Psychology

Gender stereotypes refer to the characterisation of groups based on their basic gender attribute as male or female. The gender-based stereotypes are the simplified evaluations of male and female groups that are shared by the community, a culture, or society. The evaluations usually encompass the attributes of physical capability, psychological state, personality, interests, and behaviour.  These attributions could be based on fact such as the differences in the physiological and hormonal characteristics of males and females. However, the evaluations may be overstated. The other attribute evaluations may not be supported by evidence. The nature and source of stereotypes lead to two implications. One implication is on the positive or negative impact of gender stereotypes. Women as emotional and men as rational could be positive when considered as strengths but these stereotypes could also be negative when used to discriminate or exclude in the workplace and in other situations. The other implication is the non-predictive value of these stereotypes over the individual attributes of members of the group. While women are stereotyped as emotional and men are stereotyped as rational, these are not necessarily the core attributes of all females or males. Nevertheless, gender stereotypes are pervasive in different cultures and form part of day-to-day lives. As such, gender stereotypes form during the growing up years. Acquired gender stereotypes are retained until adulthood and difficult to change or unlearn. These gender stereotypes develop alongside gender roles, influence gender roles, and are reinforced by gender roles. Understanding the factors that foster the development of gender stereotypes and gender roles provide the key areas in influencing the development or in changing the stereotypes and gender roles developed during childhood.

Factors Influencing Gender Stereotypes and Gender Roles in Children
Children going through the developmental stages are exposed to different factors that influence their development of gender stereotypes and gender roles. Two of the most pervasive influences on the development of gender stereotypes and gender roles in children are parental influence and media influence.

Parental Influence
The earliest exposure of children to the meaning of gender and gender differences is from parents. Parents exert a strong influence on their children for a number of reasons. Children recognise their authority in the household and they exercise moral ascendancy over their children. During the development stage, children look up to their parents in developing perceptions, beliefs and attitudes towards various aspects including gender characteristics and roles.

Gender socialisation is one concept that explains parental influence on the development of gender stereotypes and gender roles in children. Gender socialisation is the process that facilitates interactive learning of certain behaviours considered as acceptable for males and females based on social-cultural beliefs and values. The different expectations for males and females build stereotypes that are reinforced by how these are exacted from children by their parents. The attitudes of parents towards their children, in terms of the encouragement of gendered activities and interests, influence the development of gender stereotypes and roles.

One manifestation of parental attitudes towards gender is differentiation through colours. As early as the pregnancy, the babys room is designed and furnished according to the expected gender of the baby. When babies are born, parents buy things such as clothes and other items depending on the gender of their child. Typically, blue is the colour for male babies and pink for female babies. The design or patterns of clothes are also differentiated by gender. Floral and other similar patterns are bought for girls while cars and truck prints are designated for boys. There are also stark differences in the toys given as gifts for male and female children. Dolls are typically for girls and cars, trains or soldiers for boys. These attitudes and behaviour of parents communicate differences between males and females together with expectations on the concurrent attitudes and behaviour of their male or female children.

Another manifestation of parental influence is the activities and chores assumed by parents and assigned to their children. Usually, girls have more chores inside the household. Mothers that do not work are likely to take primary responsibility for household work and help is obtained from daughters. Sons are also assigned chores but these commonly pertain to work such as lifting or other manual work outside the house. During playtime, there are also distinct reinforcements over the types of games played by girls and boys. Dressing-up dolls and dancing are typical girls games while baseball and other sports are boys games.

Parents could also exhibit attitudes that communicate preferences over the gender of their children. In most cultures, there is a general preference for male children for reasons ranging from economic with male children considered as bigger income contributors to social reasons such as to continue the family name. With this attitude, parents with female first-borns have the tendency to bear more children until a male child is born. For mothers with these beliefs, the preference for a son is intended to please the husband.

