Kohlberg

• Kohlbergs Theory

  Held the idea that a child's understanding of gender becomes more sophisticated as they age. Believed to be a result of 'brain maturation'.
• Stage 1 - Gender Identity (Around 2 years)


  Children can correctly identify themselves as either male or female and this applies to other people. However, their understanding of gender doesn't go beyond labelling. For example, a little 2 year old boy might say "I want to be my mummy when I grow up".
• Stage 2 - Gender Stability (Around 4 years)


  Children realise that their gender will stay the same over time but they cant apply this logic to other situations/contexts. For example, they may think that because their mother cut her hair short makes her a boy now.
• Stage 3 - Gender Constancy (Around 6 years)


  Children realise that gender remains constant across time and throughout different contexts (changes in external appearance.) For example, they understand that a man with long hair is still a man.

  • This is a key stage because children begin to seek out models to identify with and imitate.
• A03

  Strength) Research support

  A researcher told a group of children a story about George, a boy whole liked to play with dolls, and the children were asked to comment. Four year olds said it was fine for George to play with dolls. In contrast, six year olds though it was wrong because they developed rules about what girls and boys should do.

  -> This suggests that gender stereotyping emerges around 6 years old, as Kohlberg stated.