Year: 2015
Type: other
Abstract: Contemporary theory and research on children's gender development from a social‐cognitive perspective are reviewed in six sections. First, I examine contemporary social‐cognitive theories and conceptual models pertinent to the study of gender development. These include cognitive‐developmental, information‐processing, intergroup, and motivational approaches. Second, I summarize the development of children's gender cognitions. Topics include gender stereotyping, attitudes, prejudice, self‐concepts, and gender and as a social identity. Third, possible causes and consequences of gender‐typed play are considered. In the fourth section, I review research on gender comparisons of performance and achievement. Some of the reviewed domains are academic achievement (including verbal, spatial, mathematical, science, and artistic domains), athletic achievement, interpersonal competence, and intrapersonal competence. Fifth, I highlight some of the individual and social‐relational influences on gender‐related variations in performance and achievement. Finally, I advocate for more theory bridging and replication in future research on gender development.
Author: Campbell Leaper
Institution: University of California, Santa Cruz
Language: English
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Gender equality
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1506721080