Chapter 10

Question 1

When does a sense of self start to develop?

Answer 1

• Start to develop a sense of self at 15-18 months

Question 2

What is a social role?

What is a gender role?

Answer 2

• A social role is a set of cultural guidelines for how a person should behave
• Social roles associated with genders are the first people learn, these gender roles are learned in preschool and are culturally prescribed roles considered appropriate for a particular gender

Question 3

What is a gender stereotypes?

Answer 3

• All cultures have gender stereotypes – beliefs about how genders differ in personality, traits, interests and behaviours
• These stereotypes may not be true

Question 4

What are instrumental and expressive charrecteristics?

Answer 4

• Male associated traits are called instrumental because they reflect active involvement and influence over the environment (Moore, 2007)
• Female associated traits are called expressive as these reflect emotional functioning and a focus on interpersonal relations
•

Question 5

Do gender traits vary across cultures?

When do north american children know these?

Answer 5

These traits vary across cultures; our ideas about what men and women should and should not do are determined culturally and cultures vary on these ideas
• By the time north American children are ready to enter elementary school, they have a solid knowledge of these stereotypes

Question 6

When does stereotyping happen for girls and boys?

Answer 6

• Poulin-Dubois, Serbin, Eichstedt, Sen & Beissel, 2002) showed that stereotyping of activities for girls happens as early as 24 months and for boys 31 months

Question 7

How strict are preschooler’s views on gender stereotypes?

Answer 7

• Children’s views on these roles are strict as they do not appreciate the stereotypes might not apply (Martin, 1989)

Question 8

How do children develop a gender identity?

At what age do they start?

Answer 8

• As kids learn the roles expected of boys and girls, they start to identify with one group
• The family is the main source of this, (Dobrescu & Atudorei, 2018)
• Also peers, media school etc.
• At about age 3, children start making a gender identity – a person’s inner sense of the person’s own gender
• This if often caused by curiosity about how their body is the same of different from others

Question 9

What did Bandura find about gender roles?

Answer 9

• According to these people like bandura, people learn gender roles through reinforcement and observational learning
• Bandura found there is an own gender information bias, kids imitate the behaviour of their own gender more readily than others (Losin, Lacobnomi, Martin & Dapretto, 2012)

Question 10

What about reward centers in the brain?

Answer 10

• Reward centers in brain are activated when children imitate own gender folk so there is a biological mechanism (same reference)

Question 11

How do families, especially parents, socialize kids into gender roles?

Answer 11

• Lytton & Romney (1991) found that parents gave equal attention to kids of all genders but changed the choice of toys to play with along gender lines
• Fathers are more likely to treat daughters and sons as differently than mothers; they also push sons towards independence but are fine with dependence in daughters
• Mothers respond more based on own needs, fathers more based on gender roles

Question 12

How does literature and the media socialize gender roles into kids?

Answer 12

• Kids literature has more male than female characters (Clark, Guilmain, Saucier & Tavarez)
• Television helps teach gender roles but there is inconclusive evidence that there is an effect on actual behaviour
• Men have usually been cast as masculine and women as feminine typed roles in movies etc

Question 13

Kimball’s study of media effects on gender stereotyping?

Answer 13

• Kimball (1986) studied gender roles in a small Canadian town that did not have tv until 1974
• Children’s gender role beliefs before and after TV were measured: traits, behaviours, occupations and peer relations
• Boys – changed to more stereotyped views on all measures, Girls – for traits and peer relations only
• Shows media roles can have an impact on gender stereotyping

Question 14

How do peers affect gender roles?

Answer 14

• Peers are also influential - they are critical of others engaging in other gender typed play (Langlois & Downs, 1980)

Question 15

What shows that learning gender roles cannot all be about imitation?

Answer 15

• If it was all about observational learning, then boys growing up in traditional families would behave like their mothers because they spend more time with them; it is not just learning the gender role but also learning to identify with one gender – cognitive theories help here

Question 16

What is the cognitive theory of gender roles?

Over what years does each of the three milestones happen?

