Question

1. Outline Kohlberg’s cognitive-developmental view of sex-role development, and briefly discuss:
   1. basic gender identity
   2. gender stability
   3. gender consistency

Answer 1

According to Kohlberg's cognitive development theory, a child's understanding of its gender develops with age. There are three stages of gender development.

1) The first stage is gender identity. Gender identity develops at about 2 years of age. Here, the child starts to recognize whether they are male or female. Children also learn to identify others as boys or girls.

2) The second stage is gender stability. This stage starts at about 4 years of age and in this stage, the child understands and learns that their gender is fixed. That they will remain male/female when they grow older (boys will grow up to become father/daddies and girls will grow up to become mother/mummies).

3) The final stage is the gender constancy stage. This stage happens in between 5 to 7 years of age. Here, in this stage, the child develops the understanding that cosmetic changes will not alter sex.