RaeLani Mathias
Psychology 314
Article Report #1
17 Oct. 2016
Goldberg, A. a., Kashy, D. k., & Smith, J. j. (2012). Gender-Typed Play Behavior in Early Childhood: Adopted Children with Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Parents. Sex Roles, 67(9-10), 503-515.
Introduction
There are many important facts about a family’s parental sexual orientation that affect a child’s growth. One of those revolves around the gender-typed play behaviors of children in the early stages of life. One study conducted in 2012 by Goldberg A., Kashy D., and Smith J. researched and examined questions relating to this subject to further knowledge of children’s cognitive growth and development in early years of life. This study focused on two main hypotheses that follow ideas from social constructionist and social learning theories respectively; “Children in same-gender parent families will be less gender-typed in their play than children in heterosexual-parent families,” and “boys in lesbian-mother families… will demonstrate less gender-stereotyped play behavior… than boys in gay-father families and boys in heterosexual-parent families… and girls in gay-father families… will demonstrate less gender-stereotyped play behavior… than girls in lesbian-mother families and girls in heterosexual-parent families” (Goldberg, A. a., Kashy, D. k., & Smith, J. j. 2012).
Relevant Theories
Two theories were identified as predictors of behaviors linked to the sexual orientation of parents and how a child develops
Younger children usually have an easier time adjusting to a gay and lesbian parented home. They haven’t learned the social biases against gays and lesbians yet.” (Nighlad).
The gay personality may be determined during a child’s early years of development or throughout the individual’s life. A lesbian or gay individual like heterosexual individuals are influenced by family, peers, and society. Family structure, social factors, and cognition and conditioning help the development of sexual identity (Kwiatkowski, 2010). The child while living with the parents, adopt many of the customs and values the parents emphasize. The parents may stress the importance of gender roles in the household which the child may learn to
Some say that children in gay and lesbian families lack the gender role model, which may have negative effect on the psychological development of them. Family education is important to the child development, and some people argue that, in same-sex families, there
In studies of physical abuse in children, gay and lesbian individuals were more likely to report former abuse than heterosexuals. In one study, seventeen percent of gay and lesbian participants reported abuse, while only twelve percent of straight participants were determined to be abused as children. (Saewyc, Bearinger, Blum, and Resnick, 1999) Even in families, homosexuals were found to be abused worse than their straight siblings as children. (Tjaden, Thoennes, and Allison, 1999)
The development of sexuality begins right after birth and continues to develop throughout our lifespan. According to Chapter 9 it states that ¨Sexuality is a normative part of adolescent development and it plays an important positive role in growth and development¨ (Hyde, pg. 228). Understanding that sexuality influence physical, mental and social well-being of an individual it is will be my responsibility to create a positive conversations around this topic with my future son. As a Hispanic women I will discuss with my son at the age thirteen about sexuality and healthy sexual behaviors. In addition, I will provide him with a clear understanding of what sexuality is and how it will develop further as an adolescence. Furthermore, these conversations will discussion body awareness, physiological changes that occur and information on sexual orientation and safe sex practice.
Gender- role stereotypes are well-ingrained cognitive schemes we use to interpret and categorize behaviors as either being masculine or feminine. As early as age two and three, children are able to recognize and label themselves as either male or female; around age four or five children have already started to prefer activities defined by the culture as appropriate for their sex and they also begin to prefer to engage in play activities with same-sex peers (Bem, 1981). In the past, researchers have come up with proposals and theories that attempt to explain this phenomenon. “The gender schema theory proposes that the phenomenon of sex typing derives, in part, from gender-based schematic processing, from a generalized readiness to process
However, they also learn gender-role expectation from their own observations (Bandura, 1986, 1997). Peers, the media, children’s literature, and preschool classroom practices all influence a child’s gender-role development because they often apply stereotypes about “girl” or “boy” behaviors and capabilities (Alexander & Hines, 1994; Maccoby, 1998). Gender identity and sexuality or often confused as the same. Just because a 5-year-old boy wears a pink party dress it does not mean he is a homosexual. Gender identity is the roles that society place on men and women and sex is based on
Internalized homophobia is important to note as these feelings about gender and sexuality can reactivate when LGBT individuals begin navigating creating their own families and procreating. glazer’s research notes lesbian mothers feeling anxious about their perceived inability to provide male role models for their sons. Additionally, parenting for LGBT individuals can activate feelings of gender anxiety and internalized homophobia because of the societal implications associated with functions of mother and father roles and activities (Glazer, 2013).
