Describe the ways in which observational learning affects how children view gender roles

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Numerous gender-typed models are available in children's environments, and children continue to encounter many people in their schools and communities who conform to traditional gender roles—women as elementary school teachers, nurses, and librarians; men as school principals, computer experts, and airline pilots. In one study, participants of all ages expressed greater interest in occupations held by workers of their own sex than identical jobs held by workers of the other sex, confirming that merely observing sex differences in occupations affects interest in those fields. Males of all ages were especially attracted to jobs depicted as highly paid, females to jobs high in altruism—values that likely contribute to the gender sorting typically seen in the workforce.
When children are exposed to nonstereotyped models, they are less traditional in their beliefs and behaviors. Children who often see their parents cross traditional gender lines—mothers who are employed or who do "masculine" household tasks (repairing appliances, washing the car), fathers who do "feminine" household tasks (ironing, cooking, child care)—less often endorse gender stereotypes. Girls with career-oriented mothers show special benefits. They are more likely to engage in typically masculine activities, have higher educational aspirations, and hold nontraditional career goals. Furthermore, among children of divorced parents, boys in father-absent homes and girls in mother-absent homes are less gender-typed, perhaps because they have fewer opportunities to observe traditional gender roles than in a two-parent household.