1 Psychology 320: Gender Psychology Lecture 23

2 Announcement The Psychology Department and Sociology Department are co-sponsoring a presentation by Dr. Philip Zimbardo, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. The presentation will be held on: Friday, November 20 1:00-2:00 PM Frederic Wood Theatre, 6345 Crescent Road

3 Social Learning Explanations and Cognitive Explanations of Gender Differences: 1. What theories illustrate the social learning view? (continued) 2. What theories illustrate the cognitive view?

4 3. Social Role Theory What theories illustrate the social learning view? (continued)  Maintains that the characteristics of females and males diverge because they are assigned to social roles (e.g., domestic roles, occupational roles) that require distinct attributes.

5  According to this theory, “women and men seek to accommodate sex-typical roles by acquiring the specific skills and resources linked to successful role performance and by adapting their social behaviour to role requirements” (Eagly & Wood, 1999).

6  Following from this theory, females are more likely than males to develop expressive characteristics because they are assigned to roles (e.g., homemaker, teacher, nurse) that require and cultivate these attributes.  In contrast, males are more likely than females to develop instrumental characteristics because they are assigned to roles (e.g., executive, politician, military officer) that require and cultivate these attributes.

7  Consistent with these assertions: (a) females are more likely than males to be employed in occupations that require expressivity and males are more likely than females to be employed in occupations that require instrumentality:

8 OccupationPercent Female Lawyer30 Police officer14 Securities salesperson29 Chief executive24 Marketing manager41 Social worker80 Counsellor70 Teacher72 Librarian85 Child-care provider95 Registered nurse92 Secretary97 Wait staff78 Cleaner90 Percentage of Females in Distinct Occupations

9 (b) people are more likely to ascribe expressive characteristics to traditionally “female” social roles and instrumental characteristics to traditionally “male” social roles: Eagly and Steffen (1984): Found that participants described females and males in homemaker roles as similarly expressive and females and males in employee roles as similarly instrumental.

10 EmployeeHomemaker Female Communal Agentic Male Communal Agentic Mean Ratings of Females and Males Who Varied in Occupation (Eagly & Steffen, 1984)

11 What theories illustrate the cognitive view? According to this view: The cognitive view emphasizes the development of gender-related cognitions. “Children are neither pushed by their biological desires nor pulled by external rewards and punishments. Instead, children are active learners, attempting to make sense of the social environment” (Kohlberg, 1966).

12 1. Cognitive Developmental Theory  Maintains that children pass through three stages of cognitive development during which they acquire gender constancy: the belief that their gender is irreversible and fixed. Stage 1: Gender identity. Stage 2: Gender stability. Stage 3: Gender consistency. Three theories illustrate the cognitive view:

13  A number of studies have provided support for Kohlberg’s model: E.g., Rubel et al., 2007: Assessed gender stability and gender consistency in children between 3 and 7 years of age:

14 Gender Stability and Consistency As a Function of Age

15  According to this theory, children only value their gender identity after they have achieved gender constancy. As a result, it is only after gender constancy is achieved that children attempt to behave in ways that are congruent with their gender identity.

16  Moreover, it is only after gender constancy is achieved that children understand that gender is fixed. Accordingly, it is only after gender constancy is achieved that children become less rigid about the appropriateness of behaving in gender-atypical ways.

17 Self-Rigidity As a Function of Age

18 Social Learning Explanations and Cognitive Explanations of Gender Differences: 1. What theories illustrate the social learning view? (continued) 2. What theories illustrate the cognitive view?