These gendered attitudes and behaviours of parents exert influence during socialisation with their children who are receptive to the explicit and implicit messages communicated to them. As they become aware of gender differences, they also develop male and female stereotypes. Concurrently, they also start to assume gender roles. Although gender socialisation is a two-way street, with children reacting and exerting an influence over their parents, parental influence during the development stages is the key to the development of gender identity. Gender stereotypes and roles acquired during childhood are likely to be retained in the long-term.

Parental identification is another concept that explains parental influence as a factor contributing to the development of gender stereotypes and gender roles in children. Parental identification is the process of internalising the attributes of parents and the unconscious repetition of the perceptions, attitudes and behaviour of parents by children. Male children internalise the observed characteristics of their fathers and female children internalise the attributes of their mothers. The gender stereotypes shared and exhibited by parents and the gender roles assumed by the parents constitute signals of the attributes of males and females.

Androgynous parents and egalitarian families have different influence on children relative to parents and families with strong gender stereotypes and gender roles. Androgynous parents are those that do not exert distinct gendered attitudes or expectations on their children. Both parents are likely to be working. There could also be reversal or flexibility in the roles assumed inside and outside of the home. (Witt, 1997) The influence on distinct male-female stereotypes is likely to be flexible or loose. Children are also likely to exhibit flexibility and openness when it comes to gender stereotypes and gender roles as influenced by the flexibility in the attributes exhibited by their parents.

A number of factors influence the extent of gendered attributes of parents. One is educational attainment. Parents with higher educational attainment are likely to pursue their respective careers. Mothers who work develop higher self-esteem based on their career achievement. They exhibit flexibility in their attitudes towards gender stereotypes and gender roles. They provide lesser limitations over activities, interests, and career options for their children. This signals the development of knowledge and acquisition of experiences not limited to gendered expectations. Egalitarianism and androgynous attitudes become passed on to succeeding generations. Mothers who stay at home are more likely to exhibit more distinct gender stereotypes and designate gender roles on children. There is likely to be greater encouragement for male children to work or to pursue a profitable course in college.

Another factor is socio-economic background. Apart from an expected higher educational level for families with higher incomes, gender stereotypes and gender roles is linked to economic status. In developing countries with high poverty rates, gender stereotyping and gender roles are stronger. Male preference is tied to expectations of bigger income. Manual work, which is the predominant work, is delegated to males. Domestic chores are assigned to females. Although, it is also common for women to contribute to the family income through work done at home such as sewing or handicrafts making, these are not considered as work but as part of domestic work. In developed countries, female children tend to have lesser restrictions in terms of expected roles. Nevertheless, other factors such as educational attainment of parents determine the gendered attributes observed from parents.

Parental influence contributes to the development of gender stereotypes and gender roles in children through the processes of gender socialisation and parental identification with children becoming aware of gender differences through the, attitudes and behaviours of parents.

Media Influence
The media refers to a wide range of venues including television, gaming consoles, mobile phones, and the Internet. Exposure of children to media has increased over the past five years. The frequency of exposure has also increased with young children watching television, playing games, talking to friends, and surfing the net for more hours in a day. A recent survey showed that half of the children under the ages of 5-7 have televisions inside their rooms that they can use anytime without parental supervision. Households with a gaming console have also risen from 67 to 85 percent. Children in this age group also increasingly own personal mobile phones, with the percentage increasing from 10 to 11 percent. Every one in five children between 5-7 years old can access the Internet in their homes without supervision from their parents. The explanations for these include lesser time of parents to watch over their children and the concurrent use of media as babysitter. These support the strong influence of media on children during the development years.

There are benefits and downsides to the exposure of children to media. The benefits include reinforcement and support for academic learning. The Internet has become a virtual encyclopaedia for children. Another benefit is social learning. However, the benefits are not absolute and largely depend on the type of media content exposure. The downside is the adverse influences on perceptions, attitudes, personality and behaviour from the media content and lack of parental supervision to mediate media influence. Media has an influence on the development needs of young children  depending on the media content and the internalisation of this content. Gender stereotyping and gender roles are developmental areas strongly affected by media.

