SLT Explanations- Parents and Peers Flashcards
Why does SLT believe girls and boys learn dissimilar gender roles?
Parents react to them differently.
When children imitate gender-appropriate behaviour they are reinforced with praise and affection
Parents also give boys and girls different toys, speak to and handle them differently
What do father do more?
Reinforce sex-typed behaviours more than mothers, especially with their sons
SLT perceived that same sex models are more influential upon the child
What was Block’s research into the role of parents?
Found that boys are positively reinforced more for imitating behaviours reflecting independence and emotional control whereas girls are rewarded for nurturance and empathy - explaining how they adopt different gender roles
What was Hutson’s research into the role of parents?
Found that parents believe they respond equally to aggressive acts by sons and daughters, but actually respond more quickly to girls being aggressive then boys, showing parents treat their children differently
What was Quiery’s research into the role of parents?
Found that fathers interact in a more goal-seeking way and give more attention to sons, while mothers attend equally to sons and daughters, suggesting fathers reinforce sex typing more than mothers
What was Fagot and Leinbach’s research into the role of parents?
Found that four year olds displayed more gender- role stereotyping and used gender labels earlier in traditional families where the father works and the mother takes care of the child compared with children raised in households where parents share the children.
What is the role of peers?
Peers act as role models for gender-role stereotypes with children more likely to imitate same-sex models
Gender differences develop in social settings like peer settings more than in individual settings, with children soon displaying preferences for same-sex playmates
How do peers reinforce gender-appropriate behaviour?
With praise and they often ridicule or can be intolerant of gender- inappropriate behaviours
How much of an influence does the observational learning that occurs through interaction with peers have?
More powerful than the influence of parents and older others
What happens once children have internalised which behaviours are appropriate for males and females?
Their own behaviour becomes ono longer dependent on reinforcement - the child feels an internal sense of pride when achieving gender-role consistent behaviours
What was Archer and Lloyd’s research into the influence of peers?
Reported that three year olds playing the opposite sexes games were ridiculed by their peers and shunned, supporting the idea that peers police gender roles
What was Bussey and Bandura’s research into the influence of peers?
Found that three year old children disapproved of gender role inconsistent behaviours but rated their own feelings about ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ toys equally
By age 4, children disapproved of gender role inconsistent behaviours while being critical of their wanting to play with the opposite gender toys.
Supports the idea that while social interactions are important at first, eventually children self-regulate their behaviours with regard to gender
What was Francis’ research into the influence of peers?
Looked at how boys in school were pressurised to be active and competitive; girls construct their gender in opposition to what it was to be a boy and therefore were more sensible and academic
What can SLT not explain?
Gender changes with age - it assumes there are no developmental stages which evidence suggests do exist
Cant explain gender difference between two same-sex siblings e.g. two brothers raised by the same parents in the same way may act completely differently, suggesting biological factors do play a role
What two other things can SLT not explain?
How new gender behaviours arise, e.g. the stay at home dad. SLT only explains gender in terms of observation and imitation
Cannot explain why children’s willingness to imitate behaviour depends more on whether the behaviour is seen as gender-appropriate than the sex of the model demonstrating it. This suggests cognitive factors are at play as the child selects who to imitate