Answer 16

Cognitive theories on Gender Roles
• Focuses on children’s active construction of their own understanding of gender Lawrence Kohlberg (1966) says there are 3 elements
• Gender labelling: learning to name who is a girl and who is a boy; occurs by 2 or 3
• Gender stability: Understanding a person’s gender does not change; during the preschool years, kids learn gender is typically stable – boys become men etc. However, at this stage kids believe that children who wear their hair like a girl become girls and like a boy become boys (Fagot, 1985)
• Gender consistency: Between 4 and 7, most children believe that maleness and femaleness do not change over situations or according to personal wishes. They understand that a child’s gender is unaffected by the clothing a child wears or the toys they like.
• A 4 year old might know they are a boy or a girl but they have not yet developed a sense of gender stability or gender constancy: the knowledge that gender can be identified, is stable and remains constant over time
• Gender constancy requires a child to go through the 3 stages; labelling, stability and consistency – when they have all 3 = gender constancy

Question 17

3 milestones of gender constancy and their ages?

Answer 17

Gender labeling - 2-3
Gender stability - 3-4.5
Gender consistency - 4/7

Once all three have been achieved = gender constancy

Question 18

What is Kholberg’s gender constancy theory and when does it arise?

Answer 18

• According to Kholberg, not until children have constancy; they understand that gender is constant, do they start to learn what behaviours are appropriate fore their genders
• Research shows that children 3.5 year olds do not understand constancy, but 4 they do but did not know much about typed activities, by 4.5 they understood gender typed activities. There is a process they go through
• NO children lacked gender constancy but knew about typed activities
• This theory says when, but not how they learn typed activities

Question 19

What is gender schema theory?

What are its steps?

Answer 19

• Martin & Halverston (1987) proposed Gender-schema theory – kids first decide if an object, activity or behaviours is female or male, they pay attention to the activities that are gender constant
• So once they know their gender hey pay attention to the things which correspond to it
• Eg a boy sees girls play in sand – its not for him/ he sees older boys playing football – he decides, because he is a boy, that football is acceptable, and he will learn more about it
• Once they have a gender schema, they see the world through it and only notice gender specific activities
• They use gender labels to evaluate stuff like toys; tell a kid a toy is appropriate for their gender and they like it more (Martin, Eisenbud & Rose, 1995)

Question 20

How can people and parents help to lessen gender stereotypes?

Answer 20

Beyond gender stereotypes
• Children can be taught not to have stereotyped views
• Parents can model non-stereotyped behavior
• Parents should base choices on what their kid wants or needs (activities/chores), not their gender
• They cannot be sheltered from all external stereotype building influences but where possible, could be minimized

Question 21

Testicles in development and gender

Answer 21

• If fetus has testicles, they start producing anti-Mullerian hormone and testosterone at 7-8 weeks of gestation (Roselli, 2017)
• If XX, no testicles, no testosterone and the fetus develops female organs
• Prenatal testosterone levels influence masculinity
• Affect development of brain neurologically and behaviourally (Roseli, 2017)

Question 22

Evidence against hormones forcing gender roles and roseli’s perspective?

Answer 22

• While level of sex hormones is related to the development of gender identity, this relationship exists in early years and is not related to later in adulthood
• While some people who have atypical exposure to hormones in development have altered gender identities, others with altered identities do not
• Roseli says biology has an influence over a person’s gender identity but it is not understood how yet

Question 23

Twin studies and hereditary factors in development

Answer 23

• Questionnaires that measure instrumental traits and expressive traits are more similar for identical twins than fraternal – hereditary component

Question 24

CAH and gender development

Answer 24

Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia C.A.H.
• Adrenal glands on top of kidneys – make corticosteroids and sex hormones
• Faulty gene stops production of corticosteroids
• Brian releases hormone that usually causes more production on response to low levels in blood
• Cannot make more
• Adrenal grows massively
• Produces excess sex hormones but still no corticosteroids
• Symptoms are low blood salt and sugar and sometimes in girls, male genital features
• Treatment is lifelong corticosteroids, more when sick

Question 25

Basics of Self esteem (according to Erikson)

Answer 25

* During preschool years, kids take more responsibility for themselves * Erikson said they soon realize that their initiative can place them inn conflict with others * According to Erikson, purpose is achieved with a balance between individual initiative and a willingness to co-operate with others * A by-product of this psychosocial growth is they acquire self-esteem: the first feelings about their own worth * Kids with high self-esteem judge themselves highly and feel positive about themselves, low self esteem kids judge themselves negatively, are unhappy with themselves and often, would rather be someone else

Question 26

How do you measure self-esteem in preschooler's?

