Gender Development Powerpoint Slides Psychology of Adolescents

Psychology of Adolescence slides

1. GENDER
DEVELOPMENT

2. UNDERSTANDING GENDER
DEVELOPMENT
•Sex – assigned sex at birth (e.g., male or female)
•Gender – refers to characteristics that may be
the result of developmental and social
experiences
•Sex difference – a difference between assigned
males and females that is based on
chromosomes
•Gender difference – a difference between
genders that is thought to be based mainly on
cultural and social factors
•Gender role – a set of shared cultural
expectations that outlines the attitudes and
behaviours an individual should display

3. “The way we think about
biological sex is wrong” -
Emily Quinn
BIOLOGICAL
SEX?

4. UNDERSTANDING
GENDER
DEVELOPMENT
•Gender is one of the basic categories that adolescents use to
understand themselves and others.
•Every culture has different ideas about how individuals are
supposed to look, act, think, and feel
•The shared cultural expectations about gender is called a gender
role
⚬Gender roles differ from one society / era to another
•Gender typing is the process by which children come to take on
the gender roles expected in their society

5. BIOLOGICAL
APPROACHES
•From the moment of conception, males
and females are genetically different
•These differences result in the
production of different hormones (e.g.,
testosterone) that play a role in
organizing the structure and functioning
of the body
⚬For example, the external genitalia

6. •Prenatal testosterone levels are much higher for male
than female fetuses
•Within each sex, however, levels can differ from one
fetus to another significantly
⚬Congenital adrenal hyperplasia
￭Exposure to high levels of androgens
“masculinize” parts of the brain
BIOLOGICAL
APPROACHES

7. •Socialization
⚬Parents, teachers, siblings, and peers serve as
models of gender-linked attitudes and
behaviours
￭Direct and indirect praise and criticism for
behaviours that are considered gender-
appropriate or -inappropriate
⚬Media sources influential
⚬Socialization of gender roles begin before
birth
￭Décor, clothing, gifts, toys
SOCIALIZATION
APPROACH

8. THINK ABOUT IT
•To what extent would you say your own attitudes and interests
as a young adolescent were typical or atypical of your gender?
•Can you recall instances in which others—parents, siblings,
friends—tried to push you either toward gender typical activities
or away from gender atypical activities? If so, how did you
respond? How do you think you would respond now?

9. •Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
⚬Personal factors (thoughts, desires, feelings)
interact with learned behaviour patterns and
social influences to produce tendencies to act
in certain ways
⚬Observation leads to learning
•We don’t just copy others
⚬Develop a personal set of gender-role
standards that override the influence of the
immediate situation
⚬Self-efficacy may influence decisions as well
SOCIALIZATION
APPROACHES

10. COGNITIVE
APPROACHES
•Kohlberg and Gender identity
⚬Emphasized cognition in gender
typing
⚬Proposed a cognitive developmental
theory of gender
⚬Stages in Kohlberg’s theory
￭Basic gender identity (labelled as
boy or girl)
￭Gender stability (stable over
time)
￭Gender consistency (stable
across situations)

11. COGNITIVE APPROACHES
•Gender Schema Theory (Martin &
Halvorsen)
⚬Puts particular stress on the ways
children, adolescents, and adults
gather and process information about
gender
⚬Combines elements of Kohlberg and
Bandura’s theories
•Motivates the child to learn about gender
and incorporate this information into
gender schemas

12. SIMILARITIES AND
DIFFERENCES
•Kohlberg: Identification with one’s gender role and
motivation to conform develop after gender constancy (6-7
years old)
⚬In contrast, gender schema theorists believes this
process begins at earliest emergence of gender identity
(preschool)

13. THINK ABOUT IT
•Discuss the similarities and differences between Kohlberg's
cognitive-developmental approach to gender development and
the gender schema approach of Martin and Halverson.

14. •Transgender: a person whose gender identity differs
from the sex the person was identified as having at birth
•Transition: When a person who is transgender transitions
from their assigned sex to their self-identified gender
through dress, medications, hormone therapy, or surgery
•Research has shown that there are:
⚬Specific needs of transgender teenagers and young adults,
particularly with regard to appealing for permission to use hormones
⚬Race and class implications for coming out as transgender and non-
binary
⚬The necessity of better general education about transgender lives
⚬The impact of parents on transitioning experiences and self-identity
TRANS YOUTH

15. GENDER DIFFERENCES IN
ADOLESCENCE
•Stereotype threat: a factor that may
interfere with the performance of those who
belong to groups that are the target of
negative stereotypes by arousing anxiety that
they will fail and, in this way, confirm the
stereotype

16. •Effects of body image on self-esteem
•Girls more affected by personal relationships
⚬False self: pretenses to protect relationships by
hiding one’s thoughts, feelings, needs
⚬Gilligan: girls “lose voice” with adolescence
￭Girls’ sensitivity to others not valued
•Self-esteem declines during adolescence for both
genders
SELF ESTEEM

17. SELF-ESTEEM AND
2SLGBTQIA+
•LGBTQ+ youth are bullied, harassed, and victimized in
schools at disproportionate rates when compared to their
heterosexual and cisgender counterparts (Abreu & Kenny,
2018)
⚬Higher rates of depression, lower self-esteem, and
more suicidal ideation and suicide attempts
•Bisexual and questioning girls and bisexual boys were
more likely to report lower self-esteem, with bisexual girls
reporting lower levels than other sexual minority youth
(Cénat et al. 2015)
⚬Studies on Black, Indigenous LGBTQ students suggest
that these students might suffer greater victimization
than their White peers

18. SELF-ESTEEM AND 2SLGBTQIA+
•Some factors impact resilience:
⚬Caring and loving relationships that
offer support and empower
⚬Building a positive identity around
gender orientation (acceptance and
affirmation)
⚬Community involvement: understanding
and engaging
⚬Non-judgmental care

19. THINK ABOUT IT
•Discuss the relationship between gender and self-esteem in
adolescence. How has this relationship been explained by
theorists such as Carol Gilligan?

20. •Parents and siblings
⚬Chores, attitudes, activities
•Peers
⚬Impress or attract
•Media
⚬Movies, television, social media
SOCIAL CONTEXTS OF
GENDER DEVELOPMENT

21. THINK ABOUT IT
•Where are gender roles going?

22. WHAT CAN WE
DO?
•Use gender inclusive language and proper
pronouns
•Be critical of programs and policies
through a gender (and intersectional) lens
•Challenge stereotypes and discrimination
•Make the commitment to change