gender differentiation

The developmental course of gender differentiation: conceptualizing, measuring, and evaluating constructs and pathways.

Liben LS, Bigler RS.

Pennsylvania State University, USA.
Abstract

Gender differentiation is pervasive, and understanding how and why it develops is important for both theoretical and practical reasons. The work described here is rooted in constructivist accounts of gender differentiation. Past research provides considerable support for constructivist predictions concerning (a) developmental changes in gender attitudes and (b) the relation between gender attitudes and information processing. Little work, however, has addressed the more fundamental question of how children's developing gender attitudes about others are related to developing gender characterizations of self. The focus of the current Monograph is on this other-self relation during middle childhood. A brief review of past theory and empirical work on gender differentiation is provided. It is argued that a major explanation of the limitations and inconsistencies evident in earlier work may be traced to restrictions in the measures available to assess key constructs. A conceptual analysis of the specific limitations of past measures is presented. The Monograph then offers alternative models of the developmental relation between attitudes toward others and characterization of self (the attitudinal and the personal pathway models), and identifies conditions expected to influence the strength of the observed other-self relation. Four studies establish the reliability and validity of a suite of measures that provides comparable methods for assessing attitudes toward others (attitude measures, or AM) and sex typing of self (personal measures, or PM) in three domains: occupations, activities, and traits (or OAT). Parallel forms are provided for adults (the OAT-AM and OAT-PM) and for children of middle-school age, roughly 11-13 years old (the COAT-AM and COAT-PM). A fifth study provides longitudinal data from children tested at four times, beginning at the start of grade 6 (approximately age 11 years) and ending at the close of grade 7 (approximately age 13 years). These data are used to examine the developmental relation between children's sex typing of others and sex typing of the self, and to test the predictions concerning the factors hypothesized to affect the strength of the relation between the two types of sex typing. Overall, the data supported the conceptual distinctions among individuals' (a) gender attitudes toward others, (b) feminine self, and (c) masculine self, and, additionally, revealed some intriguing differences across domains. Interestingly, the data concerning the other-self relation differed by sex of participant. Among girls, analyses of concurrent relations showed that those girls who held fewer stereotypes of masculine activities for others showed greater endorsement of masculine items for self, a finding compatible with both the other-to-self attitudinal pathway model and the self-to-other personal pathway model. The prospective regression analyses, however, showed no effects. That is, preadolescent girls' gender attitudes about others did not predict their later self-endorsements, nor did self-endorsements predict later attitudes. Data from boys showed a strikingly different pattern, one consistent with the self-to-other personal pathway model: There was no evidence of concurrent other-self relations, but prospective analyses indicated that preadolescent boys who endorsed greater numbers of feminine traits as self-descriptive early in grade 6 developed increasingly egalitarian gender attitudes by the end of grade 7. The Monograph closes with discussions of additional implications of the empirical data, of preliminary work on developing parallel measures for younger children, and of the need to design research that illuminates the cognitive-developmental mechanisms underlying age-related changes in sex typing.

PMID: 12465575 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Publication Types, MeSH Terms
Publication Types:

* Validation Studies

MeSH Terms:

* Adolescent
* Age Factors
* Attitude
* Child
* Child Development*
* Factor Analysis, Statistical
* Female
* Gender Identity*
* Humans
* Longitudinal Studies
* Male
* Questionnaires*
* Regression Analysis
* Reproducibility of Results
* Self Concept
* Sex Factors
* Social Behavior
* Social Perception

LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources:

* Blackwell Publishing
* EBSCO
* OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center
* Swets Information Services

Medical:

* Toddler Development - MedlinePlus Health Information
* Child Development - MedlinePlus Health Information

Supplemental Content
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Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 2002 ;67(2):i-viii, 1-147; discussion 148-83.
PubMed

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The developmental course of gender differentiation: conceptualizing, measuring, and evaluating constructs and pathways.

Liben LS, Bigler RS.

