gender role

We often wonder how influential a child’s environment is on their sense of self in regards to gender roles. Review “The case of… the Wrong Role Models?” on page 347 of your text, which presents a father’s concern for his son’s current preferences following attending a daycare where all of his peers were female. Respond to the questions following the case.

The CASE of … the Wrong Role Models? Jim Martell has been watching his son Jason carefully. Because Jim runs a business 90 minutes from home, his wife Tessa, who works right in the neighborhood, has had primary responsibility for raising Jason, and Jim has been growing steadily more worried over the four years of Jason’s life. First it was Jason’s quiet voice and shy, gentle mannerisms. Then it was his quiet insistence on getting a doll for Christmas at age 3, which Jim felt he had at least managed to sabotage by picking a G.I. Joe. Of course, Jim’s anxiety mounted when Jason spent more time dressing Joe in different outfits than making him run around and blow things up. Then it was Jason’s love of drawing and making clay models instead of playing with the neat toy guns and sports gear that Jim brought home for him. Jim has long believed that his big mistake was letting Tessa place Jason in a local daycare where all the other kids are girls. Jim is convinced that this environment has influenced Jason’s choices and made him more feminine. He is hoping that next year Jason’s kindergarten class will have more boys in it so his son can escape from the undue pressure to conform to a girl’s lifestyle.

1. Given what you know about gender differences in preschoolers, are Jim’s worries about Jason’s mannerisms and habits justified? Why or why no.

2. Jim attributes Jason’s behaviors to environmental influences. Could genetics also be a factor? Can the relative influences of nature and nurture be determined accurately?

3. If Jason attended an all-boys daycare, would his behavior and preferences necessarily be different? Why or why not?

4. Which perspective—biological, psychoanalytic, social learning, or cognitive—provides the most satisfying explanation for Jason’s behavior? Why?

5. Do you think Jim is right that exposure to boys in kindergarten will change Jason’s behavior? If so, how might this work?

Feldman, R. (2013). Child Development: A Topical Approach, 1st Edition. Pearson Education Inc.

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