Social learning explanations of gender development: Gender

Question 1

What is social learning theory?

Answer 1

The theory that explains behaviour by direct and indirect reinforcement, combining learning theory with the role of meditational processes (cognitive factors).

Question 2

What does social learning theory say about gender development?

Answer 2

Bandura (1991) proposed that gender role development is the result from learning from social agents who model and reinforce gender role behaviours

Social learning theory says that gender development is due to the influence of the environment (nurture)- e.g. who the child comes into contact with (parents, siblings etc) and the media.

Question 3

How does indirect reinforcement (vicarious reinforcement) play a role?

Answer 3

Children observe the behaviour of others and learn the consequences of their behaviour. They may witness many examples of gender behaviour at school or on the TV and from this, they gradually learn what is appropriate behaviour in the world. They can then decide which behaviours are worth repeating. They are also only likely to repeat the behaviours of people they identify with.

Question 4

How direct reinforcement plays a role in gender development?

Answer 4

Boys and girls are encouraged to show distinct gender-appropriate behaviour through encouraging and discouraging behaviours depending on whether they fit with the preconceived idea of gender (differential reinforcement).

Question 5

What type of conditioning is involved in direct reinforcement?

Answer 5

Operant conditioning

Question 6

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 6

Occurs when a person witnesses a model being rewarded for behaving in a gender-appropriate way.

Question 7

How is vicarious reinforcement involved in gender development?

Answer 7

A little girl sees her mum put make up on then gets called pretty, the little girl sees this positive consequence and goes into her mum’s room and puts makeup on (imitation). whereas if a little boy sees his friend (boy) being teased for having a girly pink lunchbox he won’t imitate this as he has seen the negative consequences second hand.

Question 8

How are identification and modelling involved in learning gender-appropriate behaviour?

Answer 8

Children identify with role models who have similar characteristics to them or have the characteristics they want to have. A mother may model typically feminine behaviour and is perceived as a role model by her daughter due to her characteristics that are similar to her and also her attractive higher status. When the daughter imitates the behaviour of her mother, she is modelling what she has seen.

Question 9

What are the 4 meditational processes that are central to learning gender behaviour?

Answer 9

• Attention- may imitate a behaviour if they have paid close attention to it.
• Retention- the behaviour must be remembered in order to be imitated.
• Motivation- if they see the behaviour being rewarded it will be imitated.
• Reproduction- the child must be physically capable of replicating the behaviour or at least trying to.

Question 10

What is differential reinforcement?

Answer 10

It encourages children to show distinct gender-appropriate behaviour.

Question 11

What is parental reinforcement?

Answer 11

Parents reinforcing certain behaviours on one gender, but punishing the other gender for the same behaviour - creates gender differences
Exert more influence when children are younger.

Question 12

What does self-efficacy have an effect on?

Answer 12

May have an effect e.g. on our own confidence about our abilities in a specific situation.

Question 13

What is culture?

Answer 13

The rules, customs, morals and ways of interacting that bind together members, of a society or some other collection of people.

Question 14

What is the media?

Answer 14

Tools used to store and distribute information. e.g books, films, TV commercials and so on.

Question 15

What were Margaret Meads three findings?

Answer 15

• Mead (1935) studied tribal groups on New Guinea.
• The Arapesh were gentle and responsive.
• The Mundugumor were aggressive and hostile.
• The Tchambuli women were dominant and they organised village life; men were passive.

The men were more overly dependent.

Question 16

How does media present gender for women and men?

Answer 16

• Media presents gender in different ways; males are more represented than females in most TV programmes including children’s programmes. Men are shown in a wider range of roles and often in higher-status positions than females.
• Males are perceived as dominant, powerful, active, aggressive and sexual.
• Women are presented as submissive, hurting, dependent and family orientated.

Question 17

Banduras Bobo doll study:

Answer 17

Bandura’s bobo doll study lends some support to the theory of observation action learning. The children imitated the behaviour of a model. Children were also more likely to imitate the same-sex model. Gender differences included boys being more likely than girls, to imitate physical behaviour. With both genders imitating verbal behaviour.

Question 18

Perry and Bussey’s study:

Answer 18

Showed film clips to children aged 8-9. In the film, boys and girls were seen selecting an apple and a pear, both gender-neutral items. Later, the children were given a choice of fruit. The boys selected the fruit they had seen another boy selecting, and the same for the girls. This shows that the children model gender behaviours they have observed in gender appropriate models.

Question 19

A03:

Answer 19

+ Explains changing gender roles in western countries.

+ Supporting evidence

• Doesn’t explain anomalies
• Ignores nature

Question 20

Explains changing gender roles in western countries: A03

Answer 20

The social learning theory can explain changing gender roles in Western culture. In the 1950s, gender stereotypes were clear-cut and distinguished for both males and females. So, the changing behaviours can be explained by a shift in societal expectations and cultural norms over the years. New gender behaviours are now considered appropriate for each gender and so have been reinforced. There has been no change in people’s basic biology over the years, so, this shift in gender roles can be best explained by the social learning theory of gender development.

Question 21

Supporting evidence: A03

Answer 21

There is supporting evidence for the social learning explanation of gender development. Smith and Lloyd used 6-month-old babies who, irrespective of their sex, were dressed up half the time in boys’ clothes and half the time in girls’ clothes. When interacting with adults, ‘boys’ were handed a hammer-shaped rattle and ‘girls’ were handed soft dolls to play with. These findings suggest that gender-role stereotypes are reinforced from a young age, adding to the belief that gender is socially learned.

Question 22

Doesn’t explain anomalies: A03

Answer 22

However, the social learning theory fails to explain some societal anomalies. The theory accounts for nuclear family structures however it does not explain the gender development in children from single-parent or same-sex parent families. Children from these families are still able to develop a healthy gender identity and adopt typical gender roles, despite the same-sex parent not being present. Also, same-sex siblings can be brought up in the same way by the same parents and develop a completely different gender identity. This suggests there may be more to explaining gender than just the social learning theory. So, when explaining gender development, social learning theory should not be the only explanation that is considered and it may be best to take an interactionist approach.

Question 23

Ignores nature: A03

Answer 23

The social learning theory ignores any biological influence that gender and only considers the role of nurture in gender. For example, the case of David Reimer demonstrated that even after being raised as a female, biology was the most influential factor in determining his gender identity. Social learning theory ignores the role of genetics, hormones and physiology, however, the David Reimer case shows that biological factors can have an overriding effect on nurture. This suggests that gender is not just a socially learned behaviour and explaining gender with an interactionist approach may provide a more whole explanation by acknowledging the role of nature and nurture.