Social learning theory (SLT) suggests that behaviour is learnt through observation and imitation of “models”. SLT explains gender role by saying children learn their gender role primarily through vicarious reinforcement. Children are positively reinforced for behaving in gender-appropriate ways (i.e. a girl playing with a doll) and are punished for behaving in gender-inappropriate ways (i.e. a boy playing with a doll).
122 As a process, gender creates the social differences that define “woman” and “man.” In social interaction throughout their lives, individuals learn what is expected, see what is expected, act and react in expected ways, and thus simultaneously construct and maintain the gender order pg. 123 As part of a stratification system, gender ranks men above women of the same race and class pg. 123 The dominant categories are the hegemonic ideals, taken so for granted as the way things should be that white is not ordinarily thought of as race, middle class or men as a gender. The characteristics of these categories define the Other as that which lacks the valuable qualities the dominants exhibit. Pg.
Modelling, also known as social learning is where a child engages in gender role behaviour through observation of same-sex models, internalizing and imitating their behaviours and attitudes. However a child must be able to differentiate between gender role models in order to learn what is right or wrong to do in terms of gender appropriate behaviours. The key to social learning theory is that our understanding of gender comes from our social environment. Often it is our parents who are our main role models from a young age as they are with us from birth. Based on their understanding of their gender will then influence the behaviours and
They also believe that the ideas about gender are culturally constructed and transmitted through socialisation. For example, the mother is supposed to look after the children rather than go to work. Oakley criticises Parson’s assumption of gender roles being based on biological differences by arguing that men and women are equally capable of performing both roles within society yet this is prevented by the traditional gender roles. Liberal feminists make a fair point by stating that gender roles are not ingrained as they show to an extent that roles are not determined. However Liberal feminists are criticised by Radical and Marxist feminists as they argue that Liberal feminists fail to recognise the underlying causes of women’s subordination and that is naïve to believe that changes in the law or attitudes will be enough to bring equality between men and women.
Discuss Kohlberg’s theory of gender development. Kohlberg’s Gender Consistency Theory basically argues that the development of a consistent gender identity can be seen as part of the child’s more cognitive development. Young children find concepts such as conservation hard but older children do not. Similarly as children get older they understand that there can be different perspectives on a situation to their own. The child responds to the influence of other people but is actively engaged in developing its own concept of its and others genders.
Gender socialization through toys, teaches and reinforces stereotypical gender roles. By definition, “gender” refers to the sociocultural dimension of being male or female. Authors Bryjak and Soroka say, “Human beings are not born with any pre-existing knowledge of, or orientation to, their world. What we come to feel about life and about ourselves, we learn through socialization, the social mechanisms through which gender developments occur” (214). Children develop a sense of their gender as they grow older.
Discuss the issue of gender bias in psychology Gender bias is looking at one particular gender and considering it as the normal gender. There is a large problem with psychology being seen as gender bias in favour of men, often devaluing women or simply ignoring them in their studies. An example of this is Asch, who only looked at male students, meaning that his findings can’t be generalised to women. Aristotle viewed women as a deformity in terms of both physiology and biology. Kitzinger (1988) believes that questioning whether women can do certain activities such as going to university or having certain positions in government are often used for political reasons to save men’s jobs or protect them from losing face to an inferior woman.
The major difference between the two is that the gender consistency theory proposes that children’s understanding of gender develops with age, whilst the gender schema theory suggests that early childhood gender development is influenced heavily by the ideas and concepts about what ‘maleness’ or ‘femaleness’ means in a particular society. According to the gender consistency theory, children go through three stages in the development of full gender identity starting from the age of 2 years old. Between 2 and 3.5 years children enter the gender identity stage, where they label themselves at present as a boy or girl Recognition of this then allows a better understanding and categorisation of the world. Through this stage children sometimes use incorrect labels for people, they also fail to recognise gender staying the same in the past or future e.g. they may believe that a person can change gender.
different clothing) This explanation parallels Piaget’s cognitive development theory in which a child’s mental processes are said to become increasingly sophisticated as they age. The child obtains 2 important mental abilities; conservation which is where children realise that an object stays the same even if it looks different, and decentration which is the child’s ability to take perspectives of other people, losing their egocentricity and understanding how another child’s gender develops in the same way as their own. Children develop their ability to organize objects and ideas which help identify what is considered typical male or female behaviour for them and others. This results in the child paying more attention to same sex behaviour. After they recognise the type of behaviour they should be following, they are more likely to internalise such behaviours through self-socialisation, giving them an idea of how their sex should interact with other
If it is a result of implicit discrimination due to lifestyle choices, then women’s lower earnings result from the fact that women take more time off when having children or choose to work fewer hours. If it is explicit discrimination, then the gender pay gap is a result of stereotypical beliefs. There is a debate as to what extent this is the result of gender differences, implicit discrimination due to lifestyle choices, or because of explicit discrimination. If it is a result of gender differences, then the pay gap is not a problem; men are simply better equipped to perform more valuable work than women. If it is a result of implicit discrimination due to lifestyle choices, then women's lower earnings result from the fact that women typically take more time off when having children or choose to work fewer hours.