Kolhberg

Kolhberg

1. Stages of Gender Development

   • 1. Gender Identity
     • Occurs during the the ages of 2 and 3
     • Child understands that they are a boy or girl but believe that it can change later in life
   • 2. Gender Stability
     • Occurs during the ages of 3 to 5
     • Child understands that gender is fixed but believe it can change over situations
       • E.g. when wearing opposite gender clothes
     • Self-actualisation- child actively seeks out same sex role model and imitates them
   • 3. Gender Constancy
     • Occurs during the ages of 5 to 7
     • The child understands that gender is fixed over all situations
     • Child now has developed gender appropriate schemas about; clothes, personalities, toys etc.

2. Evaluation

   • Strengths
     • Acknowledges both nature and nurture
       • Stages universal- stages are seen across cultures in the same order. Suggests a biological bases
       • Takes into account environmental influences like observations and role models
   • Limitations
     • Underestimates the cognitive ability of young children

3. Research

   • Munroe
     • Aim: Investigate the Stages of Development in different cultures
     • Study: studied 6 different cultures
     • Findings: All 6 cultures showed all 3 stages in the same order
     • Evaluation
       • Provides support for the theory
       • 6 cultures are not representative of the world
   • McConaghy
     • Aim: Investigation into the Stages of Gender development
     • Study: 3-4 year old children asked to identify the gender of a doll wearing transparent clothes, so based on genitals
     • Findings: assumed gender based on clothes not genitals
     • Evalutation:
       • Provides support for the theory
       • The findings are not absolute

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