Sexual Development Flashcards
Basic Tenet
Variations in gender identity and expression are normal aspects of human diversity and do not constitute a mental disorder. Binary definitions of gender may not reflect emerging gender identities.
Biological Sex
a person’s biologically assigned identity (defined by chromosomes, genitals, secondary sexual characteristics as determined by hormonal influences
Gender
a person’s social and cultural identity as male, female, or other (based on culturally determined social meanings and characteristics)
Gender identity
one’s awareness of one’s gender
Gender role stereotype (expression)
behaviors, values, or motives that a society considers more typical for members of a particular sex (culturally determined and varies from one to another culture)
Gender typing
the process by which a child becomes aware of his or her gender and acquires gender role stereotypes
Gender Typing
Gender typing is the confluence of three aspects of gender:
how we identify, how we express ourselves and how our culture/society expects us to express ourselves around gender
Gender Identity
Age 0-3
Gender discrimination and self labeling
Gender discrimination
4 month old infants can discriminate male and female voices, 1 year old infants can discriminate male and female faces
Self Labeling
generally established by age 3 but not future oriented; may fear that cross gendered behavior, activity or toys will change their gender (Szkrybalo and Ruble 1999) or may believe they can grow up to be like the parent of the opposite sex (boys believe they can have babies, etc).
Gender Identity
Age 3-7
gender consistency/conservation
Gender Consistency/conservation:
Understand that gender is fixed and is not changed by activity or behavior preferences, nor by time (gender becomes future oriented); established by age 7
Gender Identity
Age 7-11
awareness of gender typicality or variance & connectedness
Gender Identity
12-adult
Increased saliency
Gender Stereotyping
Age 0-3
early emergence
Gender Stereotyping
Age 3-7
interests, activities & occupations(rigid)
Gender Stereotyping
Age 7-11
personality traits & achievement domains(less rigid)
Gender Stereotyping
12-adult
gender intensification
Gender Intensification
magnification of sex differences that is associated with increased pressure to conform to gender roles
- this is influenced by parents, friendships, romantic pursuits and social pressures
- its intensity lessens by late adolescence but even adults remain very intolerant of males that disregard gender-role prescriptions.
Gender Expression
Age 0-3
toy/activity preferences gender segregation
Gender Expression
Age 3-7
toy/activity preferences & gender segregation ↑
Gender Expression
Age 7-11
toy/activity preference ↑ (boys > girls) segregation persists
Gender Expression
12-adult
conformity ↑gender segregation ↓
Gender Segregation
by age 2 for girls and age 3 for boys, intensifies through latency and by age 5 will actively reject opposite sex playmates; by age 10 those that maintain clear boundaries with same gender play partners are seen as more popular and social competent and those with who play with opposite sex children will likely be rejected and be less popular; segregation thought to stem from incompatible styles of play, boys preference for play group and girls for dyads, concrete thinking and emphasis on negative attributes of the other sex
Sex differences in gender typed behavior
many cultures assign greater status to male gender role, boys face greater pressure to conform to traditional gender role behavior; girls appear to retain cross sex toy interests for longer (thru latency, possible due to understanding the masculine role is highly valued, given more leeway for cross gendered interests, “boy” activities may be more interesting) but most gender conform by adolescents (thought related to feminization of their bodies during puberty, need to attract partners, cognitive growth that results in increased consciousness of body image, other’s opinions of them and increased susceptibility to gender intensification).
Sex Differences
Developmental Vulnerability
Developmental Vulnerability: boys more vulnerable to prenatal and perinatal exposures and experience higher rates of Autism, LD, ADHD, emotional d/o’s, MR
Sex Differences
Verbal
girls show earlier acquisition and development of verbal skills especially comprehension and fluency and test higher in comprehension through adolescence; boys show some advantage in verbal analogies
Sex Differences
Visual/Spatial
boys have a slight advantage, detectable as early as age 4, that persists across the lifespan
Sex Differences
Math
boys have better arithmetic reasoning especially amongst high achievers and problem-solving skills but girls have better computational skills and tend to have better math grades
Sex Differences
Activity
boys more active prior to and after birth, thru childhood and have a preference for rough and tumble play; girls are less likely to initiate or be receptive to R&T play
Sex Differences
Aggression
boys show more physical and verbal aggression as early as age 2 and evidence 10 x as much antisocial and violent crime as girls in adolescence; girls typically express hostility through covert means including snubbing, ignoring or undermining social status or relationships
Sex Differences
Compliance
from preschool girls more likely to comply with requests and demands of authority figures; girls use tact and polite suggestion to encourage compliance in others and boys tend to use demanding or controlling strategies
Sex Differences
Risk taking
boys more likely to take risks in uncertain situations (partially due to higher levels of activity but also determined by parents permissiveness and tendency to enforce rules against risk taking with their daughters rather than sons) which persists thru adolescence and results in experiencing more consequences
Sex Differences
Expressivity
infant emotional displays are equivocal; from toddlerhood onward boys express primarily anger whereas girls have a greater range of emotional expression and verbiage; this is partially influenced by parents tendency to talk with their daughters about emotions and emotional events than their sons.
