Gender Constancy Theory (Kohlberg, 1966)

• Concept comes from the suggestion that young children can't distinguish between appearance and reality
• E.g. young children believe that a person must be a girl if they're wearing a dress
• Kholberg's theory holds that changes in gender thinking are solely the outcome of changes in a child's cognitive abilities as it ages

The stages of the theory are as follows:
1) Gender Labelling (2-3 1/2 yrs)

• Children of this age label themselves and others as boys or girls, but this label is based on outward appearance only

2) Gender Stability (3 1/2 - 4 1/2 yrs):

• Children recognize that gender is something that's consistent over time - boys grow to men, girls to women
• Their concept is one of gender stability, not gender constancy
• They don't understand that gender is consistent over situations, believing that males will change to females if engaging in feminine activities

3) Gender Consistency (6 yrs):

• Children come to realise that fender is constant across time and situations
• Kohlberg believed only at this stage will children learn about gender-appropriate behaviour

Commentary:
Gender Labelling:

• Evidence from the age of gender labelling come from Thompson (1975) who found that 2 yr olds were 76% correct in identifying their sex whereas 3 yr olds were 90% correct

Gender Stability:

• Slaby and Frey (1975) asked young children "Were you a little girls or a little boy when you were a baby?" and "When you group up will you be a mummy or a daddy?"
• Children didn't recognize these traits were stable over time until they were 3/4 yrs old, as predicted

Gender Consistency:

• Slaby and Frey (1975) found those children high in gender constancy showed greatest interest same-sex models
• This suggest, as predicted, that an increasing sense of constancy lead to children to pay more attention to gender-appropriate models, furthering gender development