Gender Development, Theories of

Societal gender typing circumscribes many aspects of our lives. The development of gender has the potential to profoundly affect who we are, who we identify as, and how we live our lives. Gender development is defined as a person’s developmental process of identifying their gender identity and their gender role. Gender identity is a person’s concept of being a male or a female. Gender role is the sum of the behaviors, attitudes, and preferences that are considered to be appropriate for female and male members of a particular society at a specific time. Thus, gender roles are bound by the culture in which the male or the female person inhabits. Various psychological theories have attempted to explain the process of gender development, a process that ...