Theories of Gender Development

Why This Matters

Gender development is one of the most heavily tested topics in developmental psychology because it sits at the intersection of nearly every major theoretical perspective you've studied—biological, cognitive, social, and cultural. When you understand these theories, you're not just learning about gender; you're demonstrating mastery of how developmental psychologists think about the interplay between nature and nurture, active versus passive development, and the individual versus social context. Expect exam questions that ask you to compare theoretical mechanisms, identify which theory best explains a given scenario, or evaluate the strengths and limitations of different approaches.

Don't fall into the trap of memorizing each theory as an isolated set of facts. Instead, focus on what each theory emphasizes as the primary driver of gender development, how children are portrayed (as active constructors or passive recipients), and what evidence would support or challenge each perspective. The theories cluster into meaningful groups based on their core assumptions—master those groupings, and you'll be able to tackle any comparison question Dr. Priest throws at you.

---

Biological and Evolutionary Approaches

These theories locate the origins of gender differences in our bodies and our evolutionary past. The core assumption is that biology constrains or directs gender development before social influences even begin.

Biological Theories

• Genetics and hormones serve as the foundational mechanisms—prenatal testosterone exposure, chromosomal differences (XX vs. XY), and brain structure variations are cited as primary causes of gender differences
• Brain organization hypothesis—suggests that hormonal influences during critical periods create lasting differences in neural architecture that predispose males and females toward different behaviors
• Physical sex differences lead to divergent social expectations, creating a biological-to-social pathway that some argue makes gender roles partly inevitable

Evolutionary Theory

• Natural selection is the driving mechanism—gender differences persist because they solved adaptive problems related to survival and reproduction over millennia
• Parental investment theory—explains why females (who invest more in offspring) tend toward selectivity in mate choice while males tend toward competition for mates
• Reproductive strategies shape not just mating behavior but also traits like aggression, nurturance, and risk-taking that become associated with gender roles

---

Learning-Based Approaches

These theories emphasize that gender is acquired through experience with the social environment. Children learn gender roles the same way they learn other behaviors—through observation, reinforcement, and modeling.

Social Learning Theory

• Observational learning—children watch same-sex models (parents, peers, media figures) and imitate their gendered behaviors without needing direct instruction
• Reinforcement and punishment shape gender-typed behavior—boys praised for toughness and girls for nurturing internalize these as appropriate for their sex
• Media and cultural modeling extend learning beyond the family, meaning children absorb gender norms from television, advertising, and social media representations

Social Cognitive Theory

• Triadic reciprocal determinism—gender development emerges from the ongoing interaction between personal factors (beliefs, self-efficacy), behavior, and environmental influences
• Self-efficacy beliefs about gender-appropriate activities influence which behaviors children attempt and persist in, creating self-fulfilling patterns
• Agentic capacity—unlike pure social learning theory, this approach emphasizes that children actively regulate their own gendered behavior based on anticipated outcomes

---

Cognitive-Constructivist Approaches

These theories focus on how children actively build their understanding of gender through mental processes. Gender development is driven by the child's own cognitive activity, not just external reinforcement.

Cognitive-Developmental Theory

• Kohlberg's stage model proposes three sequential achievements: gender identity (knowing one's own sex, ~age 2-3), gender stability (understanding sex remains constant over time, ~age 4), and gender constancy (recognizing sex is unchanged by superficial transformations, ~age 6-7)
• Active construction—children are motivated to seek out gender-relevant information and conform to gender norms once they understand their own gender category
• Cognitive maturation drives progress through stages—gender constancy requires concrete operational thinking, linking this theory to Piagetian development

Gender Schema Theory

• Schemas as cognitive frameworks—children develop organized mental structures containing information about what males and females "are like" and "should do"
• Information processing effects—schemas guide attention (noticing gender-consistent information), memory (better recall for schema-consistent material), and behavior (acting in schema-consistent ways)
• Cultural input shapes schema content—while the process of schema formation is universal, the specific content varies dramatically across cultures and historical periods

---

Social-Structural Approaches

These theories locate the origins of gender differences in social organization rather than individual psychology. Gender roles reflect and perpetuate broader patterns of social structure and power.

Social Role Theory

• Division of labor is the starting point—Eagly argues that historically, men and women occupied different social roles (breadwinner vs. homemaker), and these roles created the psychological differences we observe
• Correspondent inference—people assume that role-based behaviors reflect inherent traits, so women in caregiving roles are seen as "naturally" nurturing
• Changing roles, changing traits—this theory predicts that as occupational segregation decreases, psychological gender differences should diminish (and research partially supports this)

Feminist Theory

• Social construction emphasis—gender is not discovered but created through social practices, language, and institutional arrangements
• Power analysis—traditional gender roles serve to maintain male privilege and female subordination; gender development cannot be understood apart from these dynamics
• Critique of mainstream theories—points out that many developmental theories treat male development as normative and female development as deviation, or ignore diversity within gender categories

---

Psychodynamic and Intersectional Approaches

These theories add depth by considering unconscious processes and the complexity of identity. Gender development cannot be reduced to a single dimension or mechanism.

Psychoanalytic Theory

• Unconscious identification—Freud proposed that children resolve the Oedipus complex (boys) or Electra complex (girls) by identifying with the same-sex parent, internalizing their gender role
• Family dynamics are central—the quality of relationships with both parents shapes gender identity formation, with disruptions potentially leading to gender role confusion
• Early experience emphasis—gender identity is largely established by age 5-6, with roots in the phallic stage of psychosexual development

Intersectionality Theory

• Multiple identities interact—gender development cannot be understood in isolation from race, class, sexuality, disability, and other social categories that shape experience
• Unique positions—a Black girl's gender development differs from a white girl's not because of race or gender alone, but because of how these categories intersect to create distinct social experiences
• Complexity over simplicity—challenges theories that treat "girls" or "boys" as homogeneous groups with uniform developmental pathways

---

Quick Reference Table

---

Self-Check Questions

1. Both Cognitive-Developmental Theory and Gender Schema Theory emphasize cognitive processes, but they disagree on a key developmental question. What is it, and which theory would predict earlier gender-typed behavior?

2. If a researcher found that gender differences in aggression decreased as women entered more competitive occupations, which theory would this evidence most strongly support? Which theory would have difficulty explaining this finding?

3. Compare and contrast how Social Learning Theory and Social Cognitive Theory explain why a child might avoid a gender-atypical toy. What role does the child play in each explanation?

4. An exam question describes a 4-year-old who insists that a boy who grows his hair long "becomes a girl." According to Kohlberg, what stage of gender understanding has this child NOT yet achieved, and what cognitive limitation explains this error?

5. How would Intersectionality Theory critique a study that simply compared "boys" and "girls" on a measure of gender role attitudes without considering participants' race, class, or cultural background?