Four-year-old Caroline and seven-year-old Jenny are sisters who live and have been raised in the United States. Jenny plays a game in which she is a mother and her stuffed animals are her children. Jenny hugs them and pretends to carefully feed them. Later, young Caroline repeats the same hugging and feeding behaviors with her dolls. Caroline’s mother sees this and states, “Caroline, someday you’ll be a good mommy.” How would anthropological theory of gender explain Caroline’s behaviors? How would cognitive development theory explain Caroline’s behaviors? Make sure you address “maternal instinct” in your answer.

Question

Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).

Answer 1

ANS: The anthropological theory of gender would explain Caroline’s behaviors in terms of culture. Society influences our understanding of norms for femininity and masculinity. Caroline is repeating behaviors identified with “good mothering” in U.S. society, which include nurturing mothers displaying devotion to their families. Caroline’s mother may even believe that an innate “maternal instinct” is guiding Caroline’s behaviors.

Cognitive development theories of gender development would focus on Caroline as an active learner. She has realized “gender constancy” by age three and is thus highly motivated to learn to be “competent” in her sex and gender. In order to learn this, she has selected her sister as a model to learn how to “enact” femininity.