Answer 26

* Assessed by Harter & Pike using photos of someone completing and failing a task – kids asked to point at the one that resembles them and a big circle if it is a big resemblance and a small circle if it is a small resemblance * Measures beliefs about their cognitive competence, physical competence, acceptance by peers and acceptance by mother * Most preschool kids have really high self-esteem, which drops when they enter school!

Question 27

How does your family act as a system? How do parents influence children? Is there a social context?

Answer 27

The Family as a System • Families are seen contemporarily as a system of interacting elements (Parke & Buriel, 1998) • Parents influence their children directly (like encouragement to study hard) and indirectly (being kind to others) • Influence is mutual; kids influence parents too • A demanding father can inflict damage on mother child relationships – the systems all interact in complex ways • The family system is embedded in a wider societal context • Culture also has a huge role

Question 28

What are the 3 main aspects of parenting?

Answer 28

• 3 main aspects of parenting; looking out for children’s safety and health, preparing children for productive adulthood and sharing cultural values with children (APA,2018)

Question 29

The two main domains of parent typing

Answer 29

* Two main domains: Degree of warmth and responsiveness and the degree of control exerted over children * Children benefit from warm, responsive (rather than cold and unresponsive) parents (Pettit, Bates & Dodge, 1997) * When parents are warm, kids usually feel secure and are better behaved, opposite is also true (Rothbaum & Weisz, 1994) * The two dimensions produce four styles or parenting (Baumrind, 1975; 1991)

Question 30

How does controlling behavior impact kids?

Answer 30

* Over and under controlling parents are not desirable * Over-control deprives kids of the opportunity to meet behavioural standards on their own, under control does not teach children cultural standards of behaviour * A balance must be achieved; set expectations that are appropriate for the childs age and enforce them consistently. This requires clear communication, including explaining to the child why the rules exist

Question 31

Are their cultural differences in parental warmth?

Answer 31

Cultural differences in warmth and control • Control and warmth are universal, amount of each varies culturally • This ties into individualism and collectivist mindsets

Question 32

What is authoritarian parenting?

Answer 32

• Authoritarian parenting: High control/low warmth. Parents lay down rules, kids follow them. Parents are aiming for hard work and respect. No give and take here, little valuing of kids needs or wishes. Kids have low self esteem and social skills

Question 33

What is authoritative parenting?

Answer 33

• Authoritative parenting: Reasonable control/high warmth. Explain rules, encourage discussion. Explain their decisions and find compromises that enable kids requests to be allowed in healthy ways. Children are responsible self reliant and friendly

Question 34

What is Indulgent-permissive parenting?

Answer 34

• Indulgent-permissive parenting: offers warmth and caring but little control. Acceptation of kid’s behaviour and no consequences for misbehaviour. Kids are impulsive and easily frustrated

Question 35

What is Indifferent-uninvolved parenting?

Answer 35

• Indifferent-uninvolved parenting: no warmth/no control. Provide for kid’s basic physical needs and that is all. Try to minimise the time spent with kids. Kids usually do stuff without asking cos they know parents are unlikely to care. Kids are low SE, impulsive, aggressive and moody

Question 36

What style of parenting is the best and why?

Answer 36

* Authoritative parenting is the best * This is true cross culturally * BUT kids in violent areas might benefit from authoritarian styles as strict obedience can help them

Question 37

What are the ways parents telling children what to do can help and how can this be made better? What is direct instruction?

Answer 37

* Direct instruction is when a parent tells a child what to do * It is better to tell a child what to do, when and why instead of drill sargenting? * Parents can also help social and emotional skills by explaining the links between emotions and behaviour (Gottman, Katz & Hooven, 1996) * They can teach them how to deal with hard social situations e.g. when you ask Janna to stay over, do it privately so you don’t upset bob (Mike & Pettit, 1997) * Works well with modelling

Question 38

What is learning by observation in parents and kids?

