Topic 1 Gender identity – elements

Theories that explain the formation of gender identity in children, under the influence of socialization:

• The theory of social learning
• Cognitive learning theory
• The theory of parental identification
• L. Kohlberg – stages
• Erikson – in adolescence, a restructuring of identities assimilated in childhood.

⇨ Gender stereotypes are the beliefs, beliefs that individuals in a society have about the characteristics and behaviors expected of women and men. There are cultural stereotypes, formed because of cultural influences, from school, art, press, etc., and personal stereotypes, that is, our own beliefs.

• In the case of women, traditional gender characteristics: submissive, concerned about the household and children, empathic and affective joined new models: with initiative, independent, strong, fighting.
• In the case of men, the traditional gender characteristics: initiative, power, independence, are blurred in recent years, the change of perception and manifestation being made from “strong sex” to “opposite sex”.