Evaluation of Gender Schema Theory
Martin and Halverson (1983): Found that children under 6 recalled more gender-consistent pictures
(such as a male firefighter or female teacher), than gender inconsistent ones (male nurse or female
chemist). When they were shown a boy holding a doll, the children later described that they saw a girl
holding the doll. This shows that they also distorted the information. Shows things that don’t align with
their gender schema are ignored
S Bradbard et al (1986): Conducted study on 4-9 year olds. Told them that certain gender-neutral items
were either boy or girl items. A week later PP’s showed more interest in items that were labelled as
belonging to their group.
Martin and Little (1990): Found that children under the age of four showed no signs of gender stability,
let alone constancy. Despitea lack of gender constancy, they displayed strong gender stereotypes about
what boys and girls were permitted to do.
Gender equality: Helps to explain how gender equality can be established (by providing a child with
plenty of examples that go against their gender stereotypes)
P
Reduced culture bias: This can be applied to most cultures as boys and girls have different roles in each
culture, and this theory allows for people to form different schemas.
I
A
Zosuls et al (2009): Showed that children can identify their gender earlier than indicated in previous
studies. They recorded samples of children’s language and observed them at play. They found that
children first started referring to themselves as girl or boy around the age of 19 months, which is quite a
bit earlier than stated by the theory.
C Stagnor and Ruble (1989): Suggested a compromise between Kohlberg’s and Martin’s model. Only
included gender schema and gender constancy in their new model. When testing children aged 4-10
years, they found that memory and organisation for gender consistent pictures increased with age
(gender schema) and the preference for same sex toys increased with gender constancy.
E ✘Reductionist: Ignores social and media influences that are explained by social learning theory. Ignores
the role of reinforcement of gender specific behaviours.
✘Lacks temporal validity:
- Society is becoming more androgynous, and examples of men cooking in the kitchen, or women being
a firefighter are much more common nowadays. This means that children nowadays are forced to let go
of gender stereotypes as it’s impossible to ignore information that doesn’t pertain to their stereotypes.
- Some children nowadays are also brought up to be gender neutral and any decisions regarding gender
identity are made much later than those who are not bought up to be gender neutral.
- Some people don’t form a gender identity and choose to remain non-binary
Martin and Halverson (1983): Found that children under 6 recalled more gender-consistent pictures
(such as a male firefighter or female teacher), than gender inconsistent ones (male nurse or female
chemist). When they were shown a boy holding a doll, the children later described that they saw a girl
holding the doll. This shows that they also distorted the information. Shows things that don’t align with
their gender schema are ignored
S Bradbard et al (1986): Conducted study on 4-9 year olds. Told them that certain gender-neutral items
were either boy or girl items. A week later PP’s showed more interest in items that were labelled as
belonging to their group.
Martin and Little (1990): Found that children under the age of four showed no signs of gender stability,
let alone constancy. Despitea lack of gender constancy, they displayed strong gender stereotypes about
what boys and girls were permitted to do.
Gender equality: Helps to explain how gender equality can be established (by providing a child with
plenty of examples that go against their gender stereotypes)
P
Reduced culture bias: This can be applied to most cultures as boys and girls have different roles in each
culture, and this theory allows for people to form different schemas.
I
A
Zosuls et al (2009): Showed that children can identify their gender earlier than indicated in previous
studies. They recorded samples of children’s language and observed them at play. They found that
children first started referring to themselves as girl or boy around the age of 19 months, which is quite a
bit earlier than stated by the theory.
C Stagnor and Ruble (1989): Suggested a compromise between Kohlberg’s and Martin’s model. Only
included gender schema and gender constancy in their new model. When testing children aged 4-10
years, they found that memory and organisation for gender consistent pictures increased with age
(gender schema) and the preference for same sex toys increased with gender constancy.
E ✘Reductionist: Ignores social and media influences that are explained by social learning theory. Ignores
the role of reinforcement of gender specific behaviours.
✘Lacks temporal validity:
- Society is becoming more androgynous, and examples of men cooking in the kitchen, or women being
a firefighter are much more common nowadays. This means that children nowadays are forced to let go
of gender stereotypes as it’s impossible to ignore information that doesn’t pertain to their stereotypes.
- Some children nowadays are also brought up to be gender neutral and any decisions regarding gender
identity are made much later than those who are not bought up to be gender neutral.
- Some people don’t form a gender identity and choose to remain non-binary
