When Gender Stereotypes Get Male Adolescents into Trouble: A Longitudinal Study on Gender Conformity Pressure as a Predictor of School Misconduct

Abstract

School misconduct is a threat to educational careers and learning. The present study sheds light on why male adolescents in particular are prone to school misconduct. Qualitative research has argued that male adolescents' construction of masculinity is a factor driving their school misbehavior. We examined the role of felt pressure to conform to gender stereotypes in predicting school misconduct among male and female adolescents. Data were provided by a three-wave panel study encompassing more than 4200 Flemish early adolescents (ages 12-14). Three-level growth curve models showed that male adolescents misbehaved more in school than female adolescents did. Male adolescents also demonstrated a steeper increase in school misconduct than female adolescents. Furthermore, greater felt gender conformity pressure predicted an increase in school misconduct in male adolescents but not in female adolescents. We conclude that school misconduct forms part of an enactment of masculine gender identity with detrimental consequences for male adolescents' educational achievement.

Empirische Arbeit: „Paul ist nicht so gut in Deutsch“. Geschlechtsdifferenzielle Benotung im Fach Deutsch – eine Sekundäranalyse der Daten des IQB-Bildungstrends 2015

“…In verschiedenen theoretischen Modellen (Helbig, 2012;Hochweber, 2010;Tent, 2001) (Heyder & Kessels, 2013;Kessels & Heyder, 2017;Heyder, van Hek & van Houtte, 2020).…”

Social Cognition, Self-Perceptions, and Social Withdrawal in Adolescents

“…Given that gender is a social category that affects our social perceptions and actions (Heyder et al, 2020), gender-role stereotypes and expectations play an important role in early adolescence (Bowker et al, 2019). Research illustrates increased variability among girls' and boys' social skills and emotional experiences during secondary school (Hoffman et al, 2019).…”

“…Studies on social withdrawal show that shy boys are at greater risk of socioemotional problems than shy girls (Coplan & Armer, 2007;Ruble & Martin, 1998), and run against gender-role stereotypical masculine or 'laddish' behaviours (assertiveness, initiative, etc.) (Heyder et al, 2020;Koch et al, 2020). Studies on social preferences (shyness, unsociability, regulated withdrawal) also show that due to societal expectations, shyness and unsociability may hold more negative psychological psychosocial implications for boys than for girls (Bowker et al, 2019;Rubin et al, 2002).…”

“…In contrast, for boys, some adults may perceive shyness and unsociability as a negative personality characteristic, and shyness and unsociability may be more likely to be discouraged among boys as compared to girls (Coplan & Weeks, 2010;Doey et al, 2014). Despite the claims that suggest adolescent girls possess a less coherent and positive self-theory than boys (Koch et al, 2020;Heyder et al, 2020;Maccoby, 1998), and studies that show girls use more frequent mental state talk than boys (Hughes & Dunn, 1999;Pequet & Warnell, 2020), differential gender links between social-cognitive skills and self-perceptions, especially in connection with social withdrawal during adolescence require further study. Thus, this study examines the complex web of correlates among preferences for social withdrawal, self-perceptions, and emotion recognition in adolescents.…”

“…Based on past gender stereotype research in adolescence (Bowker et al, 2019;Saarni, 1999), gender-related differences in the findings were expected to reflect stereotypic gender-role expectations. That is, given that social reticence or passivity, emotion understanding and empathic concern are considered to be stereotypically feminine traits (Heyder et al, 2020;Maccoby, 1998;Rapee et al, 2011), girls were hypothesised to score higher on recognition of emotion in others and report more negative feelings directed towards the self.…”