Point Evidence Conclusion Evaluation
Describe and evaluate Kohlberg’s cognitive theory of gender development. Refer to evidence in your answer.
The origin of Kohlberg’s theory of gender comes from the psychologist Piaget. It was Kohlberg’s theory that a person’s understanding of the social world develops in stages. His theory relates these stages to early childhood. There are three stages in Kohlberg’s theory from age two until age seven.
The first stage of Kohlberg’s theory of gender development is called ‘Gender Identity’. This stage happens between the ages of two and three. The belief is that, at this stage, children are correctly able to identify and label the two different sexes – male or female. At this stage the child’s understanding of the two sexes is based on physical characteristics particularly hair length and the clothing they wear. For example long hair for females and short hair for males. Children, at this stage, do not recognise that sex does not change over time – this understanding occurs in the next stage.
Stage two is called ‘Gender Stability’. This stage is the stage in which a child realises that their sex stays the same over time and occurs over three to four years of age. A child who has reached the gender stability will recognise that their gender is fixed and that they have always been and will continue to be the same gender, in contrast to a child who has not reached this stage who will know their past and present gender but do not know that they will be the same gender when they are older. An example of this would be a boy thinking he ‘will be a mummy’ when he grows up. Although a child now understands his/her gender they are still limited in the way they think about gender. At this stage the child understands that gender stays the same across time however they do not understand that gender stays the same across situations. For example a boy playing with dolls may cause a child to think that he has...