Enculturation: gender roles by Erin Hayn

Social Cognitive Theory

erinhayn — 2024-03-07 07:36:14 UTC

observational learning and vicarious reinforcement

Direct tuition

erinhayn — 2024-03-07 07:37:33 UTC

your parents, teachers, or other members of your society explicitly teach you certain beliefs, values, or expected norms of behavior

Media portrayal of characters

erinhayn — 2024-03-07 10:21:13 UTC

historical

2024-03-07 10:22:36 UTC

Western societis are patriarchcal, womens roles in these societies have always been "birth, raise child, clean hosue, lsiten to husband", over centuries, its hard to break this mentality.

social pressures

erinhayn — 2024-03-07 10:23:56 UTC

Biology- school

henry0681 — 2024-03-07 10:24:36 UTC

Biology class teaching sex differences

To fit in

2024-03-07 10:28:03 UTC

parents

2024-03-07 10:28:04 UTC

being told "dont do this youre a boy" or " dont do this youre a girl"

This could be supported by the Smith and Lloyd study where adults played with children differently and offered different toys depending on their perceived gender.

Economics

2024-03-07 10:30:26 UTC

can affect the cultural values emphasized in different societies. Economic systems prevalent in a culture may influence the development of specific norms.

clothing

2025-02-20 10:33:05 UTC

toys

2025-02-20 10:33:44 UTC

2025-02-20 10:34:33 UTC

Often, Advertisements portray specific careers with inherent gender biases, and tailor toys to kids this way. For instance, girls in adverts are often depicted playing and caring for dolls, while boys are recklessly smashing cars into each other- these ads reinforce the stereotypes that girls are more nurturing while boys are less careful and "stronger"

politicians

2025-02-20 10:34:57 UTC

Politicians aim to win and to do so they try to convince people that their views are the correct ones, and, for example, trump has views that say women don't get the right to choose what happens to their body, which may influence people's views on social norms

Careers

2025-02-20 10:35:03 UTC

Many jobs are seen as fitting different genders due to stereotypes (eg. boys = strong, so they should be firefighters)

Toys

2025-02-20 10:36:37 UTC

For instance, in the smith and Lloyd study, we can see specific toys chosen for specific genders, regardless of the kids general attitudes. Mothers were more inclined to choose the football for the babies they perceived as male and were more inclined to use the stuffed animals for the babies percieved as female

Technology

nele2924 — 2025-02-20 10:37:38 UTC

Kimball (1986)

with the introduction of Television it soon became clear that, through what technologie shows us, we adapt these ideologies and thats how some stereotypes on gender roles are formed. It was only done with gender stereotypes but can be generalizable.

media exposure

2025-02-20 10:38:23 UTC

TV and other forms of media or social media are able to influence people's norms by dressing characters with certain clothes or putting certain labels on them (e.g tomboy)

Kimball (1986) states that in a small town, after two years of television exposure, children started having significantly more gender stereotypes

Media (newspapers, tv, internet)

AlinaDery — 2025-02-20 10:38:30 UTC

One example of a study that we discussed was Kimball (1986) who by observing changes due to a natural event showed that children had significantly more gender stereotypes after 2 years of exposure to television after it had been first introduced. This study could support both implicit and explicit learning, but in my opinion, it is more implicit since children were not always told what to do, but rather they observed different gender models based on famous people and fictional and non-fictional characters on the TV.

Cultural Practices

2025-02-20 10:39:38 UTC

As shown in the Greenfield (2006) study, cultural practices that are passed on at times represent gender (such as weaving and womanhood as shown in Greenfield)

Social norms

2025-02-20 10:39:51 UTC

Being influenced by your peers about what is seen as typical behaviour for the gender you belong to. For example, if a kid only sees girls playing with dolls or boys playing with footballs, they may automatically avoid the toy that is not seen as part of there gender (e.g. to fit in with their group).

This prevalent gender schema in kids can be seen in the Martin and Haverson study where young kids have a very clear idea what is associated with boys vs with girls.

media exposure

raja0986 — 2025-02-20 10:40:30 UTC

I believe that the media children consume directly influences their perception of gender norms. This is because media presents certain genders in specific roles, just as they observe in real life. Media representation can promote positive gender norms by offering different and more diverse portrayals, but it can also reinforce stereotypes. Therefore, media holds significant power over how children perceive gender, as it can shape their understanding and make their real-life experiences feel less relevant. This is supported by the Kimball Study (1986), which found that children's gender stereotypes strengthened after the introduction of television, aligning with social cognitive theory.

Clothing companies

2025-02-20 10:41:46 UTC

A lot of companies make clothing with slogans such as "princess" for girls or "strong" for boys which is a big starting point in children internalising these gender norms

Family dynamics

2025-02-20 10:42:00 UTC

In families where women are caretakers while fathers are always at work, the kids often grow up thinking that men are better at certain jobs.

Jobs

2025-02-20 10:43:58 UTC

Very often jobs are organised for each gender and are very stereotypical. Jobs involving strength and leadership (like firefighting, police, and military) frequently are associated with men while jobs that are associated with women are more nurturing (teaching, nursing, and more)

It is seen in the video: children were told to draw people when given a job description. most of the children always drew men for "manly" jobs.

Environment

mohanad0973 — 2025-02-25 09:13:28 UTC

If you grew up in a household or attended a school that has very visible differentiating gender roles you are more likely to embody them into your own mindset.

Activities done in childhood

2025-02-25 09:14:01 UTC

From a young age children are convinced to take part in activities that conform with traditional gender roles. Whether this is by teachers, parents, other children or simply strangers. It makes children conform to the gender roles and be too afraid to step out of it.

Parents and teachers

2025-02-25 09:14:39 UTC

From a young age, I was encouraged to play with action figures and toy cars, while my sister received dolls and kitchen sets. No one explicitly told me I couldn’t play with her toys, but there was an unspoken rule that certain activities were meant for boys and others for girls.

In school, these expectations continued. Boys were often pushed toward sports, while girls were encouraged to help decorate the classroom or take on nurturing roles. Even compliments were different—boys were praised for being strong and competitive, while girls were called “sweet” and “caring.” These subtle reinforcements made it clear what was expected of us.

Exposure to media

louisalessio0809 — 2025-02-25 09:14:54 UTC

I think social media has a huge influence on gender stereotypes from a young age, like how characters in movies and shows dress which can be very stereotypical. In Kimball this is shown through the introduction of TV and how this impacts gender roles

Media

toralf1302 — 2025-02-25 09:16:18 UTC

Perception of gender norms has perpetuated throughout history through media (articles, advertisements, movies etc) which depict and reaffirm current cultures, and with that also societal expectations of gender association.

A study that explores this is Kimball (1986)