In order to determine the gender differences in behavior in boys and girls, I observed seven activities for ten minutes, taking a total of five observations of the numbers of boys and girls each activity. This experiment took place on October 9th from 4’ o’clock to 4’ ten at County Elementary School. I performed this experiment in the school’s After School Program because having a smaller sample size is easier to keep count and observe. From the beginning of this experiment, there was a total of twenty-two boys and thirty girls, age ranging from six to eleven. Seven activities I recorded were basketball, four squares, jump rope, sliding, swinging, talking, and tetherball.
According to Bjorklund, the process of incorporating gender roles and values is referred to as gender identification. This is important, since this allows children to label, behave, and perform the appropriate gender role. Factors that contribute to gender identification are gender constancy, knowing that a person’s gender does not change despite physical changes and gender stereotypes. Once children are able to achieve gender constancy, it would help them know that there are certain things boys do and certain things girls do. This accomplishment leads to gender schemas, an “interrelated networks of mental association representing information about the sexes (430-431).”
According to Martin and Halverson’s model, developed gender schemas help children label objects and activities that are for their gender or for the other gender (431). For example, a boy knows that trucks are for them while Barbie dolls are for girls. In my observation, I have noticed that the children have already developed gender schemas because they were in activities that we...
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...hemata that would help them learn how to label, behave, and perform the appropriate gender role. They used tools such as imitation and emulation to help them get toward their desired goal. I also learned that there is definitely an aggression and competition difference in what activities boys and girls plays. Activities that are considered less aggressive, such as jump roping, sliding, swinging, and socializing is considered a female activities because there is neither aggression nor competitions evoked from these activities. While activities such as basketball, four square, and tetherball are labeled as male activities because of the aggression and competition it evokes.
Works Cited
Bjorklund, David F. "Social Cognition." Children's Thinking: Cognitive Development and Individual Differences. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. 424- 38. Print.
First coined by Sandra Bem in 1981, gender schema theory encompasses a cognitive account of sex typing by which schemas are developed through the combination of social and cognitive learning processes (Perle, 2011). It is significant to note that through observations of individuals within culture and society, each child is able to observe male and female typical attributes, activities, and actions (Perle, 2011). Ultimately, these perceptions lead to the development of gender segregation and guide the child’s gender-related actions and behavior. Two other critics who have utilized this theory and method are psychologists Jonathan Perle and Angela
Basically, what one needs to know before proceeding to read through this analysis of gender development is that gender identity refers to “one’s sense of oneself as male, female, or transgender” (American Psychological Association, 2006). When one’s gender identity and biological sex are not congruent, the individual may identify as transsexual or as another transgender category (cf. Gainor, 2000). Example, Jennifer in the book, She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders, who brought us through the struggle of living a transgendered life from start to finish. Also, the formation of gender identity is influenced by social factors, such as family, friends, the environment, etc. For example, fathers tend to be more involved when their sons engage in gender-appropriate activities such as playing baseball or soccer rather than wanting to become a dancer or a cheerleader.
There are many different facets to the nature versus nurture argument that has been going on for decades. One of these, the influence of nature and nurture on gender roles and behaviors, is argued well by both Deborah Blum and Aaron Devor, both of whom believe that society plays a large role in determining gender. I, however, have a tendency to agree with Blum that biology and society both share responsibility for these behaviors. The real question is not whether gender expression is a result of nature or nurture, but how much of a role each of these plays.
A major limitation of the gender schema theory is the issue regarding individual differences, the theory is unable to explain why different children with common environmental influences respond differently in assimilating gender appropriate behavior. According to Ryle (2013) a strength of this theory is that it addresses the lack of explanation of the cognitive development as to “why sex in particular
Langlois, J. and Downs, A. (1980) Mothers, fathers, and peers as socialization agents of sex-typed play behaviours in young children. Child Development, 51, (pp 1271-1247).
Kohlberg defined the steps in gender role development to three steps. The first step, the kids (ages 1-3) begin learn their gender identity by their parents (adult) education. In this step also Kohlberg mentioned that the kids know their gender by observations of sex differences. As Kohlberg says “ they categorize themselves as a boy or a girl during this period” (Bergen 2008, p. 153). Teaching kids in early periods of their life makes them more receptive to their identity, even their knowing about their gender still changeable.
Young children are typically raised around specific sex-types objects and activities. This includes the toys that that are given, activities that they are encouraged to participate in, and the gender-based roles that they are subjected to from a young age. Parents are more likely to introduce their daughters into the world of femininity through an abundance of pink colored clothes and objects, Barbie dolls, and domestic chores such as cooking and doing laundry (Witt par. 9). Contrarily, boys are typically exposed to the male world through action figures, sports, the color blue, and maintenance-based chores such as mowing the lawn and repairing various things around the house (Witt par. 9). As a result, young children begin to link different occupations with a certain gender thus narrowing their decisions relating to their career goals in the future. This separation of options also creates a suppresses the child from doing something that is viewed as ‘different’ from what they were exposed to. Gender socialization stemming from early childhood shapes the child and progressively shoves them into a small box of opportunities and choices relating to how they should live their
In order to explore the origins of how gender roles are learned, a solid definition of gender versus sex must be developed. Sex is completely biological, and the physical sex organs one is born with are determined by nature. Gender, on the other hand, is not biological in any sense—it is in fact something that is decided and dictated by societal and parental influence. What it means to be male or female is something that we are taught. Contrary to popular belief, it is clearly not something that comes preprogrammed into our brains. The American Psychological Association defines gender as “…the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for boys and men or girls and women. These influence the ways that people act, interact, and feel about themselves.” This definition confirms that gender is learned, rather than inherited. As psych...
...coby (Ed.), The development of sex differences (pp. 82-173). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=_jumAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=A+cognitive-developmental+analysis+of+children's+sex-role+concepts+and+attitudes.+In&source=bl&ots=6
When discussing the meaning of gender identity, each and every person has a different view and perception. Most times, these views are instilled upon them throughout their childhood whether they are fully aware of it or not. As a result, some children feel forced to conform to the stereotypical gender roles and identities defined by society. For me, however, that was never a problem.
In the stage of gender stability children are able to indicate that a gender remains the same throughout time and therefore, children start to realise that they will be male or female for the rest of their lives. Nevertheless, their understanding of gender i...
The creation of an identity involves the child's understanding of the public disposition of the gender normalities, and the certain gender categories that
Arbetter, Sandra R. “Boys and Girls: Equal but not the Same.” Current Health 2. Dec.
The behaviors that children seem to learn do have gender specific characteristics. Examples of male appropriate behavior includes: aggression, independence and curiosity. Female behaviors reflect the opposite of the male behaviors: passivity, dependence and timidity (Howe, 3). Parents have a strong impact on the sex roles that children acquire. If the sex roles are stereotypical in the home then the children will imitate the behavior that is observed in the home. Simple, parental behaviors such as who drives and who pays for dinner influence the children’s perceptions of sex roles (Seid, 115).
In our society, gender roles are instigated at a very young age. Society develops a standard or a norm of what role a women or man should play (Griffiths et al., 2015). For example, young girls are taught to play with dolls and learn