kohlbergs theory

• Kohlberg's theory


  Focuses on how a child's understanding of gender develops with age (cognitive development)
• Stages of gender development

  1. Gender identity (2-3 years)

  2. Gender stability (4-6 years)

  3. Gender constancy (7+ years)
• Gender identity stage


  Children are aware of their own gender but believe gender can change
• Gender stability stage


  Child understands their own gender remains fixed despite outward changes, but believes gender of others might change if outward appearance changes
• Gender constancy stage


  Child realises that everybody's gender remains the same despite changes in outward appearance or context
• Once child has developed gender constancy

  They socialise themselves by actively seeking out same-sex models and information about how to act like a girl or a boy and only then do they show sex-typed behaviour
• Kohlberg's original research that his theory is based on may be flawed
• Kohlberg's original research


  • Interviewed children as young as two or three
  • Questions tailored towards the particular age group
  • May not have acknowledged that very young children lack the vocabulary required to express their understanding
  • May have come to inaccurate conclusions
• Such young children may have relatively complex ideas about gender but are not able to articulate them to a stranger (Kohlberg)
• This is a limitation because such research is likely to have low internal validity which means that the theory may also be low in validity
• A limitation of the theory is that research has shown that sex-typed behaviour appears before a child develops gender consistency
• Gender-role behaviour


  • Shown by most boys and girls by the time of their third birthday
  • Several years before Kohlberg suggests
  • Children prefer sex-appropriate toys from at least as early as 2 years old
  • Children prefer same-sex playmates from around 3 years of age
• Bussey and Bandura (1992) found that children as young as four reported 'feeling good' about playing with gender appropriate toys and the opposite about playing with toys for the opposite gender
• This is a limitation because this research suggests that gender-role behaviour does not depend on gender consistency as Kohlberg proposed or that, as previously mentioned, Kohlberg's approximate ages were wrong
• Although Kohlberg acknowledges that age related cognitive development drives a child's understanding of gender, he ignores other biological factors in gender identity
• Biological differences in males and females

  • Differences in hormones
  • Differences in the size of certain brain structures such as the BSTc
  • Cause males and females to behave differently
• This is a limitation because such evidence suggests that Kohlberg focuses too much on the child's cognitions and his theory is therefore over-simplistic