other explanations of gender development Flashcards
what is pre- phallic children (psychodynamic)
freud general development theory sees children pass through five biologically driven psychosexual stages that begin with the oral stage and end with genital stage
phallic stage is when gender development occurs
prior to this children have no concept of gender identity- no understanding of male or female and dont categorise themselves or others in that way
focus of pleasure for child switches to the genitals and it is within the stage that children experience the oedipus complex or the electra complex
these stages crucial in formation of gender identity
what is oedipus complex
boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother
they harbour jealous and murderous hatred for their father who stands in the way of a boy posessing his mother
boy also recognises that his father more powerful than he is and fears he may be castrated by his father for his feelings towards his mother leading to castration anxiety
to resolve conflict boy gives up on love for mother and begins to identify with his father
what is electra complex
girls experience penis envy seeing themselves and their mother as being in competition for their fathers love
girls develop doub;e resentment towards their mother
mother is love rival standing in the way of the father and second the mother is balmed by their daughter for having no penis
concept of electra complex came from jung who suggested girls come to accept they will never have a penis and substitute penis envy with the desire to have children identifying with their mothers as a result
what is identification and internalisation
both children identify with the same gender parents as a means of resolving their respective complexes
boys adopt attitudes and values of thier father and girls vice versa
children take on board gender identity of the same gender parent- internalisation
both boys and girls receive second hand gender identity all at once at the end of phallic stage
what is little hans
freuds evidence for existance of complexes limited but did present case study
hans five year old boy with morbid fear of being bitten by a horse
fear appeared to have stemmed from incident when he had seen a horse collapse and die in the street
freuds interpretation was that hans fear of being bitten represented his fear of castration
hans had transferred fear of father into horses via unconscious defence mechanism of displacement
what is the oedipus complex (psychodynamic evaluation)
some support for role of oedipus complex in gender development
freuds explanation of gender development means that for boys normal development depends on being raised by at least one male parent
some support
rekers and morey- rated gender identity of 49 boys aged 3-11 based on interviews with their families and the children themselves
of those who were judges to gender disturbed 75% had neither biological father nor substitute father
suggests being raised with no father may have negative impact upon gender identity
relationship between absent fathers and problems of gender identity not supported
bos and sandfort- compared data from 63 children where both parents were lesbians and 68 children from nuclear families
children raised by lesbian parents felt less pressure to conform to gender stereotypes and were less likely to assuke own gender superior but no differences in terms of psychosocial adjustment or gender identity
contradicts freuds theory- suggests fathers not necessary for healthy gender identity development
what is female development (psychodynamic evaluation)
inadequate account of womens development
freud wrote extensively about oedipus complex muhc of theorising on girls parallel development undertaken by jung
women were mystery to him and his notion of penis envy has been criticised as reflecting the androcentric victorian era during which he lived where men held so much power
horney- more powerful emotion than penis envy is mens experience of womb envy- reaction to womens ability to nurture and sustain life, penis envy was result of cultural rather than biological factors
challenges idea that womens gender development is founded on desire to want to be like a man
what is pseudoscientific (psychodynamic evaluation)
lacks scientific credibility
freud often been criticised for lack of rigour in his methods
many of concepts are untestable because largely unconcsious
contrasts sharply with other explanations of gender based on objective verifiable evidence derived from controlled lab studies
popper- pseudoscientific, key ideas cannot be falsified
questions the validity of freuds theory as it is not based on sound scientific evidence
what is social learning theory as applied to gender development
acknowledges role social context plays in development and states that all behaviour is learned from observing others
slt draws attention to influence of environment in shaoping gender development
direct reinforcement- more likely to be reinforced for demonstrating behaviour stereotypically gender appropriate, ways boys and girls encouraged show distinct gender appropriate behaviour differential reinforcement child learns gender identity, child more liekly to repeat behaviour reinforced
indirect reinforcement- consequences of anothers behaviour favourable more likely to be imitated, if consequences unfavourable bhevaiour less likely to be imitated
what is identification and modelling
identification-refers to process child attaches themself to person who is seen to be like me or person who want to be
person possesses ualities that the child sees as desirable- role models
tend to be attractive, high status and usually same gender as child
modelling precise demonstration of behaviour that may be imitated by an observer
mother may model steretypically feminine behaviour
same term used to explain learning from observers perspective
what is mediational processes
attention
retention
motivation
motor reproduction
what is research support (slt evaluation)
key principles supported by evidence
smith and lloyd- babies aged -6months who were half dressed in boys clothes and girls clothes, when observed interacting with adults, babies assumed to be a boy were more likely to be given a hammer shaped rattle and encouraged to be adventurous and active, when same babies weer dressed as girls they were more likely to be handed a cuddly doll told they were pretty and reinforced for being passive
suggests gender appropriate behaviour stamped in at an early afge through differential reinforcement supporting slt
differential reinforcement may not be cause of gender differences in behaviour
adults during interactions with their own children may be responding to innate gender differences that are already there
observation that boys encouraged more active uring play may be consequence of fact they are naturally more active due to hormonal differences
suggests likely slt only part of the explanation of how children acquire gender related behaviour
what is cultural changes (slt evaluation)
slt explain cultural changes in stereotypical gender appropriate behaviour
exists less of clear cut distinction between what people regard as stereotypically masculine and feminine behaviour in societies today
no corresponding change in peoples basic biology within same period such shift is better explained by slt than biological approach
shift in social explanations and cultural norms over the years has meant new forms of gender behaviour now unlikely to be punished and may be reinforced
slt is one approach that can explain cultural changes in gender behaviour
what is no developmental sequence (slt evaluation)
slt does not provide adequate explanation of how learning processes change with age
general implication of slt is that modelling of gender appropriate behaviour can occur at any age
illogical that young children learn the same way as older children
conflicts with kohlbergs theory that children do not become active in their gender development until reach gender constancy
suggest influence of age and maturation on learning gender concepts is not factor considered by slt
