Nature versus Nurture and the Perception of Gender Identity

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[Submission Date]Abstract

This essay draws upon numerous studies, psychological research from books and journals, critical thought and deduction to understand, analyze, and explain the nature versus nurture debate and the perception of gender identity in light of the two leading perspectives of Cognitive Development and Social Learning Theory. The essay also briefly discusses other perspectives of gender development and identity such as the Biological Perspective underlying sex and genetic variables, the Gender Schemata approach, and the Integrative approach which merges all the previously mentioned theory to provide a holistic and elaborate image of the processes of gender perception and gender identity formation, most pertinent to the society today as specific studies cannot provide a complete picture due to long-term changes in gender identity, roles, and behavior. Nature versus Nurture and the Perception of Gender Identity

Introduction

The long-drawn out Nature versus Nurture debate has been, historically, a vastly researched topic and contested area of study in Psychology and Sociology (Steen, 2001). The debate encompasses the concepts of gender identity formation and determination - and to what extent gender roles are genetically inherited or socially learned, two opposing views. Nature versus Nurture examines whether human beings are products of their heredity among other biological dispositions or are their behaviors and attitudes shaped by the environments in which they are brought up. Because the link is intricate between the two, it is difficult to distinguish between genetic and social variables, often making the studies in this area challenging and conflicted in their views. Naturally, there exists a middle ground between the two leading perspectives in psychology that explain gender development. Most contemporary developmentalists agree that the contributions of both nature and nurture depend on the particular aspect of development which is in question. They also agree that all complex human attributes such as intelligence, temperament, and personality are the end products of a long interplay between biological dispositions and environmental forces. Cognitive behavior molds gender identity in the early stages as the child learns to identify and associate with his or her gender. However, the later development of gender identity is not an isolated development based ultimately on the inherited genetic framework of birth, rather an all inclusive development that incorporates elements of associating with their or the opposite gender based on the environment and social variables around them. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate why the formation of gender identity cannot holly attributed to either approach since gender identity is formed because of a combination of the two as most contemporary developmentalists advocate.

Discussion

Theoretic Approach#1

Cognitive perspectives on gender identity and gender role socialization including the two key theories of cognitive behavior and gender identity, the cognitive developmental theory and the gender schema theory, describe gradual process of the development of gender identity. Gender identity develops as children begin to understand the world around them by associating with their genders. The consequences of this gender association surface in the form ...