Describe and evaluate Kohlberg's explanation for gender development [16]

Question 1

Overview of Kohlberg’s

What does it involve?
Argued that.. (when does gender development start and end.)

Answer 1

• Involves the brain and its processes.
• Argued that gender development started at age 2 and finishes at age 7 in the form of 3 qualitatively different stages.
• Stages 1 - 3 (e.g gender identity, stability and constancy.) Explain.

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Question 2

Stage 1 -Gender Identity
AO1

When does this happen.
Characteristics
children don’t understand
what do they believe.

Answer 2

• Happens between ages 2-3 and involves child labelling gender.
• Children label gender correctly based of superficial characteristics.
• At this stage child doesn’t understand their gender is fixed - they believe they can grow up into the opposite gender.

Question 3

Stage 2 - Gender
Child understands…
across time
across situations

Answer 3

• Happens at age 3-5
• Children understand that gender is fixed across time and now e.g a male will be a male whe they grow.
• But don’t understand that gender is fixed across situations e.g a man with long hair is seen as a women by a child.

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Question 4

Stage 3 - Gender constancy
AO1

Child has more what
Observe what to identify

Answer 4

• Happens between ages 5-7
• Child understands gender is fixed across time and across situations and they have a more complex understanding of permanency.
• They also observe models of the same sex to identify gender appropriate behaviours reffered to as ‘Selfsocialism’ by Kohlberg.

Question 5

Strength of Kohlberg’s of development
Nature and Nature (issues and debates)
AO3

Answer 5

• It explans the roles of both nature and nuture within gender development
• the process of brain maturation is a biological factor and so nature is involved in gender development.
• Nuture involved through the child processes of self-socialisation
• Resulting in his theory being less reductionist than other theories of gender develop such as GST
• Providing a valuable insight into the development of gender.

Question 6

Stength of Kolhberg’s theory - Supports Kohlberg’s three stages - Split screen viewing - Children watching men and women performing same task.
Slaby and Frey (1975)
It is an active process

Answer 6

Asked young children questions like ‘were you a little girl or a little boy when you were a baby?’

They found children didn’t recognise gender stabiity until 3 or 4 years old. Also children who scored highlu on stability and constancy showed greater interest in same-sex models.

L - Supports kohlberg and his prediction that children who have achieved constancy wil pay more attention to same-sex model.

Question 7

Criticism of Kohlbergs theory. - Methodological criticisms of studies with young ppl
Martin and Halverson (1983)

AO3

Answer 7

M&H - re-examined the responses, concluding that the children were in ‘pretend mode’
Bem (1989) argued that the children use the cues thar are most relevent in our society, such as clothes, and that many children who couldn’t conserve didnt actually know what opposite-gender genitals look like.

L- Weaknes the validity of the findings and their support for the theory.

Question 8

Criticism for Kohlberg’s theory - Gender stereotypes without constancty (Constancy may not be required)
Martin and Little (1990)
AO3

Answer 8

M&L (1990) - showed that children under the age of 4 display strong gender sterotypes.
For example, they had strong beliefs about what boys anf girls permitted to do. This was before rhey had developed gender stability (2) let alone gender constancy.

L: This shows that they have acquired information about gender roles before Kohlberg suggested in with with predictions of GST.

Question 9

What is the Ao3 you are using for Kohlberg’s theory of gender 16 marker

Answer 9

Supporting the theory

• Slaby anf Frey (1975) - Research evidence
• Nature and Nature (issues and debates)

Critiquing the theory
Martin and Little (1990) - Gender stereotypes without constancty (Constancy may not be required)
Slaby and Frey - Gender differences
Martin and Halverson (1983) Methodological criticisms of studies with young ppl

Question 10

Criticism of Kohlbergs theory

Slaby and Frey - Gender differences

Answer 10

Found that boys tend to exhibity gender constancy before girls.
May be because boys are more likely to identify the same-gender role models as men are more powerful in society. In addiction boys are more likely to be punished for gender inappropirate behaviour than girls

L - KT is incomplrtr as principles of SLT are also involved.