Gendered Development

Abstract

How does human behavior come to be gendered, and how do gendered behaviors change or remain stable over time? Although men and women, as well as girls and boys, are largely similar psychologically and behaviorally, there are some areas of gender difference. These include gender identity; sexual orientation; childhood play behaviors, such as toy, playmate, and activity preferences; personality characteristics, such as aggression and empathy; and some specific spatial, mathematical, and verbal abilities. The incidence of many psychiatric disorders also differs by sex. These gender differences appear to result from numerous factors and their interactions. These include genetic information on the sex chromosomes; concentrations of gonadal steroids, particularly testosterone, before and shortly after birth; socialization by parents, peers, teachers, and strangers; and cognitive developmental processes. Gender identity also is a mechanism for acquiring gendered behavior; based on this identity, children self‐socialize gendered behavior. These factors have been shown to act individually to influence gendered outcomes. They are also likely to interact with one another to shape gender development, but little research has investigated these interactions. An understanding of gendered development is important for addressing differences between the sexes in social roles and economic status, and should also be relevant to understanding and ameliorating psychiatric disorders that differ by gender. A complete understanding will probably require developmental systems approaches to understanding change and stability over time, but, thus far, such approaches have been uncommon.

Prenatal androgen exposure and children's aggressive behavior and activity level

“…In humans, aggression is defined as behavior, typically directed toward another individual, that is carried out with the intent of causing harm (Bushman & Anderson, 2001) and activity level is defined as the typical level of energy that an individual expends through movement (Eaton & Enns, 1986). There is general agreement that gender differences in human behavior result from a combination of genetic, early hormonal and socio-cultural influences (Hines, 2015; Leaper, 2013). The current investigation examines the relation of the gonadal steroid, testosterone, prenatally to later aggression and activity level in children.…”

Prenatal androgen exposure alters girls' responses to information indicating gender-appropriate behaviour

“…Although the behaviour of human males and females is largely similar [1], there are some characteristics that differ on average for men and women or boys and girls [2]. One area of robust gender difference involves children's play behaviour.…”

“…Theories of human gender development describe developmental systems involving multiple causative factors working together over time [2,24]. However, despite the evidence that hormonal, social and cognitive mechanisms all influence human gender development, there is almost no information on how they work together.…”

“…Girls with CAH typically are assigned and reared as girls, and their gender identity is almost always female [28]. However, numerous studies have found that girls with CAH show altered toy, playmate and activity preferences [2]. For instance, compared to other girls, they are less likely to play with toys typically chosen by girls and more likely to play with toys typically chosen by boys [9,10,29].…”

Peer-Assisted Social Learning In Urban After-School Programs

“…Though the observational literature on gender and social competence is comparably smaller, several studies have underscored the importance of gender in defining social norms across child development (i.e., social norms vary by age and gender; see Hines, 2015). For example, sex-segregation of the peer group, namely whether a child interacts with same-sex peers over opposite-sex peers, has been shown to increase as children grow older; one study found that preschool-age children interact 3 times more with same-sex peers than opposite-sex peers, and by elementary school, that difference has increased to a factor of 10 (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1987).…”