13D

1. GENDER
Introduction to Psychological Explanations of Gender

2. Sex or Gender?
◦ SEX: “Biological Differences between Male & Female”
◦ -chiefly determined by Genetics and Hormones
◦ GENDER: “Culturally constructed distinctions between Masculinity &
Femininity”

3. Brief History of Gender…
◦ 1959 – Barbie Introduced
◦ 1961 – Oral contraception introduced for married women
◦ 1967 – Abortion legalised up to 28 weeks: Homosexuality
decriminalised: Gay Pride movement
◦ 1973 – Homosexuality removed from DSM
◦ 1978 – Louise Brown, first IVF baby born
◦ 1990 – Abortion limited up to 24 weeks
◦ 2003 – Paternity leave introduced (2 weeks)
◦ 2014 – Same sex marriage legalised in UK

4. Gender Stereotyping

5. How are boys and girls treated differently as
babies?
vs.

6. Baby X

8. PSYCHOLOGICAL
EXPLANATIONS OF
GENDER
Kohlberg’s Gender Constancy Theory

10. Gender: Cognitive Approach
◦Considers development of our thought
patterns and cognitions
◦A child’s perception of gender behaviour is
crucial for their acquisition of gender

11. Psychological Explanations of Gender
◦Cognitive-Developmental Theories of Gender…
◦1. Gender Constancy Theory
◦2. Gender Schema Theory

12. Psychological Explanations of Gender

13. When did you realise you were female?
◦Have you always been ‘feminine’?
◦Did you know you were always going to be
female?

14. Psychological Explanations of Gender
◦“A child’s thinking and understanding of their
Gender Identity as boys or girls is what leads to
the adoption of gender-role behaviours”

15. Kohlberg (1966)
◦Gender Constancy Theory
◦Proposed a stage theory of Gender Development
◦Development in the child’s thinking influences gender
identity

16. Kohlberg (1966)
◦Children’s understanding of gender gradually develops
through 3 stages
◦The child grasps increasingly more complex concepts
about the nature of gender

17. Stage 1: Gender Identity
◦Between ages of 2-3.5 years, child uses labels of ‘boy’ or ‘girl’
to identify themselves
◦Limited understanding of what gender is
◦No knowledge that gender is stable for life

18. Stage 2: Gender Stability
◦Around age of 3.5 years, child realises that their own sex will
not change
◦Child knows that when he grows up he will be ‘a daddy’ not ‘a
mummy’
◦Between 4-5 children are still misled by changes in physical
appearance

19. Stage 3: Gender Constancy
◦Between 5-7 years, child realises gender is constant
◦People stay the same sex despite changes in appearance
◦Able to ‘conserve’ their knowledge of sex differences

20. Stage Age (y) Description
1. Gender Identity 2-3.5 Child recognises he/she is a boy/girl
2. Gender Stability 3.5-5 Awareness that gender is fixed for life
3. Gender Constancy 5-7 Gender is constant despite changes in
appearance

21. (A* - AO1)
◦Third/Final stage of Kohlberg (Gender Constancy) supports
Piaget’s stage theory of child development…

22. Jean Piaget
◦A child psychologist
◦Focused on Cognitive
development in children
◦Came up with stages of child
development

23. Piaget’s stages of Child Development

25. *Piaget’s Concrete Operational stage*
◦At the age of 7, children begin to show ‘conservation’
◦They realise stability in the world around them and become
less dependent on fluctuating appearance…
◦How could this link to Kohlberg’s theory of Gender
Development?

26. AO1 – Kohlberg (1966)
◦ Gender development occurs as a result in changes in thought
processes surrounding gender
◦ 3 stages – ISC
◦ *Conservation* - ties in with Piaget’s stage theory of child
development