The Developmental Course of Gender Differentiation
Conceptuality, Measuring and Evaluating Constructs and Pathways
Published on 4. January 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
250 pages
978-1-4051-1048-8 (ISBN)
Description
How is it that boys and girls, men and women end up with different interests, occupations, and traits? How can we distinguish real gender differences from beliefs about gender differences? How do gender-differentiated behaviors and stereotypes change from childhood to adulthood? This monograph reviews theories and methods that have been used to study gender differentiation in the past, and then offers a new suite of measures designed to assess children's and adults' gender-related attitudes towards others and gender-related characterizations of self. Two pathways for developmental change are presented, one in which children's gender attitudes are hypothesized to affect their later behaviors and the other in which children's own behaviors are hypothesized to influence their later attitudes. Closing chapters provide longitudinal data relevant to these developmental pathways and discuss implications for research and practice.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-4051-1048-8 (9781405110488)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Lynn S. Liben is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Pennsylvania State University. Her research has focused on the development of gender and on the development of spatial-graphic representation. She has also studied the intersection of these topics, as in her work on sex-related differences in spatial cognition and on the gender gap in success of the National Geography Bee. Rebecca S. Bigler is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work has concerned the development of gender and racial stereotypes, including how contextual factors serve to exaggerate or diminish their growth. She has also been active in developing and evaluating interventions designed to discourage the establishment and maintenance of gender and racial stereotypes.
Content
Abstract. Part I: Introduction: Why study the development of gender differentiation? Descriptive premises and descriptive unknowns. Monograph overview. Part II: Review of Past Work: Families of explanatory approaches. Characterizing and extending constructivist accounts. Empirical literature in the constructivist tradition. Conceptual analysis of extant measures. Part III: Gender Constructivism Reconsidered: Designing measures. Developmental pathways. The relation between sex typing of others and sex typing of self. Part IV: Empirical Data Related to Scale Development: Overview of Studies. Study 1: Scale development for children. Study 2: Scale deelopment for adults. Study 3: Scale refinement for children. Study 4: Scale refinement for adults. Part V: Empirical Data Related to Developmental Pathways: Study 5: Longitudinal study of developmental pathways. Part VI: General Discussion: Looking Back. Selected highlights. Looking forward. References. Appendices. Appendix A. Items on COAT and OAT measures and ratings of the degree to which items are stereotyped in American culture. Appendix B. Summary ratings of degree to which masculine, feminine, and neutral items on COAT and OAT are stereotyped in American culture. Appendix C. Test administration versions of short COAT and OAT scales. Appendix D. Use and scoring of COAT and OAT scales. Appendix E. Contingency tables relating responses to questions about other and self, by individual item. Acknowledgements. Contributors. Footnote. Commentary.