May Ling Halim

Gender Identity and Stereotyping in Early and Middle Childhood

Without much effort, one can easily imagine a young girl, at age 3 or 4, happily wearing a pink, frilly dress. She twirls, she dances, she skips in her dress, reveling in its femininity and flounce. In the same vein, with great ease one can imagine a small boy, a towel draped around his neck, his bony arms outstretched in fists. He imagines his muscles bulging and his strength abounding, running here and there in an attempt to fly off to combat unseen evil forces. What can explain these gender differences in behavior? There are many different possible explanations. Some might say girls and boys come into the world this way, that DNA causes a preference for pink or an adoration of superheroes. Others may say these children simply learn from examples around them, seeking to imitate their mothers or fathers, for example. Many forces may interact, but in this chapter, we consider these behaviors through the lens of cognitive-developmental theory. Cognitive-developmental theory emphasizes a few central tenets. It emphasizes close links between gender development and children’s basic cognitive development (Martin, Ruble, & Szkrybalo, 2002). It also views children as internally, self-initiated “gender detectives”—agents who actively construct the meaning of gender categories, rather than as passive recipients of external gender socialization agents. In addition, cognitive-developmental theory posits that a motivational drive to master these gender categories causes children to seek out information about their sex and to behave in accordance to what they deem appropriate gendered ways (Stangor & Ruble, 1987). Hence, in the present chapter, we focus on the development of gender identity and gender stereotyping, two constructs that involve cognition. We first broadly define gender identity and stereotyping. Next we discuss their possible antecedents. Finally we connect gender identity and stereotyping with gender-typed behavior and preferences, adjustment, and intergroup relations in early childhood. Throughout we incorporate recent research and classic literature, and also provide examples from our own laboratory.

Perceived Stigmatization, Ingroup Pride, and Immune and Endocrine Activity Evidence From a Community Sample of Black and Latina Women

Racial disparities are a major public health concern in the United States. The authors examined whether Black and Latina community members’ perceptions of stigmatization and personal feelings about their group relate to immune and endocrine markers associated with health risk, including the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6), which coordinates the immune response to infection, the anabolic hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which promotes cellular resilience, and the catabolic hormone cortisol, which releases metabolic stores in response to threat. Greater perceived stigmatization was associated with higher basal IL-6, whereas greater ingroup pride was related to elevated basal DHEA. These associations remained with adjustment for general perceived stress, experience with discrimination, age, and income. No significant perceived stigmatization or ingroup pride effects emerged for basal cortisol. These findings provide new evidence that perceived stigmatization and ingroup pride are linked to indicators of disease and resilience, respectively, highlighting mechanisms through which racial and ethnic stigmatization may contribute to health disparities.

Cross-generational effects of discrimination among immigrant mothers: perceived discrimination predicts child's healthcare visits for illness.

OBJECTIVE This study tested whether an immigrant mothers perception of ethnic and language-based discrimination affects the health of her child (indexed by the childs frequency of sick visits to the doctor, adjusting for well-visits), as a function of her ethnic-group attachment and length of U.S. residency. METHOD A community-based sample of 98 immigrant Dominican and Mexican mothers of normally developing 14-month-old children were interviewed. Mothers reported their perceived ethnic and language-based discrimination, degree of ethnic-group attachment, length of time in the United States, and frequency of their childs doctor visits for both illness and routine (healthy) exams. RESULTS Among more recent immigrants, greater perceived ethnic and language-based discrimination were associated with more frequent sick-child visits, but only among those reporting low ethnic-group attachment. The associations between both forms of perceived discrimination and sick-child visits were not observed among mothers reporting high ethnic-group attachment. Among more established immigrants, perceived language-based discrimination was associated with more frequent sick-child visits regardless of ethnic-group attachment. CONCLUSION These results suggest that a Latina mothers experience with ethnic and language-based discrimination is associated with her childs health, as indicated by doctor visits for illness, but that strong ethnic-group attachment may mitigate this association among recent immigrants.

Meaning making in middle childhood: An exploration of the meaning of ethnic identity.

