Cognitive - Kohlberg

• Kohlberg's theory is a cognitive explanation that states children become more aware of gender as they mature, including gender appropriate roles, behaviours and attitudes.

  As the brain matures, so does thinking, running parallel to intellectual development.

  Kohlberg identified 3 stages of gender which he provided approximate ages for specifying that gender understanding is gradual.
• Gender identity is around the age of 2 years.

  Here, Kohlberg said that children could identify themselves as a boy or girl.

  At 3 years most children can identify other people as men and women but often do not view gender as fixed so a boy may still suggest they want to be like mummy.
• Gender stability is around the age of 4 years.

  Kohlberg said this is when a child realises their gender remains e.g they are either a boy or a girl.

  This is not applied to others', for example they may see a man with long hair still as a woman and may believe that a woman completing building work is a man.
• Gender constancy is around the age of 6 years and this is where gender is constant across all time and situations and is applied to others' genders as well as their own.

  For example they may see a man wearing a dress as strange but will still understand they are a man.

  In this stage, children also seek out gender appropriate role models which they can identify with and imitate.

  Gender stereotyping occurs at this stage.
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  Research support for gender constancy comes from Damon who told a story about George a boy who liked to play with dolls, to children.

  The children aged 4 said it was fine for George to play with dolls but the children aged 6 thought it was wrong .

  This is because they had gone beyond understanding what boys and girls do to developing rules about what they should do (gender stereotyping).

  This suggests that children who have achieved constancy form rigid stereotypes regarding gender appropriate behaviour which increases the validity of Kohlberg's theory.
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  Contradictory evidence for the stages of gender comes from Bandura and Bussey.

  They found that children as young as 4 years old felt good about playing with gender appropriate toys and bad about doing the opposite which shows evidence that gender constancy occurs earlier.

  Also this contradicts what Kohlberg suggests by stating that children absorb gender appropriate information as soon as they reach gender identity stage.

  Therefore this decreases the validity of Kohlberg's theory.
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  Critics have suggested that their may be more stages within the gender constancy stage.

  Martin et al suggests there may be different degrees of gender constancy, the first being that children orient the importance of gender by choosing specific friends and this may develop before age 6.

  The second stage heightens responsiveness to gender norms specifically under conditions of conflict e.g choosing appropriate clothes and attitudes.

  This suggests constancy may be more gradual than first thought which suggests Kohlberg's theory lacks comprehension.