Social explanations

• • All behaviour (including gender-related behaviour) is learned from observing others.
  • SLT draws attention to the influence of the environment in shaping gender development. For example the people the child interacts with (parents, teachers, peers.)
• Direct Reinforcement


  • Children are reinforced for gender-appropriate behaviours that they learn from models. For example, a boy is praised for being assertive and active but punished for being passive and sensitive. Eventually, these behaviours become internalised, meaning that they believe that these gender appropriate behaviours are the correct way to act and will therefore no longer need any type of reinforcement to continue displaying them.
• Indirect Reinforcement(i.e. vicarious reinforcement)


  • If the consequences of another person's behaviour are favourable, then that behaviour is more likely to be imitated by a child. For example, a little girl starts playing with her kitchen set more often because her father compliments her mother's cooking. VISE VERSA
• Modelling

  Children are more likely to 'model'/imitate a behaviour if that model is similar to them. For example, a little girls mother models stereotypical feminine behaviour like hoovering the house. The little girl then copies this behaviour when she models it by tidying her toys.
• Mediational processes (The cognitive factors that determine whether or not a behaviour is imitated).


  • Attention - A little boy watches what a footballer is doing.
  • Retention - He retains the skills the football player used.
  • Reproduction - Physically imitating that behaviour. (But the replicability is based on whether the observer possess the physical capability to replicate that behaviour).
  • Motivation - The child's reason for wanting to imitate said behaviour. (Perhaps he wants to be like his hero).
• A03

  Strength) It was observed that adults with babies who (irrespective of their biological sex) were dressed up in boys/girls clothes. The babies assumed to be male were encouraged to be adventurous and given a hammer. Those assumed to be female were reinforced for being passive and praised for being pretty.

  ->This suggests that gender appropriate behaviours are reinforced at an early age.
• A03

  Limitation) SLT doesn't account for the developmental process

  SLT states that 'modelling' can occur at any age. This is illogical as a 2 year old obviously doesn't learn the same way as a 9 year old would.

  ->This shows that SLT does not consider age and maturation as a factor in the learning of gender-appropriate behaviours.
• A03

  Limitation) Martin et al. found that children preferred toys that were labelled as their own gender regardless of how exciting the toys were. This suggests that gendered behaviour is influenced by direct instructions instead of modelled behaviour.