Summarize the biological, psychoanalytic, social learning, and cognitive approaches to understanding gender development. Apply each perspective to an example of a young girl, Stephanie, who is coming to understand her gender.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

- The biological approach emphasizes evolutionary forces and brain differences that contribute to one's sense of gender. Stephanie would have been exposed to prenatal hormones (refined over a long period of evolution) that prompted her to develop her sense of femaleness.
- The psychoanalytic perspective argues that gender development is the result of identification with the same-sex parent during the course of psychosexual development. During the phallic stage, Stephanie would feel a sexual attraction toward her father and experience penis envy, resolving both by identifying with her mother.
- The social learning perspective argues that gender-related behavior and gender expectations are gathered by observing others' behavior. Stephanie would learn what it means to be "female" by noting gender-stereotypic behaviors in others that get rewarded.
- The cognitive approach highlights the role of schemas and "rules" for appropriate gender-related behavior in the process of gender development. Stephanie would develop a sense of what girls and boys "ought" to do, and note violations of those "rules" for appropriate behavior.