1. Child Psychology, A Canadian Perspective Third Edition
Younger, Adler, Vasta

2. Chapter 16 Gender-Role Development and Sex Differences
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

3. Learning Objectives Learning Objective 16.1:
Understand four theoretical approaches to gender development.
Learning Objective 16.2:
Describe physical, cognitive, and social/personality sex differences that have been found.
Learning Objective 16.3:
Understand the role of biological influences in the development of sex differences.
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

4. Learning Objectives Learning Objective 16.4:
Understand how society, parents, peers, and the self contribute to gender-role socialization.
Learning Objective 16.5:
Trace the development of gender-role knowledge and behaviour.
Learning Objective 16.6:
Discuss the development of sexual relationships and behaviour.
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

5. Gender-Related Definitions
Sex: biological maleness or femaleness of an individual
Sex difference: an observed difference between males and females
Gender: differences resulting from socialization
Gender-role: pattern of behaviours that are considered appropriate for a female or male in a particular culture
Sex typing: process by which children develop a gender role
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

6. Theories of Gender-Role Development and Sex Differences
Evolutionary and biological approaches
Evolutionary approach:
Sex differences reflect the different reproductive challenges faced by mails and females in our ancestral past
Psychobiological approach:
Genes and hormones set gender-role development in motion; the environment completes the process
Sociocultural approaches:
Gender roles develop as children interact with their social and cultural environment.
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

7. Theories of Gender-Role Development and Sex Differences
Cognitive-Developmental:
Stage theory suggests that children develop
Gender identification
Ability to categorize themselves and others as male or female
Gender stability
Knowledge that gender does not change with age
Gender constancy
Notion that gender is a fixed part of ourselves
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

8. Theories of Gender-Role Development and Sex Differences
Information processing models focus on concepts such as:
Gender schema
Cognitive representation of the characteristics of being either male or female
Gender script
Cognitive representation of a familiar routine or activity that is usually only associated with one gender
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

9. Theories of Gender-Role Development and Sex Differences
Environmental/Learning theory
Gender role is learned through experience
Sex differences are not inevitable
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

10. Some Perceived and Real Sex Differences
Physical differences
Infancy
Physiological
Female newborn is healthier, less muscular, more sensitive to pain
Behavioural
Female newborns spend less time awake, and display less motor activity than do male newborns
Preschool
Sex differences in large and fine motor development are evident
Girls have better fine motor skills
Boys do better in activities that require strength
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

11. Some Perceived and Real Sex Differences
Cognitive differences
Language and verbal abilities
Females have better language and verbal abilities than do males
Suggestion that mothers provide a stronger language environment for female infants
Quantitative abilities
In elementary school, girls are better at computation while boys are better at math reasoning problems
By high school, boys perform better at math
Less math anxiety, more effective strategies?
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

12. Some Perceived and Real Sex Differences
Figure 16.3
In this task, male and female subjects are asked to mentally rotate the images to determine if they are the same (a) or different (b)
Males outperform females in this spatial task
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

13. Some Perceived and Real Sex Differences
Social and personality differences
Temperament
Female infants are more likely to regulate their arousal than male infants
Emotion
Girls are generally more emotionally expressive than boys
Girls are better at hiding negative emotions
Self-control
Girls exhibit greater self-control than boys
Activity and exploration
Boys show greater activity and are more likely to explore (rough-and-tumble play)
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

14. Some Perceived and Real Sex Differences
Social and personality differences (cont’d)
Prosocial behaviour
Girls are rated as more helpful, generous, and cooperative than boys
Aggression
Males are more aggressive than are females
Aggression is the largest sex difference
Males use physical violence whereas females are more likely to use relational or social aggression
Social Influence
Boys are more likely to use threats or physical force
Girls are more likely to use verbal persuasion
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

15. Biological Influences on Gender-Role Development
Genetic and hormonal influences
Prior to six weeks, the fetus is bipotential
Can develop as a female or a male, depending on genetic/hormonal circumstances
XX fetus will develop as a female
XY fetus will develop testes at 6 weeks of age, the testes secrete androgens
Androgens organize the fetus as a male
Peripheral organs appear male (internal and external)
Brain is lateralized in a male pattern
Hormone activity in adulthood is set in male pattern
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

16. Biological Influences on Gender-Role Development
Brain lateralization
Brain hemispheres are specialized for specific functions
Left hemisphere is specialized for language/speech
Right hemisphere is specialized for quantitative and spatial abilities
Conclusions are based on brain damage studies as well as imaging studies
Males are more lateralized than females
Left hemisphere brain damage produces greater impairment in males than females
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

17. Socialization and Gender-Role Development
Gender-role socialization occurs at many levels—society, family, peer, and the self
Differential treatment of males and females fosters the development of different skills, abilities, and attitudes
Children spend most of their time with same-sex peers who serve as an important socialization force
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

18. Socialization and Gender-Role Development
Children imitate sex-typed behaviours shown by models in the laboratory
Sources of modelling in real life
Parents serve as models
Mass media portrays traditional gender roles for characters on television
Children’s storybooks are another source of modelling of gender roles
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

19. Understanding Gender Roles and Stereotypes
Gender role knowledge develops from about two years of age
Children display gender stability by age 4, and gender consistency by age 5
Sex-typed labels influence children’s behaviours in terms of preference and performance
As children grow older, they begin to use gender information to draw inferences about other people and also become more flexible and tolerant of gender role violations
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

20. The Family as a System Around middle childhood
Children become interested in others as future sexual partners
While most children develop heterosexual orientations, a minority of children develop gay, lesbian, or bisexual orientations
Most contemporary research indicates that both biology and the environment are associated with sexual orientation—though the mechanisms by which this occurs remain largely speculative
Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16

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Younger, Adler, Vasta/Child Psychology, Third Edition, Chapter 16