Answer 38

• Learning by observation is when a child learns by modelling the parent

Question 39

What is counterimmitation?

Answer 39

Counterimitation: learning what is not to be done – If a kid kicks someone and gets punished, brother learns not to kick

Question 40

What is dis-inhibition and how can it be learned? What are the consequences of disinhibition?

Answer 40

* Sometimes observational learning can reinforce disinhibition a tendency to exhibit bold or aggressive behaviors in unfamiliar situations – children who see parents yelling are more likely to push a sibling if they had that tendency already * Kids who exhibit disinhibition are more likely to have mood and behavior disorders

Question 41

What is inhibition?

Answer 41

Inhibition is the decrease in a behavior, such as when a child witnesses’ brother being punished and does not do the thing they were punished for

Question 42

What types of parental feedback are there?

Answer 42

* Reinforcement – an action that increases the likeliness of the response that it follows * Punishment – an action that decreases the likeliness of the action it follows

Question 43

What is the negative reinforcement trap?

Answer 43

negative reinforcement trap • Step 1 mother tells son to do something he doesn’t want to do • Step 2 – son responds with bad behaviour like whining for a long time • Step 3 - eventually the parent gives in • Kid learns whining can result in unpleasant thing being removed • Negative reinforcement is the removal of a bad thing, parent did this, behaviour reinforced

Question 44

Corporal punishment

Answer 44

* Punishment is controversial * Corporal punishment can result in behavioural acting out in children, especially if it is accompanied by hostility toward the child (Xing & Wang, 2017) * Spanking is very common globally – is associated with lower socio emotional development and can be reduced with workshops * Violence from parents teaches kids that violence is ok, associates parents with fear and only stops the behaviour temporarily

Question 45

How do children influence their parents parenting style?

Answer 45

Children’s Contributions • Relationship and influence between kids and parents is bi-directional • If a kid has an easy temperament authoritative is easy • If he is difficult, over time you may become more authoritative • Children’s behaviour helps determine how parents behave which influences children’s behaviour t etc. (Stice & Barrera, 1995) • Over time, these interactions can develop into stable patterns of behaviour within families • Some of these may be troubled; parents spend a lot of time trying unsuccessfully to control their kids and everyone is often angry – these families do not fare well and might need interventions

Question 46

What are some good punishments for children?

Answer 46

the time out: being required to sit alone in a quiet, unstimulating location or being excluded for a while from a desired activity • Also good is the time away: the child is diverted from an activity causing conflict to another, quieter one – e.g. kid is aggressive with blocks, divert to looking at books until the child can regain self-control • Time outs should last one minute per year of child’s age. When over, you can talk to and reason with the child – this emphasises why the behaviour was no good and what the child should have done instead

Question 47

What are the configurations of a family now? Are they all traditional and western?

Answer 47

* There are many configurations of families – not just traditional, western mum and dad * Grandparents in Canada, 2% of families have 3 generations living together but around the world grandparents are hugely important. There are 5 main types (Neugarten & Weinsten, 1964)

Question 48

What are formal grandparents?

Answer 48

• Formal grandparents – express a strong interest in grandchild but maintain a hands-off attitude towards child rearing

Question 49

What are fun seeking grandparents?

Answer 49

• Fun-Seeking grandparents – see themselves as a primary source of fun for their grandkids but avoid serious interactions

Question 50

What are distant grandparents?

Answer 50

• Distant grandparents – have little contact except on holidays

Question 51

What are dispensing family wisdom grandparents?

Answer 51

• Dispensing family wisdom grandparents – provide information to parents and grandchildren alike

Question 52

What are surrogate parent grandparents?

Answer 52

• Surrogate parent grandparents – assume many of the normal roles and responsibilities of a parent

Question 53

Do the parents of same-sex couples have worse outcomes? What about single parent outcomes?

Answer 53

* Kids of gay and lesbian parents in Canada are under researched * Often the product of a hetro marriage which ended when the woman came out as a lesbian * No indication they are worse parents – more similar than different to heterosexual parents * This is also true for other family configurations * Evidence says two parents are better than one but not that these parents gender is a factor