2825594
Gender schema theory
- Outline
- A01
- Martin + Halverson
- Argue process of acquiring gender-relevant info
happens before gender consistency is achieved
- Claim basic gender identity is sufficient for child to identify him/herself
as B/G + take an interest in what behaviours are appropriate
- Claim basic gender identity is sufficient for child to identify him/herself
as B/G + take an interest in what behaviours are appropriate
- Suggest how acquisition of stereotypes affects later
behaviour, especially in terms of memory + attenetion
- Argue process of acquiring gender-relevant info
happens before gender consistency is achieved
- Martin + Halverson
- A02
- Gender constancy VS schemata
- Kohlberg claims children can't absorb gender-relevant knowledge until gender constancy, whereas
Martin + Halverson say it starts as soon as child has some awareness of which group they belong to
- Ruble et al
- Suggest constancy is 'one of most compelling yet
controversial ideas in gender research'
- However a no of studies don't
support Kohlberg's idea
- Bussey + Bandura
- Found B + G age 4 said they felt good about playing w/ gender-appropriate
toys + awful about playing w/ gender-inappropriate ones
- Kohlberg would suggest this couldn't happen until later
- Kohlberg would suggest this couldn't happen until later
- Found B + G age 4 said they felt good about playing w/ gender-appropriate
toys + awful about playing w/ gender-inappropriate ones
- Bussey + Bandura
- However a no of studies don't
support Kohlberg's idea
- Suggest constancy is 'one of most compelling yet
controversial ideas in gender research'
- Ruble et al
- Kohlberg claims children can't absorb gender-relevant knowledge until gender constancy, whereas
Martin + Halverson say it starts as soon as child has some awareness of which group they belong to
- Gender constancy VS schemata
- A01
- Schemas
- A01
- Children learn schemas related to gender through their interaction
w/ other children + adults as well as TV programmes or videos
- Schema or stereotypes have function of organising
+ structuring other info presented to children
- Learn about what toys are appropriate, what clothes to wear + so on
- These GS are like 'naïve' theories about
appropriate behaviour for M + W
- Learn about what toys are appropriate, what clothes to wear + so on
- Schema or stereotypes have function of organising
+ structuring other info presented to children
- Children learn schemas related to gender through their interaction
w/ other children + adults as well as TV programmes or videos
- A02
- Research support
- For gender stereotypes without constancy
- Martin + Little
- Found children under age of 4 showed no signs of
gender stability let alone signs of constancy
- But did display strong gender stereotypes about what B + G were permitted to do
- Shows they have acquired info about gender
roles before Kohlberg suggested
- Shows they have acquired info about gender
roles before Kohlberg suggested
- But did display strong gender stereotypes about what B + G were permitted to do
- Found children under age of 4 showed no signs of
gender stability let alone signs of constancy
- Martin + Little
- For gender stereotypes without constancy
- Research support
- A01
- Ingroup + outgroup schema
- A01
- Ingroup refers to groups w/
which person identifies
- Being a G means you identify
yourself w/ that group
- Also in many other groups (town you
come from, boy bands you like etc)
- Once child has identified w/ group this leads them to
+ve evaluate their own group + -ve evaluate outgroup
- Evaluation motivates child to be like their own
group + avoid behaviours of other group
- Leads them to actively seek
info about what ingroup does
- From early age, children focus on ingroup schemas + avoid
behaviours that belong to outgroup schemas
- Leads them to actively seek
info about what ingroup does
- Evaluation motivates child to be like their own
group + avoid behaviours of other group
- Once child has identified w/ group this leads them to
+ve evaluate their own group + -ve evaluate outgroup
- Also in many other groups (town you
come from, boy bands you like etc)
- Being a G means you identify
yourself w/ that group
- Ingroup refers to groups w/
which person identifies
- A02
- Effect on memory
- If gender schemas are
important in acquiring
info about ingroup
gender then we would
expect children to pay
greater attention to
info consistent w/
gender schemas + to
remember this info
better
- Martin + Halverson
- Found when children were asked to recall pics of people, children under 6
recalled more of gender-consistent ones than gender-inconsistent ones
- Also found when children were asked about the gender-inconsistent
pics they distorted the info so that it was gender-consistent in their
mind
- Also found when children were asked about the gender-inconsistent
pics they distorted the info so that it was gender-consistent in their
mind
- Found when children were asked to recall pics of people, children under 6
recalled more of gender-consistent ones than gender-inconsistent ones
- Bradbard et al
- Told 4-9 year olds that certain gender
neutral items were either B or G items
