10.1.13

Criticisms of Social Theory

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Criticisms of Social Learning Theory

Like the other theories of gender development, there are a couple of weaknesses.

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Effects not causes

  • The first weakness is the fact that the social learning theory does not attempt to explain how the gender typical behaviours developed in the first place.
  • The theory only explains how it propagates from one generation to the next, not where gender behaviours/roles originated from.
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Smith and Daglish (1977)

  • The second weakness has evidence from a study conducted by Smith and Daglish (1977).
  • They conducted a questionnaire on parent’s views of gender appropriate behaviour.
Illustrative background for __Smith and Daglish (1977)__ findingsIllustrative background for __Smith and Daglish (1977)__ findings ?? "content

Smith and Daglish (1977) findings

  • They found that gender typical behaviour of one to two year olds did not differ from parents with strong stereotyped views of gender roles compared to parents with less strong views.
  • There was no correlation between parental stereotypical views of gender and to what degree their children exhibited gender typical behaviour.

Jump to other topics

1Social Influence

2Memory

3Attachment

4Psychopathology

5Approaches in Psychology

6Biopsychology

7Research Methods

8Issues & Debates in Psychology (A2 only)

9Option 1: Relationships (A2 only)

10Option 1: Gender (A2 only)

11Option 1: Cognition & Development (A2 only)

12Option 2: Schizophrenia (A2 only)

13Option 2: Eating Behaviour (A2 only)

14Option 2: Stress (A2 only)

15Option 3: Aggression (A2 only)

16Option 3: Forensic Psychology (A2 only)

17Option 3: Addiction (A2 only)

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