Constancy of Gender Identity for Self and Others in Children between the Ages of Three and Seven

Gouze, Karen R.; Nadelman, Lorraine

doi:10.2307/1129622

Cited by 35 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Kohlberg (1966) suggested that there is a 2-year lag between the time a child learns to self-label correctly and the time he or she learns to label others correctly according to social-conventional cues. In fact, although gender constancy for self and others are significantly correlated (e.g., Zucker, Bradley, Kuksis, et al, 1999), children evidence gender constancy for self earlier than they evidence gender constancy for others (e.g., Bem, 1989;Gouze & Nadelman, 1980;Marcus & Overton, 1978;Szkrybalo & Ruble, 1999;Wehrens & De Lisi, 1983) and especially for opposite-sex others (Leonard & Archer, 1989). For instance, Shields and Duveen (1986) found that although the majority of children aged 3½-5½ indicated that their own sex could not change, 80% of them thought that the gender of another child, shown to them in a figure drawing, could change with variations in external appearance (i.e.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Israeli kindergarten children's gender constancy for others' counter‐stereotypic toy play and appearance: the role of sibling gender and relative age

Karniol

2008

Infant and Child Development

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To test divergent theoretical predictions as to the impact of having a younger or older, same-sex sibling or opposite-sex sibling on other gender constancy, Israeli kindergarten children in two-child families responded to a gender constancy task in which a male and female picture target engaged in counterstereotypic toy play and adopted counter-stereotypic appearance. Children were also asked whether the target child could change sex at will and to explain the difference between boys and girls. Relative age of sibling, both independently and in interaction with participant sex, was associated with greater gender constancy in the face of counter-stereotypic toy play. Relative age of sibling and sibling sex was independently associated with greater gender constancy in the face of counter-stereotypic appearance. In both cases, children with a younger sibling evidenced greater gender constancy. Boys, especially ones with a male sibling, referred most explicitly to target's birth sex in accounting for his or her being unable to change sex at will. Genital and anatomical differences between boys and girls were cited more often by children who referred explicitly to target's birth sex and had a younger sibling. The results were discussed in the context of theories of gender development and the socialization of gender within the family.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Israeli kindergarten children's gender constancy for others' counter‐stereotypic toy play and appearance: the role of sibling gender and relative age

Karniol

2008

Infant and Child Development

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“…Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Beverly I. Fagot, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403. man, Kirsh, & Sharabany, 1977;Emmerich & Shepard, 1984;Gouze & Nadelman, 1980;Marcus & Overton, 1978;Slaby & Frey, 1975;Weinraubetal., 1984). However, achievement of the various levels has not been related consistently to other expressions of sex typing (Huston, 1983).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender labeling and the adoption of sex-typed behaviors.

Fagot¹,

Leinbach²,

Hagan³

1986

Developmental Psychology

120

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and the Oregon Social Learning Center A gender-labeling task was used to test the ability of 43 children ranging in age from 21 months to 40 months to discriminate between pictures of boys and girls and male and female adults. Children who passed the gender task (mean age = 30 months) were compared with children who failed it (mean age = 26 months) on three behaviors most often categorized as sex typed (toy choice, aggression, and peer playmate selection). It was predicted that children who passed the task would choose more sex-typed toys and same-sex peers, and that there would be a drop in aggression for girls who passed, but no change for boys. The predictions for aggression and peer choice were confirmed, but that for toy choice was not. The relation between the child's understanding of gender categories and environmental influences is discussed.

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“…A series of studies designed to test gender constancy in very young children-i.e., the stability of the concept of genderseemed to confirm his thesis (Eaton and Von Bargen 1981;Emmerich et al 1977;Gouze and Nadelman 1980;McConaghy 1979;Slaby and Frey 1975). Incredibly, all but one of these studies (McConaghy 1979) did not use genitals as a gender cue.…”

Section: Related Studiesmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…That discovery impacts on and henceforth patterns a child's sense of being a girl or a boy. Cognitive-developmental researchers (Eaton and Von Bargen 1981;Emmerich et al 1977;Gouze and Nadelman 1980;Kohlberg 1966;McConaghy 1979;Slaby and Frey 1975) differ with Freud and argue that sex difference is not meaningful for a child until a later age.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of Preschool Children’s Linking of Genitals and Gender

Senet¹

2004

The Psychoanalytic Quarterly

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The author describes a study that investigated what three- and four-year-old girls and boys know about the link between genital difference and gender difference by asking them to construct both a girl doll and a boy doll, using any of an assortment of anatomical features, including both male and female genitals. The results were interpreted as supporting the assumption of a normal early developmental period of psychological bisexuality; as contradicting the theory that when genital difference is discovered, girls are more distressed than boys about their genitals; and as evidence that both girls and boys envy the genital of the opposite sex.

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Constancy of Gender Identity for Self and Others in Children between the Ages of Three and Seven

Cited by 35 publications

References 9 publications

Israeli kindergarten children's gender constancy for others' counter‐stereotypic toy play and appearance: the role of sibling gender and relative age

Israeli kindergarten children's gender constancy for others' counter‐stereotypic toy play and appearance: the role of sibling gender and relative age

Gender labeling and the adoption of sex-typed behaviors.

A Study of Preschool Children’s Linking of Genitals and Gender

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