AO3 - Gender Schema Theory

• Martin & Halverson (1981) found that when shown images of people in different roles, children under age 6 recalled more gender consistent (a male firefighter) than gender inconsistent ones (a male nurse).
• Bradbard et al (1986) found children aged 4-9 years were more likely to explore objects labelled for their gender which supports the view that the understanding of gender identity is a deciding factor in toy preference.
• Bauer (1993) studied the way in which children call upon gender schemas when processing information. Bauer found that boys are more likely than girls to make use of gender schemas by the age of 25 months.
• Campbell et al (2000) studied three groups of babies, age 3 months, 9 months and 18 months using a visual preference technique. 3-month-old babies showed a slight preference towards watching same-sex babies, whereas 9-month-old babies preferred to look at gender specific toys.
• Campbell et al (2000) suggests that babies develop gender schemas before they can even talk. They argue that boys have a stronger drive to tune in to their in-group than girls.
• Campbell (2004) carried out a longitudinal study of 56 children at 27 and 39 months. The children were asked to point to a girl or a boy, and gender specific toys or activities.
• Campbell (2004) found that 53% of 2-year-olds could carry out a gender labelling task and by the age of 3 years, 94% could.
• Campbell (2004) found that at the age of 2, 20% of children could stereotype toys and this increased to 51% by the time they were 3.
• Campbell (2004) concluded that gender schemas develop rapidly between the ages of two and three years.
• Zosuls et al (2009) looked at the onset of gender identity using a longitudinal study of 82 children, where data was obtained twice a week. Through videotape analysis of the children at play, they were able to see that children have a gender identity around 19 months but cannot communicate it.
• One strength of Gender Schema Theory is the suggestion that children are active in the development of gender rather than passive recipients as suggested by the Social Learning Theory.
• One advantage of Gender Schema Theory over Kohlberg’s theory is the inclusion of social and cultural influences on the development of gender. This increases the validity of the theory.
• Cherry (2019) argues that gender schema not only influence how people process information but also what counts as culturally appropriate gender behaviour.
• Unlike the Social Learning Theory, which states that same-sex role models will be imitated regardless of the type of behaviour shown, Gender Schema Theory explains why same-sex role models demonstrating gender appropriate behaviour are much more likely to be imitated.
• Gender Schema Theory is considered reductionist as it fails to account for the influence of biological factors on gender behaviour.
• Both Kohlberg and Gender Schema Theory focus on the first seven years of a child's life and ignore puberty when gender identity is most vulnerable.