ABSTRACT
Gender relates to aspects such as role in society, preferences for particular activities, typical sexual orientation and so on. The biological differences between the sexes originate in our genes. An alternative to seeing gender identity as either directly due to biology or purely down to social influences is to see it as an interaction of both. Biosocial theory emphasises the role of biology in directing and constraining development, but acknowledges the role of socialisation in guiding a child towards a particular gender identity. The findings of Beverley Fagot’s observational study of young children and their parents, and D. C. Perry and K. Bussey’s experiments on modelling, both indicate that social learning plays a major role in reinforcing sex-appropriate behaviour. A difficulty is in trying to determine to what extent a gender difference is caused by the effects of sex role stereotyping on our expectations of male and female behaviour.
