Gender Roles

Infancy and Childhood: Social and Emotional Development
369
LEARNING GENDER ROLES In every
culture, socialization by parents and others typically encourages the interests,
activities, and other characteristics traditionally associated with a child’s own
gender.
their children to develop these skills by engaging them in lots of “pretend” play and
other prosocial activities and by encouraging them to express their emotions constructively (Eisenberg et al., 2006; Ladd, 2005; Lopes et al., 2005).
LINKAGES
Who teaches boys to be men
and girls to be women?
(a link to Learning)
gender roles Patterns of work, appearance, and behavior that society
associates with being male or female.
Gender Roles
An important aspect of understanding other people is knowing about social roles,
including those linked to being male or female. All cultures establish expectations about
gender roles, the general patterns of work, appearance, and behavior associated with
being a man or a woman. Gender roles appear in every culture, but they are more pronounced in some cultures than in others. One analysis revealed, for example, that where
smaller differences in social status exist between males and females, gender-role differences are smaller as well (Wood & Eagly, 2002). In North America, some roles—such
as homemaker and firefighter—have traditionally been tied to gender, although these
traditions are weakening. Research by Deborah Best suggests that children show genderrole expectations earliest in Muslim countries (where the differences in roles are perhaps most extreme), but children in all twenty-five countries she studied eventually
developed them (Best, 1992; Williams & Best, 1990).
Gender roles appear and persist because they are deeply rooted in both nature and
nurture. Small physical and behavioral differences between the sexes appear early on
and tend to increase over the years. For example, girls tend to speak and write earlier
and to be better at grammar and spelling than boys (Halpern, 1997). Girls are also able
to read emotional signals at younger ages than boys (Dunn et al., 1991), and their play
tends to be more orderly. Boys tend to be more skilled than girls at manipulating
objects, constructing three-dimensional forms, and mentally manipulating complex figures and pictures (Choi & Silverman, 2003). They are more physically active and aggressive and more inclined to hit obstacles or people. They play in larger groups and spaces
and enjoy noisier, more strenuous physical games (Fabes, Martin, & Hanish, 2003).
Biological Factors A biological contribution to these and other male-female differences is supported by studies of differences in anatomy, hormones, and brain organization and functioning (Geary, 1999; Ruble, Martin, & Berenbaum, 2006). A biological basis for male-female differences is also supported by cross-cultural research that
shows consistency in gender patterns despite differing socialization (Simpson & Kenrick,
1997). In virtually every culture, for example, males are more violent than females.
in review
370
Chapter 9
Human Development
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT DURING INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD
Relationships
with Parents
Relationships with
Other Children
Birth–2 years
Infants form an attachment
to the primary caregiver.
Play focuses on toys, not
on other children.
Infants respond to
emotional expressions of
others.
2–4 years
Children become more
independent and no longer
need their parents’
constant attention.
Toys are a way of eliciting
responses from other
children.
Young children can
recognize emotions of
others.
4–10 years
Parents actively socialize
their children.
Children begin to
cooperate, compete, play
games, and form
friendships with peers.
Children learn social rules,
such as politeness, and
roles, such as being a
male or female.
Age
?
Social Understanding
1. As part of their social development, children learn
, which tell them what patterns of appearance and behavior are
associated with being male or female.
2. Teaching children to talk quietly in a restaurant is part of the process called
.
3. Strict rules and the threat of punishment are typical of
parenting.
Finally, research with nonhuman primates has found sex differences that parallel those
seen in human children. In one study, young female animals preferred playing with
dolls and young males preferred playing with a toy car (Alexander & Hines, 2002).
Social Factors There is no doubt, though, that socialization also influences gender
roles, partly by exaggerating whatever gender differences may already exist (Hyde,
2005). From the moment they are born, boys and girls are treated differently. Adults
usually play more gently with, and talk more to, infants they believe to be girls than
infants they believe to be boys (Culp, Cook, & Housley, 1983). They often shower their
daughters with dolls and tea sets, their sons with trucks and tools. They tend to encourage boys to achieve, compete, and explore; to control their feelings; to be independent;
and to assume personal responsibility. They more often encourage girls to be expressive, nurturant, reflective, dependent, domestic, obedient, and unselfish (Ruble et al.,
2006). In short, parents, teachers, and television role models consciously or accidentally pass on their ideas about “appropriate” behaviors for boys and girls (Parke &
Buriel, 2006; Ruble et al., 2006).
Children also pick up ideas about gender-appropriate behavior from their peers
(Martin & Fabes, 2001). For example, boys tend to be better than girls at computer or
video games (Greenfield, 1994). However, this difference stems partly from the fact that
boys encourage and reward each other for skilled performance at these games more
than girls do (Law, Pellegrino, & Hunt, 1993). Children are also more likely to play with
children of the same sex, and in gender-typical ways, on the playground than they are
in private, at home, or in the classroom (Luria, 1992). An analysis of 143 studies of sex
differences in aggression showed that boys acted significantly and consistently more
aggressively than girls, but especially so when they knew they were being watched
(Hyde, 1986). Among girls, aggression is less obvious; it is usually “relational aggression” that shows up in nasty words, not punching (Crick et al., 2004).
In short, social and cultural training tends to support and amplify any biological
predispositions that distinguish boys and girls. Gender roles reflect a mix of nature and
nurture. (Gender roles and other elements of early development are summarized in “In
Review: Social and Emotional Development During Infancy and Childhood.”)