Describe gender schema theory, and explain how it affects individual differences in children's gender-typed views
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: Gender schema theory is an information-processing approach to gender typing that combines social learning and cognitive-developmental features. It explains how environmental pressures and children's cognition work together to shape gender-role development. Young children pick up gender-stereotyped preferences and behaviors from others. At the same time, they organize their experiences into gender schemas, or masculine and feminine categories, that they use to interpret their world. As soon as children can label their own gender, they select gender schemas consistent with it and apply those categories to themselves. For example, a boy who is gender-schematic will ask himself, "Should boys play with dolls?" If he answers "yes" and the toy interests him, he will approach it, explore it, and learn more about it. If he answer "no," he will respond by avoiding the "gender-inappropriate" toy. But if the boy is gender-aschematic, he simply asks himself, "Do I like this toy?" and responds on the basis of his interests.
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A study on child-rearing practices in different cultures and their effects on personality concluded that:
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