1. Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence

3. Children’s Knowledge and Beliefs about Gender
Distinguishing between females and males
From birth, infants are surrounded by cues signifying gender
Infants and toddlers are able to distinguish males and females
Gender identity and self-perceptions
By age 2 or 3, children can label their own gender
Children begin to view their own gender more favorably than the other gender

4. Gender-Related Activities and Interests
Physical performance and sports
Girls and boys similar in motor skills in preschool and elementary years
Gender differences in motor skills favoring boys increasingly pronounced from childhood through adolescence
Toys and play
Gender typed play appears to be set by 3 years old.
Girls are more likely to engage in gender neutral or cross gender toys and activities.
Gender segregation
Also appears by age 3

5. Violations of Gender Role Norms and Adjustment
Social adjustment.
May depend on developmental stage (Lurye, Zosuls, & Ruble, 2008).
The intersection w/ class and ethnicity (Ruble, 2006).

6. Gender Identity Disorder in Children and Adolescents
Definition.
Prevalence.
Kids.
Adults.
Causes?
Biological:
Environmental:
Relation to Adult Identity.
Green (1987).

7. Influences on Gender Development: Early and Late Maturation in Girls
Early maturing girls
May have feelings of self-consciousness and shame
Confronted with challenging sexual expectations
Associate with older peers
As well adjusted as other girls by the end of high school (Brody, 1999b)
Late maturing girls
May have low social status during middle school
Often dissatisfied with appearance
May end up more popular and more satisfied with appearance than early
maturing girls (Simmons & Blyth, 1987)

8. Psychosocial Development in Adolescence
Self-Esteem: sense of worth or value that people attach to themselves
High self-esteem associated with good psychological and physical health (e.g., Baumeister et al., 2003)
Self-esteem diminishes for both genders in early adolescence
Girls’ show lower self-esteem than boys (e.g., Cambron et al., 2008)
Girls more dissatisfied with appearance than boys
School may undermine girls’ perception of their competence
Girls become more acutely aware of sexism during adolescence (Gilligan, 1993, 2002)
“Loss of voice”
African American girls in late adolescence demonstrate higher
self-esteem than Caucasian, Latina, and Asian American teen girls.

9. Psychosocial Development in Adolescence
Gender intensification: increasing divergence in gender-related behaviors and attitudes of girls and boys that emerges in adolescence
Physical changes of puberty accentuate gender differences in appearance
Adults apply increasing pressure on girls to be “feminine” (e.g, Carr, 2007)
Dating encourages increase in gender-stereotypical behavior
Gender intensification starts to decrease by middle to late adolescence