Gender Schema Theory

• Gender schema after Gender Identity

  Martin and Halverson's cognitive developmental theory - understanding changes with age by active structuring of own learning

  schema - generalised representation of gender and appropriate gender based behaviours

  at gender identity - begin to search for info encouraging schema development
• Gender schema determine behaviour

  Gender schema may expand to include a wide range of behaviours and personality traits

  eg stereotypes about certain toys help children form understanding of themselves

  at age 6 children have rigid stereotypical gender views

  children misremember or discard info not relating to their own schema due to these stereotypes
• Ingroup inf remembered better

  better understanding of schema appropriate to own gender ingroup

  consistent with children being more attentive to own gender than the opposite ''outgroup''

  not until around age 9 when they develop elaborate schema for both genders

  ingroups help bolster a child's self esteem
• A03 : Research Support x3

  + Martin and Halverson - children recall pictures of people depicting professions - under age 6 more gender constant pictures eg female firefighter

  shows children under 6 are capable of gender identity + constancy

  + Martin and Little - children under age of 4 show no signs of consistency or stability but show strong stereotypes - supports martin and halverson that stereotyping occurs at identity not at later stages

  + Broadbard - ingroup and outgroup schema by labelling neutral objects as m /f - finding more interest in ingroup and more likely to remember
• A03 : Argument about timing

  -conflicting evidence for age of seeking gender appropriate behaviour

  Kohlberg and M+H agree active role in own learning and seek for appropriate behaviour but disagree when this starts

  Kohlberg argues must reach constancy at age 6 before seeking role models and appropriate behaviour

  M+H argue signs of behaviour start shortly after identity at age 2/3

  due to process of building ingroup gender schema, so will select behaviours corresponding to gender
• A03 : Cross Cultural Research

  +accounts for cultural differences in gender appropriate behaviour

  Cherry - schema influence processing and what is culturally acceptable

  traditional cultures of women nurturing and men working raise children consistent with these schemas versus parents with less rigid roles produce more fluid children

  M+H 's theory explains how schema are transmitted in society and how cultural stereotypes and differences occur

  Contrasts Bio seeing origin in hormones or Psychodynamic seeing childhood origins

  Neither have explanatory power of GST