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The developmental course of gender differentiation: conceptualizing, measuring, and evaluating constructs and
Lynn S Liben1, Rebecca S Bigler
1Pennsylvania State University, USA.
Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development
|December 6, 2002
Summary
This study explores how children
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Gender Studies
Background:
- Gender differentiation is pervasive, with constructivist theories guiding research on its development.
- Previous studies support constructivist predictions on gender attitudes and information processing.
- Limited research has explored the link between children's attitudes toward others' gender and their self-perceptions of gender.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between children's developing gender attitudes about others and their developing gender characterizations of self during middle childhood.
- To address limitations in existing measures for assessing gender constructs.
- To propose and test alternative models (attitudinal and personal pathway models) for the other-self gender relation.
Main Methods:
- Developed and validated new measures (OAT-AM and COAT-AM for attitudes, OAT-PM and COAT-PM for self-characterization) for occupations, activities, and traits.
- Collected longitudinal data from 11-13-year-old children over four time points.
- Examined concurrent and prospective relationships between sex typing of others and self.
Main Results:
- Supported conceptual distinctions between gender attitudes toward others, feminine self, and masculine self.
- Found differing other-self relations by participant sex.
- Girls showed concurrent links between fewer stereotypes for others and more masculine self-endorsements; boys showed prospective links where endorsing feminine traits predicted more egalitarian attitudes later.
Conclusions:
- The study highlights distinct developmental pathways for gender attitudes and self-perceptions in middle childhood.
- Findings suggest sex-specific dynamics in the interplay between social gender attitudes and personal gender identity.
- Further research is needed to understand the cognitive-developmental mechanisms underlying age-related changes in sex typing.