Pennsylvania State University, USA.
Abstract

Gender differentiation is pervasive, and understanding how and why it develops is important for both theoretical and practical reasons. The work described here is rooted in constructivist accounts of gender differentiation. Past research provides considerable support for constructivist predictions concerning (a) developmental changes in gender attitudes and (b) the relation between gender attitudes and information processing. Little work, however, has addressed the more fundamental question of how children's developing gender attitudes about others are related to developing gender characterizations of self. The focus of the current Monograph is on this other-self relation during middle childhood. A brief review of past theory and empirical work on gender differentiation is provided. It is argued that a major explanation of the limitations and inconsistencies evident in earlier work may be traced to restrictions in the measures available to assess key constructs. A conceptual analysis of the specific limitations of past measures is presented. The Monograph then offers alternative models of the developmental relation between attitudes toward others and characterization of self (the attitudinal and the personal pathway models), and identifies conditions expected to influence the strength of the observed other-self relation. Four studies establish the reliability and validity of a suite of measures that provides comparable methods for assessing attitudes toward others (attitude measures, or AM) and sex typing of self (personal measures, or PM) in three domains: occupations, activities, and traits (or OAT). Parallel forms are provided for adults (the OAT-AM and OAT-PM) and for children of middle-school age, roughly 11-13 years old (the COAT-AM and COAT-PM). A fifth study provides longitudinal data from children tested at four times, beginning at the start of grade 6 (approximately age 11 years) and ending at the close of grade 7 (approximately age 13 years). These data are used to examine the developmental relation between children's sex typing of others and sex typing of the self, and to test the predictions concerning the factors hypothesized to affect the strength of the relation between the two types of sex typing. Overall, the data supported the conceptual distinctions among individuals' (a) gender attitudes toward others, (b) feminine self, and (c) masculine self, and, additionally, revealed some intriguing differences across domains. Interestingly, the data concerning the other-self relation differed by sex of participant. Among girls, analyses of concurrent relations showed that those girls who held fewer stereotypes of masculine activities for others showed greater endorsement of masculine items for self, a finding compatible with both the other-to-self attitudinal pathway model and the self-to-other personal pathway model. The prospective regression analyses, however, showed no effects. That is, preadolescent girls' gender attitudes about others did not predict their later self-endorsements, nor did self-endorsements predict later attitudes. Data from boys showed a strikingly different pattern, one consistent with the self-to-other personal pathway model: There was no evidence of concurrent other-self relations, but prospective analyses indicated that preadolescent boys who endorsed greater numbers of feminine traits as self-descriptive early in grade 6 developed increasingly egalitarian gender attitudes by the end of grade 7. The Monograph closes with discussions of additional implications of the empirical data, of preliminary work on developing parallel measures for younger children, and of the need to design research that illuminates the cognitive-developmental mechanisms underlying age-related changes in sex typing.

PMID: 12465575 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Publication Types, MeSH Terms
Publication Types:

* Validation Studies

MeSH Terms:

* Adolescent
* Age Factors
* Attitude
* Child
* Child Development*
* Factor Analysis, Statistical
* Female
* Gender Identity*
* Humans
* Longitudinal Studies
* Male
* Questionnaires*
* Regression Analysis
* Reproducibility of Results
* Self Concept
* Sex Factors
* Social Behavior
* Social Perception

LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources:

* Blackwell Publishing
* EBSCO
* OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center
* Swets Information Services

Medical:

* Toddler Development - MedlinePlus Health Information
* Child Development - MedlinePlus Health Information

Supplemental Content
Click here to read
Related citations

* The health and well-being of caregivers of children with cerebral palsy. [Pediatrics. 2005]
The health and well-being of caregivers of children with cerebral palsy.
Raina P, O'Donnell M, Rosenbaum P, Brehaut J, Walter SD, Russell D, Swinton M, Zhu B, Wood E. Pediatrics. 2005 Jun; 115(6):e626-36.
* [Link between depression and academic self-esteem in gifted children] [Encephale. 2007]
[Link between depression and academic self-esteem in gifted children]
Bénony H, Van Der Elst D, Chahraoui K, Bénony C, Marnier JP. Encephale. 2007 Jan-Feb; 33(1):11-20.
* [Failure effects and gender differences in perfectionism] [Encephale. 2003]
[Failure effects and gender differences in perfectionism]
Masson AM, Cadot M, Ansseau M. Encephale. 2003 Mar-Apr; 29(2):125-35.
* Review A developmental intergroup theory of social stereotypes and prejudice. [Adv Child Dev Behav. 2006]
Review A developmental intergroup theory of social stereotypes and prejudice.
Bigler RS, Liben LS. Adv Child Dev Behav. 2006; 34:39-89.
* Review Prevention of suicide and attempted suicide in Denmark. Epidemiological studies of suicide and intervention studies in selected risk groups. [Dan Med Bull. 2007]
Review Prevention of suicide and attempted suicide in Denmark. Epidemiological studies of suicide and intervention studies in selected risk groups.
Nordentoft M. Dan Med Bull. 2007 Nov; 54(4):306-69.

See reviews... See all...
Recent activity
Clear Turn Off Turn On

* The developmental course of gender differentiation: conceptualizing, measuring, ...
The developmental course of gender differentiation: conceptualizing, measuring, and evaluating constructs and pathways.
Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 2002 ;67(2):i-viii, 1-147; discussion 148-83.
PubMed

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