Psychology Essay: "The Threenager”

‘‘The Threenager’’
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‘‘The Threenager’’
The theory of gender identity developed by Lawrence Kohlberg illustrates how children learn to realize their gender, and the meaning of their gender (Martin & Ruble, 2014). He hypothesized that at age three, children can engage in gender labeling. They can tell the distinction between males and females, and will label people correctly. In fact, most children can label themselves as boys or girls at this age (Oswalt, 2018). However, these children still think that gender is not permanent because it can change. Children of this age also have difficulty understanding that boys and girls have different body shapes, but share certain characteristics (Martin & Ruble, 2014). For instance, in the photo, the boy might still believe that gender is temporary, and can dress like his sister although he may understand that he is a boy.
As the child matures, he begins to obtain a better understanding of gender identity and roles. He thinks that gender is steady over time. However, he might think that shifting their activities can change their gender (Oswalt, 2018). For example, the boy in the photo might believe that if he continues stirring and cooking a few bins of Lego, he will become a girl. At the same time, he may start thinking that building a toy train is related to activities performed by a male. In other words, age three is the state where children begin to understand their identity, but can still possess the behaviors of their opposite sexes.
Regarding social development, a child will be much less selfish at age th...