Gender socialisation also occurs through media influence. Gender socialisation through media refers to the interaction between children and media content presented in various venues. The interaction is indirect. Children are the receivers of stimuli presented by the media through television shows, movies, games, mobile phone applications, and Internet content. However, children also indirectly influence media as a market segment. The increase in media content for young children has increased over the years. This is recognised to be a response to the demand created by the greater access to media of children at a young age. The nature of interaction involves the expression of messages pertaining to gender by media content and mode of delivery. Children internalise these messages to influence their development of ideas on gender, which together with their experience, affect the development of gender stereotypes and gender roles.

Movies and television shows comprise a media more popularly accessible to children. Gendered messages come from the portrayal of family roles and conflict, romantic relationships, work roles, and other situations that express gender differences. Children are receptive to gender stereotyping in the representation of family relations and roles. When media portrayal aligns with their actual experiences, then media becomes a reinforcement of their awareness of gendered meanings. If media portrayal differs from their experiences, then other influences such as peers and the school become mediating factors in the development of perceptions about gender. The role of parental supervision is the key to how children internalise gendered messages from movies and television shows.

Games are mostly role playing games with players selecting their characters. In the case of games designed for children, gender distinctions emerge from the creation of characters with physical attributes reflecting beauty for girl characters and strength for boy characters (Villani, 2001). There are also games with androgynous characters that do not exhibit typical gendered attributes. Children could also be exposed to games intended for older players. The characters usually have clear-cut gender delineations with male characters with muscled physique and female characters with curvaceous physique. The characters in games influence gender stereotypes by providing models of expected physical and psychological attributes of boys and girls. These influence the development of identity and assumption of roles of children.

Advertisements express gender categorisation. In a study of advertisements targeting children in the United States and Australia, there is a common trend towards gender stereotyping. The portrayal of boys or the message of advertisements for products intended for boys express aggressiveness, mental dominance, active lifestyle, and keenness in operating instruments. The advertisements targeting girls express physical attributes and embellishments. Exposure to gendered advertisements also influences the awareness of children of gender differences and expectations.

The Internet opens multiple media content to children but the prevalent media that influence childrens gender awareness is visual stimuli. In a study of characters intended for children as audience, there is also a distinct gender difference. Females commonly take the role of humans and children. Males comprise adult characters, wild animals, and superheroes. These reinforce gender stereotypes of males as stronger and females as weaker.

Gender role identification and categorisation also explain how media contributes to the development of gender stereotyping and gender roles in children. Gender role categorisation refers to the classification of attributes for males and females. Gender role identification pertains to the association with a gender by an individual. During the development years, children internalise media influences in categorising attributes. Their awareness of gender then leads them to identify with the attributes and role expectations of their gender. If media categorises males as strong and active, then boys would likely cultivate and exhibit these attributes. The extent of influence of media on the development of gender stereotypes and gender roles depend on the extent of exposure of children and the mediating role of parental supervision or intervention together with other influences.

Conclusion
Parental influence and media influence are two factors that contribute to the development of gender stereotyping and gender roles in children. Gender socialisation and identification explain the influence on children. Gender socialisation is the interaction between parents and children or media and children audience with the exchange of gendered messages influencing the awareness of children towards gender. Gender identification is the alignment or adoption of gender stereotypes and gender roles of parents and the media by children.

As strong influences, it is also through these factors that negative gender stereotypes and gender roles can be changed. Parents exercise authority and moral ascendancy over their children and children look up towards their parents for guidance or models during the development years. Parents should recognise their role in guiding the perspectives, attitudes and behaviour of children towards gender and gender identity development. There is need for parents to become conscious of destructive gender stereotypes and gender roles and proactively make change. The interaction between various forms of media and children is increasing in frequency. While there are more gender sensitive and androgynous media content, children need parental supervision in internalising media content, especially since children are exposed not only to media intended for them but also to media intended for adults.