Cognitive explanations: gender schema theory

• Martin and Halverson - Gender Schema theory - AO1


  • Children's understanding of gender increases with time
  • Children's understanding is through actively structuring their own learning - rather than passively learning and imitating role models.
  • A contrast to SLT
• Gender schema - AO1


  - An organised set of belief an expectation related to gender that are derived from experience.

  - Allows children to understand their own gender and gender appropriate behaviours.
• Gender schema develops after gender identity - AO1

  • Malvin and Halverson- once a child have developed gender identity at age 2-3 years
  • They will go in search in their environment for information that encourages the development of a gender schema
  • Contrasts Kohlberg's theory.
• Schema direct behaviour and self-understanding. - AO1


  - Schemas expand to include a wide range of behaviours and personality traits.

  - Young children - schemas are likely to based on stereotypes and these provide a framework that directs experiences and a child's understanding of themselves.

  - Age 6 - children likely had a rather fixed and stereotypical idea of gender.

  - Children are likely to disregard and misremember any information that does fit into the pre-existing schema.
• Ingroups and outgroups - AO1

  - Children tend to have a better understating of schemas appropriate to their own gender. - Ingroup.

  - Pay more attention to their group rather than the opposite - Outgroup

  - Not until a child s about 8 that they expand their schema to fit the opposite gender.
• Evidence to support gender schema theory - 😊

  - Marvin and Halverson own research supports the of a gender schema

  - They found that children age 6were more likely to remember gender inconsistent behaviour than gender inconsistent behaviour

  - When asked a week after children tend to change sex of person carrying our gender inconsistent behaviour when asked to recall it

  - Supports the idea that memory may be distorted to fit into existing gender schema

  - Martin and Little - children under age 4 showed no signs of gender constancy or stability still demonstrates strong sex-typed behaviours and attitudes.

  - Contradicts Kolberg theory but is consistent with gender schema theory.
• Rigidity of gender beliefs - 😊

  - Accounts for the fact that young children tend to hold very rigid and fixd gender attitudes

  - Information that conflicts with existing schema's would be distorted or ignored in favour of information that confirms ingroup schema.

  - Children display strong in-group bias in terms of how they process information

  - This is explained but the fact children pay nor attention to information that is relevant to their experience.

  - Martin and Halverson can explain many aspects of young children's thinking about gender.
• Complements Kolberg's theory - 😊

  - Although there are some many contradictions between these cognitive theories.

  - Stangor and Ruble have suggested that gender schema theory and gender constancy nay be two different processes

  - Genever schema concerned with how the organisation of information affects memory and explains gender inconsistent behaviour as children misremembering and forgetting things.

  - Gender constancy more linked to motivation When a child has firmly established their identity - girl or boy - they are motivated to find out more about this role and in engage in gender appropriate behaviours.