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Psychology 320: Gender Psychology

Lecture 24

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Invitational Office Hour Invitations, by Student Number for November 19th

11:30-12:30, 3:30-4:30 Kenny 2517

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Social Learning Explanations of Gender Differences:

1. What theories illustrate the social learning view? (continued)

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By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:

2. distinguish between positive and negative reinforcement and punishment.

1. describe the socialization theory of gender development.

3. discuss differential patterns of reinforcement and punishment for boys and girls.

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5. review evidence that supports the social role theory of gender development.

4. describe the social role theory of gender development.

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2. Socialization (Operant Conditioning) Theory

Maintains that the characteristics of females and males diverge because they are reinforced and

punished by their caregivers and peers for exhibiting different characteristics.

What theories illustrate the social learning view? (continued)

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Many studies have documented the differential patterns of reinforcement and punishment of females

and males by caregivers and peers. Examples:

Theorists distinguish between positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment.

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• Raag & Rackliff (1998): Found that:

(a) more girls than boys believed that their mother or father would approve of cross-gender-typed play.

(b) more boys than girls believed that their mother or father would disapprove of cross-gender-typed play.

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(c) boys believed that their father was more likely than their mother to disapprove of cross-gender-typed play.

(d) in contrast to boys who believed that their father would approve of or be indifferent to cross-gender-typed play, boys who believed that their father would disapprove of cross-gender-typed play did not play with “girl toys.”

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Mean Time Boys Played With Dish Set as a Function of Perceptions of Father’s Expectations Regarding Cross-

Gender-Typed Play (Raag and Rackliff, 1998)

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• Lamb, Easterbrooks, & Holden (1980): Found that, with respect to teachers and peers:

(a) boys and girls were more likely to be reinforced for gender-role congruent activities than gender-role incongruent activities.

(b) boys and girls were more likely to be punished for gender-role incongruent activities than gender-role congruent activities.

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(c) boys and girls continued gender-role congruent activities that had been reinforced for a longer duration than gender-role incongruent activities that had been punished.

(d) older children were more likely than younger children to engage in intentional punishment (e.g., criticism, disapproval vs. diversion, abandon play) of peers for gender-role incongruent activities.

(e) boys were more likely than girls to receive intentional punishment from other boys and girls for gender-role incongruent activities.

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Although children acquire many of their gender-role congruent characteristics through external

reinforcement and punishment, research suggests that, as they mature, they begin to regulate their actions through internal reinforcement and punishment (e.g., self-approval vs. self-disapproval).

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3. Social Role Theory

Maintains that the characteristics of females and males diverge because they are assigned to social roles (e.g., domestic roles, occupational roles) that require distinct attributes.

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According to this theory, “women and men seek to accommodate sex-typical roles by acquiring the

specific skills and resources linked to successful role performance and by adapting their social behaviour to role requirements” (Eagly & Wood, 1999).

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Thus, females are more likely than males to develop expressive characteristics because they are assigned to roles (e.g., homemaker, teacher, nurse) that

require these attributes.

In contrast, males are more likely than females to develop instrumental characteristics because they are assigned to roles (e.g., executive, politician,

military officer) that require these attributes.

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Consistent with social role theory:

(a) females are more likely than males to be employed in occupations that require expressivity and males are more likely than females to be employed in

occupations that require instrumentality:

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Occupation Percent Female

Lawyer 30

Police officer 14

Securities salesperson 29

Chief executive 24

Marketing manager 41

Social worker 80

Counsellor 70

Teacher 72

Librarian 85

Child-care provider 95

Registered nurse 92

Secretary 97

Wait staff 78

Cleaner 90

Percentage of Females in Distinct Occupations(US Bureau Labor Statistics, 2005)

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Social Learning Explanations of Gender Differences:

1. What theories illustrate the social learning view? (continued)