gender schema theory

• Gender Schema Theory


  A cognitive theory which states that children's understanding of gender develops with age/cognitive development
• Gender Schema Theory


  • Males and females develop different gender identities because they have acquired different schemas for each gender
  • A gender schema is a mental representation about gender-related behaviours
  • Gender schemas are based on the individual's past experience, which will inevitably be affected by their culture
  • Gender schemas affect how we expect each gender to behave and contain information about appropriate behaviours, clothes, characteristics and roles for males/females
  • The schemas are quite rigid in young children and are based on sex-role stereotypes
  • They lead to the formation of in-groups and out-groups - children identify as being a boy/girl (in-group) and recognise the opposite gender is different (out-group)
  • Children behave in ways that are consistent with their in-group schema and avoid behaviours held in their out-group schema
  • Individuals focus on and remember behaviours that match their gender schema and ignore/modify information that does not
• Gender Schema Theory


  A cognitive theory which states that children's understanding of gender develops with age/cognitive development
• Gender Schema Theory


  • Males and females develop different gender identities because they have acquired different schemas for each gender
  • A gender schema is a mental representation about gender-related behaviours
  • Gender schemas are based on the individual's past experience, which will inevitably be affected by their culture
  • Gender schemas affect how we expect each gender to behave and contain information about appropriate behaviours, clothes, characteristics and roles for males/females
  • The schemas are quite rigid in young children and are based on sex-role stereotypes
  • They lead to the formation of in-groups and out-groups - children identify as being a boy/girl (in-group) and recognise the opposite gender is different (out-group)
  • Children behave in ways that are consistent with their in-group schema and avoid behaviours held in their out-group schema
  • Individuals focus on and remember behaviours that match their gender schema and ignore/modify information that does not
• The study only demonstrates a correlation.
• The study


  Demonstrates a relationship between the children's assumed gender schema and their ability to remember the picture correctly
• The study does not directly test the child's gender schema (as it is not possible to do this) so there could have been other factors that affected the results e.g. if the picture was showing their favourite colour or activity.
• The study also does not test the effect of Gender Schema on behaviour, just on recall.
• This is a limitation because the results cannot explain if the children's gender schema causes their behaviour or if children are more likely to remember schema-consistent information.
• Gender Schema Theory ignores research suggesting that biological differences in males and females cause gender differences in behaviour
• Biological differences causing gender differences

  • Differences in hormones
  • Size of certain brain structures such as the BSTc
• This is a limitation because it may provide an over-simplistic explanation of gender
• Gender Schema Theory


  • Acknowledges that nature and nurture may work together
  • Suggests gender development is caused by a combination of cognitive development (nature) and experience (nurture)
  • Experience is of much greater importance