CHILD DEVELOPMENT GENDER IDENTITY

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Gender and identity

gender identity refers to the extent which one identifies as being either masculine or feminine. According to Brooks-Gun (1979) gender is one of the earliest social categories learned by a child . This essay will aim to explore how and when a child acquires the ability to identify with their correct gender.For this gender labelling,stability,constancy and stereotypes will be discussed.

Kohlberg (1966) puts forward a stage theory of gender development. His theory proposes that a

child’s understanding of gender moves forward in stages. At each successive stage, the child

thinks in characteristic ways about gender. As the child moves through the stages its understanding

of gender becomes more complex this re gender labelling gender stability and gender constancy

Gender it is typically the first collective social identity that children learn and is associated with a range of stereotypes used by children and adults to make inferences about others (Ruble et al., 2004).

Gender labelling is thought to signal children’s advance to a conscious awareness of separate gender categories and the ability to use gender category information deliberately.

It has been argued that successful labelling occurs at age of three, This was demonstrated by Thompson 1975 whose experiment implied that it was not until the age of 3 that children were capable of sorting out photographs in the basis of gender even when pictures of them selves were included. On one hand , it is important to recognize that this experiment used non-verbal measures this could be an advantage as language abilities will not be an extraneous variable correlating with the age of the participant . However whether this technique is adequate for measuring children's knowledge of gender categories is debatable. This is because studies using different procedures and replications have demonstrated, that despite the child being unable to correctly sort out the photographs, they were able to correctly verbally label the person in terms of gender by answering questions such as what kind of person is this? Weiraub 1984.The importance of considering verbal labelling hen studying gender identity is Further highlighted by Benedict 1979 He argues that The words children use are thought to be expressions of their mental representations,therefore since comprehension is thought to come before word production, the ability to verbally express gender differentiation reflects the child's conceptual knowledge of gender categorization.

Furthermore, Zolus et al 2009 also suggested that knowledge of gender categories can arise before the age of 2. To empirically support this theory, a sophisticated longitudinal study was conducted in which both interviews with the parents and videotapes of child play either with mother or by themselves were analysed.the results showed that by 19 months kids begun to demonstrate various aspects of gender labelling by successfully applying labels such as ‘mummy’ or daddy’ to their parents.

However the ideas that is is not until the age 3 that kids can successfully apply gender labels cannot be discarded as supporting evidence suggests that although children might be able to label others as males or females by the hey are still incapable of identifying their own gender identity if directly asked (..........)

Following successful labelling, children begin to gain knowledge of gender stability, This refers to the ability to understand that gender group membership usually remains stable and permanent overtime.

Children achieve this at 4 years of age (Slaby

and Frey, 1975), but it is unstable

• Children can still be confused by changes

appearance etc. (Emmerich et al., 1977) this is because at this stage, their understanding of gender is heavily influenced

by external features like hair and clothing. A boy at this stage might say that if he put a dress on he

would be a girl. Children recognise that gender is stable over time: boys will grow up to be daddies, and girls will grow up to be mummies. However, the unchanging nature of gender – that it remains the same regardless of changes in superficial appearance or activity choice – is not yet appreciated.

By the age of 5 gender constancy appears to emerge , This refers to the ability to understand that gender group membership is unchanged despite changes in appearance.rather than focusing so much in the physical aspects of gender the child must be able to comprehend the behaviours associated with gender.One such structured interview schedule is the Gender

Concept Interview. This involves asking children questions about their own and others’ gender

(identity), what their gender was in the past or might be in the future (stability) and what their gender

might be if they were to, for example, play with toys associated with the opposite sex (gender

constancy). Slaby and Frey (1975) used this interview schedule and found that children fell into

three distinct groups which reflected the stages of gender development described by Kohlberg meaning that only until the kids reached

Stereotyping is also a very important aspect of obtaining a coherent sense of gender identity.This refers to the ability to posses beliefs about what is typical for member of a either gender group .According to Serbin et al 1993 by the age of 9 the stereotypes given are very similar to those given by an adult ,Children can still be confused by changes

appearance etc. (Emmerich et al., 1977)

Support for Kohlberg:Slaby and Frey (1975)- 55 children between 2 and 5 ½ years- Interviewed to test 3 stages of genderidentity- From the interview, they found that:97% had achieved gender identity75% had achieved gender stability50% had achieved gender consistency- Study shows that stages are sequential likeKohlberg said- HOWEVER, findings also show genderconsistency may be acquired earlier thanKohlberg thought

Such developmental stages parallel Piaget’s cognitive development theory whereby a child’s mental

processes become increasingly sophisticated as they age. This is particularly so where conservation

is obtained during the concrete operational stage, allowing them to realise that objects stay the

same even if they are made to appear different

It is important to note, That most of the studies used to understand the developmental stage s of gender identity have relied on quasi experimental methods,This can be problematic as age and gender cannot be randomly assigned or manipulated , therefore making it challenging to make casual inferences

:) unlike social learning theory sees the child as active rather than passive

identity Formation

identity is the conception of our self-identity

• It can exist at an individual level or at the

group level

• We apply different labels to ourselves that

reflect our values and goals

• These can be used to define ourselves as

individuals or that display our affiliation to

others

The notion of identity formation and its

importance in becoming a content adult was

first described by psychoanalyst Erik Erikson

(1950)

• Constructing an identity involves defining who

you are, the things you value and the

directions that you choose to take in your life

Erikson argued that successful psychosocial

outcomes in infancy and childhood are a critical

step towards forming a coherent identity in

adulthood