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leadstodevelopingasenseofinitiativeorsense understanding in early childhood is limited to of guilt. For example, giving freedom and defining oneself through physical opportunities for play like cycling, running, characteristics: I am tall, she has black hair, I skating, etc. and answering children’s am a girl, etc. During middle and late questions will create a sense of support for childhood, the child is likely to define oneself the initiative taken. In contrast, if they are through internal characteristics such as, “I made to feel that their questions are useless, am smart and I am popular” or “I feel proud and games played by them are stupid, the when teachers assign me responsibility in children are likely to develop feelings of guilt school”. In addition to defining oneself through over self-initiated activities, which may persist psychological characteristics, children’s self- through the children’s later life also. Self- descriptions also include social aspects of self, Box 3.2 Gender and Sex Roles Is chess a man’s game or woman’s game or both? of development. Through rewards and punishments, Is baking a woman’s activity or a man’s activity? they induce in children gender appropriate and What about driving, debating, and experimenting inappropriate behaviours. Parents often use rewards in a physics laboratory? Or consider some of the and punishments to teach their daughters to be products sold on T.V. for young men and young feminine and boys to be masculine. Peer influence is women? What do they tell about how girls and also considered to be a major contributor to gender boys should be? socialisation. Psychologists have meticulously researched Parents restrict school-aged girls more than they on whether sex differences exist. Research shows restrict school-aged boys, and assign boys and girls that males have been consistently found to be different types of chores. In everyday interactions, more aggressive than females. Men perform parents give their daughters a kind of ‘dependence better than women on tests of sit-ups, short-run training’, and their sons a kind of ‘independence speeds and long jumps. Women show better, fine training’. Media, including cartoons and commercials eye-hand coordination than men do, and their are known to perpetuate gender stereotypes. joints and limbs are more flexible than men’s. Research on gender stereotypes in commercials What do you think is the origin of these shows that across cultures authority figures in differences? Are these essential, or in other commercials were males, and women were more likely words, are women born with certain ‘feminine’ to be shown in dependent and domestic roles, or traits, and men with certain ‘masculine’ traits? women were more likely to sell body products, and Or are these differences the creation of the world men more likely to sell sports products. we live in? Once children learn the role of male or female, The most powerful roles into which people are they organise their world on the basis of gender also. socialised are gender roles. They specify the rangeChildren’s attention and behaviour are guided by an of behaviours which are considered appropriate internal motivation to conform to gender based socio- for males or females. While sex refers to the cultural standards and stereotypes. Children also biological dimension of being male or female, actively socialise themselves according to the gender gender refers to the social dimension of being malemores of their culture. Once they have internalised or female. There are several aspects of gender. gender standards, they begin to expect gender Among these, important ones are gender identity appropriate behaviour from themselves. Young boys of male or female, which most children begin to may refuse to wear feminine clothes in a fancy dress acquire by the time they are about 3 years old competition. When playing house (ghar-ghar), girls and can accurately label themselves as boys and may refuse to play the father’s role. Once they have girls. As they grow, preferences can be evidenced identified with their own gender, children may model in their toys and play. after a powerful cultural figure of the same gender. A gender role is a set of expectations that The “gender typing” occurs when individuals are prescribes how females and males should think, ready to encode and organise information along the act and feel. Parents are important influences on lines of what is considered appropriate or typical for gender socialisation especially in the early years males and females in a society. 51 Chapter 3 • Human Development Reprint 2026-27