Actual Gender Differences

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• Actual Gender Differences
• There are a number of documented gender
  differences
• Exs aggression, activity level, compliance,
  emotional expressivity

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• But
• Relatively few documented differences
• Gender stereotypes suggest more differences than
  are actually documented by research
• Even documented differences are relatively small
  in size
• Average performance of males and females is not
  extremely different

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• Gender Typing
• Process by which a child
• Becomes aware of his or her gender
• Acquires information about the characteristics
  and behavior viewed as appropriate for males or
  females (gender stereotypes)
• Acquires the characteristics and behaviors viewed
  as appropriate for either males or females
  (gender roles)

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• Developmental Trends in Gender Typing
• By 2.5 to 3 years, children label their own sex
  and that of other people
• Do not yet understand that sex is a permanent
  characteristic

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• Development of Gender Stereotypes
• By 2.5 years, children have some knowledge of
  gender stereotypes
• Over the preschool/early school years, learn more
  about toys, activities, and achievement domains
  considered appropriate for boys versus girls
• Ex (achievement) boys are good at math girls
  are good at English

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• By late elementary school, children know gender
  stereotypes associated with psychological
  characteristics (personality traits)
• Ex males are assertive, aggressive, ambitious
  females are emotional, nurturing, dependent

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• Preschoolers gender stereotypes tend to be rigid
• Dont usually realize that characteristics
  associated with sex (e.g., activities, clothing)
  dont determine whether one is male or female
• May be one reason they treat gender stereotypes
  as rules rather than as beliefs

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• By elementary school, childrens gender
  stereotypes are more flexible
• Understand that stereotypes are beliefs, not
  rules
• But older children do not necessarily approve of
  cross-gender behavior

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• Development of Gender Role Behavior
• Between approximately 14-22 months, children
  begin to show sex-typed toy preferences
• Sex-typed toy play increases through the
  preschool years
• Children begin to avoid peers who violate gender
  roles

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• Gender segregation develops by ages 2 to 3 years
• Tendency to associate with same-sex playmates
• Typically lasts until around the onset of puberty

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• Gender Intensification A magnification of sex
  differences early in adolescence
• Associated with increased pressure to conform to
  traditional gender roles (from parents, peers)
• Gender intensification declines over the course
  of adolescence

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• Biological Influences on Gender Typing
• (Hormonal Influences)
• Experimental animal studies indicate that
  exposure to androgens (male sex hormones)
• Increases active play in male and female mammals
• Promotes male-typical sexual behavior and
  aggression and suppresses maternal caregiving
  behavior in a wide variety of species

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• Humans
• Cannot do experimental research for ethical
  reasons
• Correlational research

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• In boys, naturally occurring variations in
  androgen levels are positively correlated with
• Amount of rough-and-tumble play
• Levels of physical aggression

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• Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)
• Disorder in which child is exposed to high levels
  of androgens from the prenatal period onward
• Compared to girls without CAH, girls with CAH
  show
• Higher activity levels
• Greater interest in male-typical toys,
  activities, and occupations
• Better spatial/mathematical abilities

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• Environmental Influences on Gender Typing
• Social Learning Theory
• Gender typing results from
• imitation of same-sex models and reinforcement
  for this behavior

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• Parental Behavior
• On average, differences in parental treatment of
  boys and girls are not large
• Does not mean that parental behavior is
  unimportant because
• Younger children receive more direct training in
  gender roles than older children
• Some parents probably practice differential
  treatment more intensely than others

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• Parents create different environments for boys
  and girls beginning in infancy (e.g., bedrooms,
  toys)

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• Parents give toys that stress action and
  competition to boys (e.g., guns, cars, tools,
  footballs)
• Give toys that emphasize nurturance, cooperation,
  and physical attractiveness to girls (e.g.,
  dolls, tea sets, jewelry, jump ropes)

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• Parents reinforce independence in boys
• React more positively when boys demand attention,
  run and climb, or try to take toys from others
• Parents reinforce closeness/dependency in girls
• More likely to direct play activities, provide
  help, encourage participation in household tasks,
  and refer to emotions

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• Fathers tend to treat boys and girls more
  differently than do mothers
• Engage in more physically stimulating play with
  infant sons than daughters
• Less likely to give girl toys (e.g., dolls) to
  sons

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• Pasterski et al. (2005)
• Comparison of toy choices in girls and boys with
  CAH and their siblings (without CAH)
• Girls with CAH played with boys toys more and
  girls toys less than their unaffected sisters
• No differences between boys with CAH and their
  unaffected brothers

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• Parental Behavior
• Parents gave more negative responses to their
  unaffected sons than to their unaffected
  daughters for play with girls toys
• Parents gave more positive responses to daughters
  with CAH than to unaffected daughters for play
  with girls toys

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• Parental Behavior and Childrens Toy Choices
• For unaffected children, parents positive and
  negative responses to childrens toy choices were
  related to childrens play behavior
• Positive responses to childrens play with
  certain toys related to more play with those toys
  (and vice versa for negative responses)
• For children with CAH, parental behavior was not
  related to childrens toy choices

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• Peer Behavior
• By age 3, children reinforce each other for
  gender-appropriate play (e.g., by praising,
  imitating, or joining in)
• Criticize children who engage in cross-gender
  activities
• Boys are especially critical of other boys

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• Male and female peer groups promote different
  styles of interaction
• Boys more often rely on commands, threats, and
  physical force
• Girls use polite requests, persuasionworks with
  girls but not with boys

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• Cognitive theories emphasize childrens active
  role in the process of gender typing
  (self-socialization)

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• Cognitive Developmental Theory (Kohlberg)
• Three Stages
• Basic Gender Identity
• Recognition that one is a boy or a girl
• Emerges between 2.5 and 3 years

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• Gender Stability
• Understanding that gender is stable over time
• Emerges between 3 and 5 years

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• Gender Constancy/Consistency
• Understanding that gender is constant/consistent
  across situations regardless of appearance or
  activities
• Emerges between 5 and 7 years

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• Kohlberg Gender constancy leads to adoption of
  gender roles
• Why is this incorrect?

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• Gender Schema Theory
• Young children construct gender schemas
• Schemas Organized mental representations
  incorporating information about gender
• Include childrens own experiences and
  information conveyed by others, including gender
  stereotypes
• Schemas are dynamicchange as children acquire
  additional information

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• Once children achieve basic gender identity,
  their motivation to adopt gender roles increases
• Prefer, pay attention to, and remember more about
  others of their own sex
• Use their gender identity and their gender
  schemas to guide their behavior

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• Martin et al. (1995)
• Study 3
• Children used gender labels given to toys to
  guide their behavior
• Ex If a toy was labeled as a boy toy, girls
  reported that they were less interested in it and
  that other girls would also be less interested in
  it than if the toy was labeled as a girl toy
  (and vice versa for boys)
• True even if the toy was very attractive

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• Children show biases in their memory for
  information about gender
• More likely to accurately remember information
  that is consistent with gender stereotypes
• More likely to forget or distort information that
  is inconsistent with gender stereotypes