Social identity, including identification with ones ethnic group, is an important aspect of social development. However, little is known about the subjective meaning associated with social group memberships, particularly during middle childhood. Using second- and fourth-graders responses to an open-ended question, we explored the meaning of ethnic identity with a sample of Chinese, Dominican, Russian, White, and Black American children. Analyses revealed that middle childhood is an active period for meaning making as children described the ethnic identity to include ideas such as language, physical appearance, pride, relative social position, and culture. While there were few differences in the ethnic identity meaning responses of second- and fourth-grade children, the meaning of ethnic identity varied considerably across the ethnic groups underscoring how the unique features and experiences of different ethnic groups shapes the subjective meaning of ethnic identity. These findings align with prior research on the meaning of ethnic identity among adults and adolescents and offer insight for future research regarding the conceptualization and measurement of the meaning of social group membership.

The Potential Benefits and Risks of Identifying as a Tomboy: A Social Identity Perspective

Although many girls may call themselves tomboys, little is known about the consequences of these self-perceptions. Seventy-six 5- to 13-year-old girls were interviewed and asked to identify their tomboy status (35 traditional girls, 20 tomboys, and 21 “in-betweens”). Tomboyism was associated with potentially negative gender identification (i.e., feeling less like a typical girl and less content with their gender), but more egalitarian perceptions of others (i.e., lower intergroup biases and greater acceptance of others’ gender-norm transgressions). To further develop the foundational tomboy literature, we first established that tomboyism was associated with more male-typical play preferences, examined the developmental course of tomboyism, and how girls describe this identity. Implications for theories of gender development are discussed.

The Role of Athletics in the Self-Esteem of Tomboys

Many girls self-identify as tomboys, yet little is known about their experiences. Tomboys deviate from gender stereotypes; they also may be more highly aware of gender status differences. Because tomboys may feel different from others and more keenly feel the lower status of their gender group, they may suffer from lower levels of self-esteem. Yet many tomboys also tend to participate in athletics, an activity that often leads to higher levels of self-esteem. Two studies sought to disentangle the interactive effects of tomboy identification and athleticism on self-esteem. Study 1 sampled 144 female undergraduates and Study 2 sampled 66 girls aged from 8 to 13. In both studies, greater self-identification as a tomboy during childhood was associated with lower current self-esteem, but only for less athletic participants. Tomboys who were highly athletic had high levels of self-esteem. Together these findings suggest that participating in athletics can protect tomboys from decreased self-esteem.

Perceived ethnic and language-based discrimination and Latina immigrant women's health

Perceiving ethnic discrimination can have aversive consequences for health. However, little is known about whether perceiving language-based (how one speaks a second language) discrimination poses the same risks. This study examined whether perceptions of language-based and ethnic discrimination are associated with mental and physical health. Among 132 Mexican and Dominican immigrant women, perceiving ethnic and language-based discrimination each predicted psychological distress and poorer physical health. When examined together, only ethnic discrimination remained a significant predictor. These results emphasize the importance of understanding how perceived ethnic and language-based discrimination play an integral role in the health of Latina immigrant women.

Gender is what you look like: Emerging gender identities in young children and preoccupation with appearance

Abstract Our work examining young children’s strong desire to wear gender-stereotypical clothing suggests that physical appearance may be early reflections of developing gender identities. We test implications of this association between gender and appearance with two studies examining young children’s preoccupation with looking pretty or handsome. Findings revealed that being more attuned to gender information was linked to greater appearance preoccupation. Girls were more preoccupied with their appearances compared to boys. Age was associated with greater appearance preoccupation in two of our three measures. These studies suggest that appearances may reflect developing gender identities, and that gender identity development can influence children’s appearance preoccupation. We suggest that future research examine the stability and generalizability of appearance preoccupation.

Early Gender Development in Children and Links with Mental and Physical Health

Early childhood is an important time for gender identity development. During this developmental period, children learn that there are gender categories and assign meaning to these categories. This chapter focuses on two aspects of gender development—gender identification (e.g., evaluations of one’s gender) and gender typing (e.g., gender-stereotypical dress, play, and other behaviors). In early childhood, it is normative for most children to exhibit a positive and strong sense of gender identification, as well as elevated gender-typing. However, this is not true of all children as not all boys and girls adhere to a gender-normative path. This chapter aims to review literature encompassing both gender normative and gender-variant children. We discuss the developmental trajectories of gender identification and gender-typing for each group. Further, we put forward a model whereby feeling different from others based on gender or feeling devalued by others based on one’s gender can put children at risk for poorer mental and physical health. We discuss theory and evidence to support our model, identify future areas of inquiry, and suggest practical implications.