Abstract
Recent empirical information has challenged existing theories of early sex-role acquisition and stimulated theoretical interest in this process. A social interactionist theory of early sex-role development is outlined, which incorporates the insights of existing theories while moving beyond their limitations. This theory stresses the influence of sex labels on social interactions, social interactional experience on the acquisition of gender identity, and the active participation of the child in his or her own sex-role development. The differences and similarities between the social interactionist and other theories of sex-role development are noted. The necessity for observational studies of naturally occurring interactions and theoretical responsiveness to the findings of such studies is also noted.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cahill, S. Toward an interactionst theory of gender development. Paper presented at the annual symposium of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, San Francisco, March 1979.
Cahill, S. Directions for an interactionist study of gender development. Symbolic Interaction, 1980, 13, 123–138.
Conn, J. H., & Kanner, L. Children's awareness of sex differences. Journal of Child Psychology, 1947, 1, 3–57.
Constantinople, A. Sex-role acquisition: In search of the elephant. Sex Roles, 1979, 5, 121–133.
Denzin, N. The genesis of self in early childhood. Sociological Quarterly, 1972, 13, 291–314.
Denzin, N. Play, games, and interaction: The contexts of childhood socialization. Sociological Quarterly, 1975, 16, 458–478.
Dewey, J. Experience and nature. Lasalle, Ill.: Open Court, 1958. (Originally published, 1926).
Freud, S. Some psychological consequences of the anatomical distinction between the sexes. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1927, 8, 133–142.
Garfinkel, H. Passing and managed achievement of sex status in an intersexed person. In Studies in ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1967. pp. 116–185.
Goffman, E. The arrangement between the sexes. Theory and Society, 1977, 4, 301–331.
Goffman, E. Gender advertisements. New York: Harper-Colophon, 1979.
Goldberg, S., & Lewis, M. Play behavior in the year old infant: Early sex differences. Child Development, 1969, 40, 21–31.
Green, R. Sexual identity conflict in children and adults. New York: Basic Books, 1974.
Hartley, R. A developmental view of female sex-role definition and identification. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 1964, 10, 3–16.
Hill, W. The status of the hermaphrodite and transvestite in Navaho culture. American Anthropologist, 1935, 37, 273–279.
Joffe, C. Taking young children seriously. In N. Denzin (ed.), Children and their caretakers. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Books, 1973. pp. 101–116.
Katz, P. The development of female identity. Sex Roles, 1979, 5, 155–178.
Kohlberg, L. A cognitive-developmental analysis of children's sex-role concepts and attitudes. In E. E. Maccoby (ed.), The development of sex differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1966, pp. 82–173.
Lewis, M. State as an infant-environment interaction: An analysis of mother-infant interaction as a function of sex. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 1972, 18, 95–121.
Lewis, M., & Weinraub, M. Origins of early sex-role development. Sex Roles, 1979, 5, 135–151.
Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N. The psychology of sex differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974.
Mead, G. H. Mind, self, and society (C. Morris, Ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962. (Originally published, 1934).
Mead, G. H. The philosophy of the act (C. Morris, Ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1938.
Mischel, W. A social-learning view of sex differences in behavior. In E. E. Maccoby (Ed.), The development of sex differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1966. pp. 56–81.
Money, J., & Ehrhardt, A. Man and woman, boy and girl. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1972.
Montemayor, R. Children's performance in a game and their attention to it as a function of sex-typed labels. Child Development, 1974, 45, 156–166.
Opler, M. The hijara (hermaphrodites) of India and Indian national character: A rejoinder. American Anthropologist, 1960, 62, 505–511.
Pleck, J. H. Masculinity-femininity: Current and alternative paradigms. Sex Roles, 1975, 1, 161–178.
Rheingold, H. L., & Cook, K. V. The content of boys' and girls' rooms as an index of parents' behavior. Child Development, 1975, 46, 459–463.
Rubin, J., Provenzano, F., & Luria, Z. The eye of the beholder: Parents' views on sex of newborns. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 1974, 44, 512–519.
Seavey, C. A., Katz, P. A. & Zalk, S. R. Baby X: The effect of gender label on adult responses to infants. Sex Roles, 1975, 2, 103–109.
Sidorowicz, L., & Lunney, G. Baby X revisited. Sex Roles, 1980, 6, 67–73.
Stein, A., Pohly, S., Pohly, R., & Mueller, E. The influence of masculine, feminine, and neutral tasks on children's achievement behavior, expectancies of success, and attainment value. Child Development, 1971, 42, 195–207.
Stoller, R. Sex and gender. New York: Science House, 1968.
Thompson, S. Gender labels and early sex-role development. Child Development, 1975, 46, 339–347.
Turner, R. The self-conception in social interaction. In C. Gordon & K. Gergan (Eds.), The self in social interaction. New York: Wiley, 1968. pp. 93–106.
Weitzman, L. J., Eifler, D., Hokada, E., & Ross, C. Sex-role socialization in picture books for preschool children. American Journal of Sociology, 1972, 77, 1125–1150.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cahill, S.E. Reexamining the acquisition of sex roles: A social interactionist approach. Sex Roles 9, 1–15 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00303105
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00303105