Self & Gender Development

Question 1

Who am I?

Answer 1

• physical description
• social roles
• social group
• personal traits
• existential statements
  Our answers may include abilities, interests or ideas that we have developed about ourselves and make up what we call ‘self concept’.

Question 2

What do we mean by self?- self concept

Answer 2

Refers to characteristics, roles and beliefs we have about ourselves.
Has various components (Leis, 1990;1991):
- subjective self: self-as-subject - “I” (unique and distinct from others).
- objective self: self as object - “me” (self as person seen by others).
- looking-glass self: reflection in a social mirror (sense of self we develop as we respond to interactions with others and see how others react to us.

Question 3

What do we mean by self?- self esteem

Answer 3

A person’s overall self-evaluation or sense of self-worth (positive or negative view of ourselves).
Evaluative and reflective aspects of self-concept.
Discrepancy between ‘ideal’ and ‘real’ self.

Dimensions of global self esteem (Harter, 1987;1990):

• scholastic competence.
• social acceptance.
• behavioural conduct.
• athletic competence.
• physical appearance.

Question 4

What do we mean by self?- self awareness

Answer 4

Awareness that we exist as a separate entity.
The concept of “I”: children can think about themselves as an individual, distinct entity.
Understanding that actions can affect things around them (sense of agency).
Begins early in life but is established by end of 2nd year.
Techniques: rouge spot test.

Question 5

Development of self-concept (Gillibrand)

Answer 5

5 years or less: self description = physical features or facts, overt preference or possessions.
5-9 years: more character references and gradually interpersonal traits.
Beyond 10 years: increasing qualifier for above by considering private self-knowledge.

Question 6

Development of self esteem

Answer 6

8-10 year children show increasing consistency between their “idea;” self and “real” self- more realistic in judgement about self.
Orth et al (2010) reported results from 3617 American adults age 25-40 years- smooth curve peaking at about 55/60 yrs.

Question 7

Definitions- Gender (Difference between gender and sex)

Answer 7

Gender- a psychological phenomenon that refers to learned sex-related behaviours and attitudes of males and females (APA glossary).
Sex- refers to sexual anatomy and sexual behaviour.

However, a lot of times it’s difficult to separate sex from gender.

Question 8

Aspects of gender

Answer 8

Gender identity= how you think about yourself. Chemistry that composes you (eg. hormonal levels) and how you interpret what that means.
Gender expression= how you demonstrate your gender (based on traditional gender roles) through the ways you act, dress, behave and interact.
Biological sex= refers to the objectively measurable organs, hormones and chromosomes.
Sexual orientation= who you are physically, spiritually and emotionally attracted to, based on their sex/gender in relation to your own.

Question 9

Psychological gender differences

Answer 9

Gender identity- one’s sense of maleness or femaleness; usually includes awareness and acceptance of one’s biological sex (APA glossary).
Some cognitive abilities/characteristics- eg. male and female use different cues to solve spatial orientation on task problems.

Question 10

Behavioural gender differences

Answer 10

Play and toy choices- boys are more interested in toys like blocks, toy cars, and engaged in more “rough and tumble play”.
- girls engage in more role play, group play and prefer toys like dolls.

Question 11

Societal/cultural gender differences

Answer 11

Gender roles- sets of behaviours and attitudes associated by society with being male or female and expressed publicly by the individual (APA glossary).

Question 12

Gender development in infancy

Answer 12

By age 1:

• able to distinguish between males and females.
• but behavioural differences are minor.

By 18 months:

• verbal category labels (ie. mummy and daddy).
• differences in toy choices.

By age 2:

• “are you a boy or a girl?” Children do not always know how to answer. With assistance, they label themselves and others as male and female, although they don’t really understand these labels.
• boys are more independent; girls stay closer to adults.

Question 13

Gender development in pre-schoolers, early and middle childhood

Answer 13

By age 3: gender labelling.
- relies on external physical characteristics.
- belief that gender changes.
By age 4: gender stability.
- but this understanding relies on stereotypical features.
By age 5: gender consistency despite changes in appearance.
Middle childhood: gender identity is well-developed. Gender stereotypes resemble adult stereotypes (8-9 years).

Question 14

Gender development

Answer 14

Gender stereotypes appear early.
Increase with age:
- preschool: good idea about activities/abilities/preferences typical for their gender.
- by age 5: associate occupations and personality traits with genders.
- by the age 8-9: stereotypes are very similar to those of adults.

Question 15

Nature can also be ambiguous

Answer 15

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH): in which due to lack of certain enzymes- the adrenal glands prodyuce extreme amounts of androgens (male sex hormone).

• 1 in 13,000 to 1 in 54,000 live birth.
• CAH girls show preferences in masculine toy choices, play behaviours and career choices than non-CAH girls (Servin et al, 03).

Question 16

Socialisation explanation

Answer 16

Socialising ages (adults, books tv etc). 
Through reinforcement and modelling behaviour of those around them. 
Parents behave differently towards boys and girls. 
Indirect socialisation: children observe and imitate the behaviour of same-sex models.

Question 17

Summary

Answer 17

Gender differences in behaviour can be seen from 12-18 months of age, and develop rapidly in pre-school years.
These differences include preference for toy preference, play behaviour, gender segregation in peer groups.
Nature AND Nurture.