at the same time compared to children within the first stage of gender identity
- this is in line with kohlbergs prediction that children , once they have identified their gender and recognised it is constant , will seek evidence to reinforce their beliefs .
a weakness is that Kohlberg may have encountered systematic errors when conducting the interviews from which he would base his theory upon for example since gender is such a complex construct the interviews children who were
as young as 2-3 years old may have liked adequate understanding of gender to produce accurate and reliable results , similarly may have lacked adequate vocabulary to express these views which in turn could create a false impression of their understanding of gender
researcher bias as Kohlberg conducted interviews
- stages are likely to be biased and lack ecological validity
another weakness is that kohlbergs stages of gender development and identity suffers from biological determinism and biological reductionism , this is because kohleberg placed
great emphasis on neurodevelopmental or maturational changes in the child , biological in origin which were said to trigger transitions between the different stages
the theory also ignores the social influences , an example of determinism , which may affect the extent to which each child identifies with a specific gender ie parenting style
- thus kohlbergs theory may not be considered universal as suggested by Monroe et al
another weakness is alternative theories for gender development would be Piagets theory of intellectual development ,
egocentrism is the tendency of a pre operational child to recall events from their own view and focus on their own perspective
- therefore gender identity can be explained through egocentrism as the child cannot take on the perspective of others to understand their gender identity too
