A relationship exists between gender identity and the self-concept. Describe this relationship and include the following terms in your description: gender roles, gender-typing, and gender stereotypes.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Gender identity, awareness of one's femaleness or maleness and all it implies, is an important aspect of the developing self-concept. Gender differences are psychological or behavioral differences between males and females. Measurable differences between baby boys and girls are few. Although some gender differences become more pronounced after age 3, boys and girls on average remain more alike than different. Extensive evidence from many studies supports this gender similarities hypothesis. Gender differences may be small to negligible, and some differences, such as in self-esteem, change with age. Among the larger gender differences are boys' higher activity level; superior motor performance, especially after puberty; and their greater propensity for physical aggression.

Gender roles are the behaviors, interests, attitudes, skills, and personality traits that a culture considers appropriate for males or females. Historically, in most cultures, women have been expected to devote most of their time to caring for the household and children, and men have been providers and protectors.

Gender-typing, the acquisition of a gender role, takes place early in childhood. Gender stereotypes are overgeneralizations about male or female behavior. For example, "All females are passive and dependent; all males are aggressive and independent" are gender stereotypes. They appear to some degree in children as young as 2 or 3, increase during the preschool years, and reach a peak at age 5.