Gender Rigidity and Flexibility in Young Children's Gender-Typed Behaviors, Identity, and Attitudes: A Cognitive Theories of Gender Development Perspective

Cognitive theories of gender development propose that children's emerging understanding of gender categories should ignite a process where children actively collect knowledge about gender and form gender stereotypes, to which they attempt to strictly adhere. Furthermore these theories predict that this early learning about gender and gender identification should heighten the extremity of children's attitudes about girls and boys. Three longitudinal studies investigated these predictions in a total of 246 children of low-income Mexican-, Dominican-, Chinese-, and African-American backgrounds from age 3 to 5. In line with these theories, Study 1 found evidence for developmental change in children's gender-typed behaviors (appearance, dress-up play, play, and sex segregation), with most behaviors increasing in rigidity, especially from age 3 to 4. Study 2 further supported the theories' claims finding that greater gender stability at age 4 led to greater gender-stereotype knowledge at age 5. Study 2 also found that children who understood gender stability at an earlier age showed higher levels of sex segregation across ages 3 to 5. In addition, children who had acquired an earlier knowledge of gender stereotypes showed (i) an earlier trajectory of increasing rigidity in gender-typed appearance and (ii) lower levels of cross-gender-typed play across ages 3 to 5. Study 3 investigated possible consequences of these cognitive and behavioral changes in early childhood for the rigidity and flexibility of intergroup attitudes at age 5. Study 3 found high levels of rigidity in children's gender identification and gender attitudes (cognitive, affective, and behavioral components) as expected. Furthermore, children who gained a better understanding of gender stability and learned more gender stereotypes from age 4 to 5 showed higher levels of gender identification at age 5. Also children who applied gender stereotypes more flexibly expressed more positive cognitive attitudes toward the other gender. Across studies, Dominican-American children, especially girls, often showed the highest levels of gender rigidity. Despite these findings, many expected relations between gender-related cognition and gender-related behaviors and attitudes showed no associations in Studies 2 and 3. Together these studies then lend partial support to cognitive theories of gender development.