- Ppts took greater interest in toys labelled as ingroup
- 1 week later, they were able to
remember more details about ingroup
objects
- Shows how gender schema are related in
particular to memory (organisation of info)
- Shows how gender schema are related in
particular to memory (organisation of info)
- 1 week later, they were able to
remember more details about ingroup
objects
- Ppts took greater interest in toys labelled as ingroup
- Told 4-9 year olds that certain gender
neutral items were either B or G items
- If gender schemas are
important in acquiring
info about ingroup
gender then we would
expect children to pay
greater attention to
info consistent w/
gender schemas + to
remember this info
better
- Effect on memory
- A01
- Resilience of gender beliefs
- A01
- Important aspect of GST is
it can explain power of GB
- GB lead children to hold very fixed gender
attitudes because they ignore info
encountered that isn't consistent w/ ingroup
info
- For example
- If a B sees a film w/ a M nurse, info is ignored because M isn't
behaving consistently w/ boys ingroup schema - therefore, B
doesn't alter his existing schema
- In this way gender schema have a
profound effect on what is remembered
- In this way gender schema have a
profound effect on what is remembered
- If a B sees a film w/ a M nurse, info is ignored because M isn't
behaving consistently w/ boys ingroup schema - therefore, B
doesn't alter his existing schema
- For example
- GB lead children to hold very fixed gender
attitudes because they ignore info
encountered that isn't consistent w/ ingroup
info
- Important aspect of GST is
it can explain power of GB
- A02
- Resilience of
children's stereotypes
- Explains why children are frequently highly
sexist despite best efforts of parents
because they actively seek to acquire
gender-appropriate schema
- Hoffman
- Reports children whose mothers work have less stereotyped
views of what men do, suggesting children aren't entirely
fixed in views but are receptive to some gender inconsistent
ideas
- Reports children whose mothers work have less stereotyped
views of what men do, suggesting children aren't entirely
fixed in views but are receptive to some gender inconsistent
ideas
- Hoffman
- Explains why children are frequently highly
sexist despite best efforts of parents
because they actively seek to acquire
gender-appropriate schema
- IDA - Real-world application
- Fact GS lead to misremembering or even distorting info has
important implications for efforts to reduce gender stereotypes
- Means even when children are exposed to
counter-stereotypes they don't remember them accurately
- Suggests use of counter-stereotypes may
not be best way to reduce children's GS
- Suggests use of counter-stereotypes may
not be best way to reduce children's GS
- Means even when children are exposed to
counter-stereotypes they don't remember them accurately
- Fact GS lead to misremembering or even distorting info has
important implications for efforts to reduce gender stereotypes
- IDA -Freudian approach
- Proposed around age of 3, B becomes
sexually aware + attracted to mother
- Makes him wish his father dead so he can have his mother to himself
- Such wishes make B feel guilty but ultimately are
resolved through gender identification w/ father
- If conflict isn't resolved B may have gender identity probs
- Similar process happens in G
- Interesting to note their are some similarities between this + GST
- Critical age is closer to GST than Kohlberg + F suggested identification w. ingroup was important to taking on gender attitudes
- Critical age is closer to GST than Kohlberg + F suggested identification w. ingroup was important to taking on gender attitudes
- Interesting to note their are some similarities between this + GST
- Similar process happens in G
- If conflict isn't resolved B may have gender identity probs
- Such wishes make B feel guilty but ultimately are
resolved through gender identification w/ father
- Makes him wish his father dead so he can have his mother to himself
- Proposed around age of 3, B becomes
sexually aware + attracted to mother
- Compromise
- Stangor + Ruble
- Proposed means of unifying GST + Kohlberg
- Argue that GS + GC may represent different processes
- GS concerned w/ organisation of info +
therefore should affect cognitive variables
such as memory, whereas GC more concerned
w/ motivation + thus should be associated w/
things like activity choice
- GS concerned w/ organisation of info +
therefore should affect cognitive variables
such as memory, whereas GC more concerned
w/ motivation + thus should be associated w/
things like activity choice
- Argue that GS + GC may represent different processes
- Tested children aged 4-10 years
- Found (a) memory for gender-consistent pics increased w/
age + (b) that preference for same-sex toys increased w/
increased gender constancy
- Found (a) memory for gender-consistent pics increased w/
age + (b) that preference for same-sex toys increased w/
increased gender constancy
- Proposed means of unifying GST + Kohlberg
- Stangor + Ruble
- Resilience of
children's stereotypes
- A01
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