The purpose of this study was to observe play among preschoolers and to witness if interactions with an adult and with same-sex peers were different then interactions with mix-sex peers. It is believed by some that adults have no place in children’s play. This is because that an interruption from an adult could inhibit the child’s from experiencing emotional benefits from play (Ward, p. 20). However previous studies have found that active adult involvement can increase the social level of play (Ward, p. 20). Studies have also discovered that adult interaction with children’s play can help preschoolers achieve social acceptance (Ward, p. 20). The participants of this study are of preschool age, which is 3 – 4 years old. The methods used for
Several psychological theories are proposed to explain the gender differences; however, one commonality stands out in most of these theories and it is related to the gender role development as a learned behavior. Most important reason in development of gender differences is social expectations, as explained by social role theory that suggests that the differences result from contrasting roles of the genders in the society. Psychoanalytic theory derived from Freud’s teachings states that the preschool children are attracted to opposite sex parents, while this attraction begins to disappear at the age of 5 to 6 years the children start to associate with the same sex parents unconsciously. According to gender schema theory, gender typing is a cognitive process in which children develop gender schemas that are befitting their culture and sex. Most instrumental and widely accepted theory is the social cognitive theory, and according to this theory gender role development happens in young children because of observation and imitation of
Children are the greatest gift parent could ever experience and raising them to be productive individuals is an important goal to most parents. A child’s sexuality usually does not come into question as the parent raises their children, parents naturally nurture their child based on their natural sexual gender. Nurturing a child’s natural sexual gender simply means raising that child as a boy if the child is born with male genital or raising the child as a female if the child is born with female genital. Although, the concept of nurturing a child’s natural sexual gender seems natural but not all parents agree. David Reimer was born a male child yet his parent raised him as a female.
parenthood and will be extremely motivated and are well resourced. The purpose of this study was to investigate how parents’ sexual orientation can have an impact on their children’s lives. However, Goldberg & Kashy & Smith (2012) suggested that future studies should not only control parental characteristics, but also cautiously examine the children in each group of families. They concluded that investigators should be aware of the results before concluding what influence parental sexual orientation had on children’s gender development, due to the lack of clarity in the field. Goldberg & Kashy & Smith (2012) stated that some lesbian mothers contribute in many ways when it comes to fostering masculine traits in their sons and feminine traits in their daughters. Altogether, Goldberg & Kashy & Smith (2012) have progressed the debate on the idea that parental gender draws attention to the growing and continuing studies of parental sexual orientation and gender roles and how that affects child development, in order to educate society. Jacson, Ianlongo and Stollak (1986) studied the relationships between three parental factors and the presence of both masculine and feminine traits in young adults. Both parents and children self-related femininity and masculinity were also examined. There were a total of 184 participants (75 males and 109 females) chosen from a population of 1780 undergraduates who completed the Short Form of the Bem Sex Role Inventory at the beginning of the term.
There is much debate that homosexuality is a developmental problem caused by a weak bond between a father and son during one’s childhood. A failed relationship with one’s father can lead the boy to not fully internalize male gender identity and develop homosexually (Baird & Baird, 1995). Consider the gender development of identity. Infants indentify with their mother who is the first and primary source of nurturance and care. As girls age, they continue to identify mostly with their mother and boys shift towards their father. Through a father-son relationship, masculine identification is attained which is necessary if the boy is to develop a normally masculine personality (i.e. heterosexuality). This development task helps explain why boys have more difficulty than girls in developing gender identity and may also explain the higher ratio of male to female homosexuality (Baird & Baird, 1995). It is important that
Previous research by Eleanor E. Maccoby has also shed light on the topic of children’s playmates and explained that, “Children’s playmates, from preschool to puberty, depends on whether the child is male or female” (p. 755). Maccoby noticed the fact that children playmates are sex-segregated. She examined the emergence and reasons of same-sex attraction and cross-sex avoidance. Using a longitudinal, cross-cultural design, Maccoby observed one boy and one girl moving from preschool age to puberty in each of the twelve
Although this study did highlight negative attitudes towards gay male and MTF parents and potential parents, it failed to include lesbians, female to male (FTM) transgender individuals, and bisexual individuals. Every group within LGBTQ+ experience different prejudice and discrimination. Lesbians for example may have less prejudice because, one, they’re women, who are generally thought of as better parents, and two, there is plenty of research proving lesbians make great parents. FTM trans individuals, on the other hand, may face greater adversity because