1. 13—Gender Influences on Gender Development
Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences
Gender-Role Classification
Developmental Windows of Gender Opportunity and Asymmetric Gender Socialization
Summary

2. 13—Gender Gender Gender identity
The psychological and sociocultural dimensions of being male or female
Gender identity
The sense of being female or male, which most children acquire by the time they are 3 years old.

3. 13—Gender
Gender role
A set of expectations that prescribes how females and males should think, act, and feel.

4. Influences on Gender Development
Biological Influences
Heredity and Hormones
Estrogens
Hormones, the most important of which is estradiol, that influence the development of female physical sex characteristics and help regulate the menstrual cycle.

5. Influences on Gender Development
Biological Influences
Heredity and Hormones
Androgens
Hormones, the most import of which is testosterone, that promote the development of male genitals and secondary sex characteristics.
The results from a number of genetic and hormonal studies suggest that biological factors, especially early hormonal production, play important roles in gender development (Lippa, 2002).

6. Influences on Gender Development
Biological Influences (continued)
Freud and Erikson—Anatomy is Destiny
Both argued that an individual’s genitals influence his or her gender behavior and, therefore, that anatomy is destiny.
Evolutionary Psychology and Gender
Emphasize that evolutionary adaptations produced psychological sex differences (Buss, 2000).

7. Influences on Gender Development
Biological Influences (continued)
An Interactionist View
Throughout development, males and females actively construct their own versions of acceptable masculine and feminine behavior patterns.

8. Influences on Gender Development
Social Influences
Psychoanalytic and Social Cognitive Theories
Psychoanalytic theory of gender
A theory that stems from Freud’s view that preschool children develop a sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent, then at 5 to 6 years of age renounce the attraction because of anxious feelings, subsequently identifying with the same-sex parent and unconsciously adopting the same-sex parent’s characteristics.

9. Influences on Gender Development
Social Influences
Psychoanalytic and Social Cognitive Theories
Social cognitive theory of gender
This theory emphasizes that children’s gender development occurs through observation and imitation of gender behavior, and through rewards and punishments they experience for gender-appropriate and -inappropriate behavior.

10. Influences on Gender Development
Social Influences
Parental Influences
Parents are only one of many socializing agents through which the individual learns gender roles.
Peer Influences
Parents provide the earliest discrimination of gender roles in development, but before long, peers join the societal process of responding to and modeling masculine and feminine behavior.

11. Influences on Gender Development
Social Influences
Schools and Teacher
There is evidence of gender bias against both males and females in schools (DeZolt & Hull, 2001).
Gender and the Media
The messages carried by the media about what is appropriate or inappropriate for males and for females also are important influences on gender development (Calvert, 1000); Purcheco & Hrutado, 2001).

12. Influences on Gender Development
Parents Influence Their Children’s Gender Development by Action and Example
Refer to Figure 13.1

13. Influences on Gender Development
Developmental Changes in Percentage of Time Spent in Same-Sex and Mixed-Group Settings
Refer to Figure 13.3

14. Influences on Gender Development
Cognitive Influences
Cognitive developmental theory of gender
In this view, children’s gender-typing occurs after they have developed a concept of gender. Once they begin to consistently conceive of themselves as male or female, children often organize their world on the basis of gender.

15. Influences on Gender Development
Cognitive Influences
Gender schema theory
According to this theory, an individual’s attention and behavior are guided by an internal motivation to conform to gender-based sociocultural standards and stereotypes.

16. Influences on Gender Development
The Development of Gender-Typed Behavior According to the Cognitive Development and Gender Schema Theories of Gender Development.
Refer to Figure 13.4

17. Review and Reflect: Learning Goal 1
Discuss the main biological, social, and cognitive influences on gender
Review
What are some biological influences on gender development?
What are some social influences on gender development?
What are some cognitive influences on gender development?

18. Review and Reflect: Learning Goal 1
Which theory of gender development do you like best? What might an eclectic theoretical view of gender development be like?

19. Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences
Gender Stereotyping
Gender stereotypes
Broad categories that reflect impressions and beliefs about what behavior is appropriate for females and males.
Stereotyping Across Cultures
Stereotyping of females and males is pervasive (Williams & Best, 1982).

20. Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences
Gender Stereotyping
Stereotyping of Occupations
Despite the fact that increasing numbers of many men and women are now entering jobs historically associated with the other sex, many occupations in the American culture remain strongly “gendered.”

21. Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences
Gender Similarities and Differences
Physical Similarities and Differences
Among the differences that have been discovered are:
One part of the hypothalamus responsible for sexual behavior is larger in men than women (Swaab & others, 2001).

22. Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences
Gender Similarities and Differences
Physical Similarities and Differences
Portions of the corpus callosum—the band of tissues through which the brain’s two hemispheres communicate—is larger in females than males (Le Vay, 994).
An area of the parietal lobe that functions in visuospatial skills is larger in males than females (Frederikse & others, 2000)
The areas of the brain involved in emotional expression show more metabolic activity in females than males (Gur & others, 1995).

23. Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences
Gender Similarities and Differences
Cognitive Similarities and Differences
Maccoby (1987) said that the accumulation of research evidence now suggests that verbal differences between females and males have virtually disappeared but that the math and visuospatial differences still exist.
Hyde believes that the cognitive differences between females and males have been exaggerated.

24. Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences
Gender Similarities and Differences
Socioemotional Similarities and Differences
Relationships
Rapport talk—The language of conversation and a way of establishing connections and negotiating relationships; more characteristic of females than of males.

25. Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences
Gender Similarities and Differences
Socioemotional Similarities and Differences
Relationships
Report talk—Talk that conveys information; more characteristic of males than of females.
Tannen, like other gender experts, believes that girls are more relationship-oriented than boys.

26. Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences
Gender Similarities and Differences
Socioemotional Similarities and Differences
Aggression
Boys are more physically aggressive than girls.
Self-Regulation of Emotion
Males usually show less self-regulation than females, and this low self-control can translate into behavioral problems (Eisenberg, Martin, & Fabes, 1996; Eisenberg & Wang, 2003; Eisenberg & others, 2002)

27. Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences
Gender Similarities and Differences
Socioemotional Similarities and Differences
Achievement
Females are more likely to be engaged with academic material, be attentive in class, put forth more academic effort, and participate more in class than boys are (DeZolt & Hull, 2001).

28. Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences
Gender Controversy
Controversy continues over whether sex differences are rare and small or common and large.

29. Gender-Role Classification
What Is Gender-Role Classification?
Instead of describing masculinity and femininity as a continuum in which more of one means less of the other, it was proposed that individuals could have both masculine and feminine traits.
Androgyny
The presence of masculine and feminine characteristics in the same person.

30. Gender-Role Classification
Androgyny and Education
Advocates believe that traditional sex-typing is harmful for all students and especially has prevented many girls from experiencing equal opportunity.
Detractors argue that androgynous educational programs are too value-laden and ignore the diversity of gender roles in our society.

31. Gender-Role Classification
Masculinity in Childhood and Adolescence
There is a special concern about boys who adopt a strong masculine role in adolescence, because this is increasingly being found to be associated with problem behaviors.

32. Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences
The Bem Sex-Role Inventory: Are You Androgynous?
Refer to Figure 13.5

33. Gender-Role Classification
Gender-Role Transcendence
The belief that, when an individual’s competence is at issue, it should be conceptualized not on the basis of masculinity, femininity, or androgyny but, rather, on a personal basis.

34. Gender-Role Classification
Gender in Context
Different gender roles might be more appropriate, depending on the context, or setting, involved.

35. Review and Reflect: Learning Goal 3
Identify how gender roles can be classified
Review
What is gender-role classification?
What are the effects of teaching androgyny in schools?
What are some risks of masculinity in childhood and adolescence?
What is gender-role transcendence?
How can gender be conceptualized in terms of context?

36. Review and Reflect: Learning Goal 3
Several decades ago, the word dependency was used to describe the relational orientation of femininity. Dependency took on a negative connotation for females-for instance, that females can’t take care of themselves while males can. Today, the term dependency is being replaced by relational abilities, which has more positive connotations (Caplan & Caplan, 1999). (continued)

37. Review and Reflect: Learning Goal 3
Reflect (continued)
Rather than being thought of as dependent, women are now more often described as skilled in forming and maintaining relationships. Make up a list of words that you associate with masculinity and femininity. Do these words have any negative connotations for males and females? For the words that do have negative connotations, think about replacements for them that have more positive connotations.

38. Developmental Windows of Gender Opportunity
What girls and boys learn about gender seems to be learned quickly at certain points in development, especially when new abilities first emerge.
Children form many ideas about what the sexes are like from about 1½ to 3 years of age.

39. Developmental Windows of Gender Opportunity
Asymmetric Gender Socialization
Boys receive earlier and more intense gender specialization than girls do.

40. Review and Reflect: Learning Goal 4
Characterize developmental windows of gender opportunity and asymmetric gender socialization
Review
What are some developmental windows of gender opportunity?
How is gender socialization asymmetric?

41. Review and Reflect: Learning Goal 4
As a parent, how would you want to relate to your children to influence their gender development? First, answer this question for a boy, then for a girl.

42. Summary
Gender refers to the psychological and sociocultural dimensions of being male or female
In the social roles view, women have less power and status than men and control fewer resources.

43. Summary
Both cognitive developmental and gender schema theories emphasize the role of cognition in gender development.
Gender stereotypes are widespread around the world, especially emphasizing the male’s power the female’s nurturance.

44. Summary
Physical and biological differences between males and females are substantial.
In the past, the well-adjusted male was supposed to show masculine traits, the well-adjusted female feminine traits.

45. Summary
Androgyny education programs have been more successful with females than males and more successful with children than adolescents.
A special concern is that boys raised in a traditional manner are socialized to conceal their emotions.

46. Summary
One alternative to androgyny is gender-role transcendence, which states that there has been too much emphasis on gender and that a better strategy is to think about competence in terms of people rather than gender.

47. Summary
In thinking about gender, it is important to keep in mind the context in which gender behavior is displayed.
Two especially important transition points in learning gender roles are the toddler years and early adolescence.
The amount, timing, and intensity of gender socialization are different for boys and girls.