Sex Differences
Sensitivity
while girls and women tend to describe themselves as more nurturant and empathic; studies suggest that girls and boys react equivocally to other’s distress and show equivocal amounts of concern and affection toward pets and older relatives.
Sex Differences
Fear/Timidity
girls more likely to be fearful, timid, cautions and less assertive in uncertain situations as early as 1 year of age
Sex Differences
Self Esteem
boys show higher global self esteem that becomes more noticeable in adolescences and persists into adulthood
Boy’s Play:
- larger groups
- rougher and more expansive
- streets and public places
- friendships based on mutual interest and activity
- in groups they argue, heckle speakers and call names
- in groups there is more conflict, threats of physical force but without interfering with group continuance
Girls Play
- smaller groups
- play is quieter
- play in private homes or yards
- friendships based on mutuality, sharing with 1 or 2 girls and breakups result in more intense emotional reactions (recall the movie can’t hardly wait, the bathroom scene)
- in groups they are more likely to express agreement, pause to include others, have less conflict and strive to achieve consensus through “conflict mitigating strategies”
Theories
Evolutionary Psychoanalytic Social Learning Cognitive-Developmental Gender Schema Biosocial
Evolutionary
Evolutionary pressure and natural selection
Expressive role of women
Instrumental role of men
Expressive role
a social prescription, usually directed toward females, that one should be cooperative, kind, nurturant, and sensitive to the needs of others
Instrumental role
a social prescription, usually directed toward males, that one should be dominant, independent, assertive, competitive and goal oriented.
Women
biologically need to dedicate more time to procreation (gestation) which required traits to promote raising of children (kindness, gentility, nurturant traits) and to prefer men that would be kind and provide resources to ensure the child’s survival.
Men
biologically dedicate less time to procreation and their survival is best ensured by multiple partners leading to increased competitiveness, assertiveness and aggression which increase their chances of attracting a mate and procuring resources
They cite improved visual spatial skills of men (needed for hunting) as evidence
Psychoanalytic
Gender identity and roles develop during the phallic stage of development (ages 3-6) as children begin to emulate and identify with the same-sex parent.
Social Learning
Direct Tuition
Observational Learning
Direct Tuition
children are encouraged and rewarded for gender appropriate behaviors
- by 20-24 months daughters are consistently reinforced for dancing, dressing up, following parents around, asking for help and playing with dolls and discouraged from manipulating objects, running, jumping, climbing; sons are reprimanded for “feminine” behavior and are encouraged to play with masculine items
- Parents who show the clearest patterns of differential reinforcement have children who are relatively quick to label their own gender, develop strong gender typed toy/activity preferences and acquired an understanding of gender stereotypes
- fathers are more likely than mothers to encourage these divisions
- parental influence wanes after preschool and peer influences increase during latency and adolescence
Observational Learning
adopt the attitudes and behaviors of a variety of same-sex models
- not entirely accurate
- many 3-6 y/o learn about gender behavior patterns by observing models of both sexes
- children whose parents engage in less traditional roles (employed mother, fathers who cook/clean) are less aware of gender stereotypes
- boys with sisters and girls with brothers have fewer gender typed activity preferences
- media also plays a role: children who watch a lot of TV are more likely to prefer gender-typed activities and hold highly stereotypical views of men/women than those that don’t watch much TV
Condry and Condry, 1976 :
- college students watched a video of a 9 m/o child who was introduced as either a girl (“Dana”) or a boy (“David”), and asked to interpret his/her reactions to toys
- impressions of the infant’s behavior depended on his or her presumed sex
- the same reactions were labeled as “anger” when the child was presumed to be a boy and “fear” when presumed to be a girl
Cognitive Developmental
Gender role development depends on cognitive development Basic Gender Identity Gender Stability Gender Consistency (conservation) Self-socialization
