What role does television play in child gender role development?
Contents
Page number
Title Page……………………………………………………………………..…............1
Contents………………………………………………………………………..………..2
Abstract……………………………………………………………….……..…………..3
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………..….............4
Body of the Report..……………………………………………….…………...........5-24
(a) Introduction……………………………………………………...…………….5
(i) Definition of key terms………………………………………………………...6
(b) Literature Review…………….……………………………………………...7-9
(i) Biological development theory………………………………………………....7
(ii) Social learning theory………………………………………………………..7-8
(iii) Cognitive development theory…..………………………………………….8-9
(iv) Interesting/ relevant case study……………………………………………….9
(c) Research Methodology…….………………………..……………………...10-14
(i) Research methodology 1 Survey-Questionnaire…………………………..…...10
(ii) Research methodology 1-Participants…………………………………………11
(iii) Research methodology 1 Procedure..……………………………………...12-13
(iv) Research methodology 2 Observation-Case study…………….……………...14
(v) Research methodology 2- Procedure….………………………………..……...14
(d) Results and tables….……………………………………...………………..15-20
(i) Research methodology 1 Survey- Questionnaire…………..……….............15-19
(ii) Research methodology 2 Observation- Case Study……….………………......20
(e) Analysis and Discussion………………….…………..………..........................21
(f) Summary and Conclusions……...……………………………..………….........22
(g) Reference List………...…………………………………………..………...23-24
Bibliography………………………………………………………………….…….25-27
Appendix……………………………………………………………...……………28-46
Abstract
This report seeks to determine what influence television may have on the development of children’s understanding of gender roles and their own gender identity. It provides a critical review of the available evidence concerning this issue. Whilst focusing on the role of television on child socialization many other environmental and biological influences are detailed. It explores the biological, social and cognitive development theories that are believed to influence gender role development in children. The complex relationship that exists between television and gender identity is demonstrated.
This research project consists of a survey of 47 children from year 1, year 3 and year 5 and their guardians. Also completed was an observation of the most popular television show within this group, “The Simpsons”, in conjunction with critical reviews of secondary research. Through these methodologies and secondary research it has been possible to explore the question “What role does television play in child gender role development?”
The outcomes of this research were that television does reflect gender role stereotypes and these have the potential to effect children. From the questionnaires correlations between the amount of time spent watching television and the child’s gender role development are demonstrated. It is also evident that children are influenced by their admiration of particular characters on television. We can also note that the role of television is not necessarily negative and can result in a broader view of gender roles.
It is apparent that more research must be conducted, and it is recommended that this occurs on a larger scale to be representative of more individuals. An effective methodology should be developed which eliminates the majority of other factors influencing gender role development, so that television can be specifically isolated. As such, the research has simply shed light upon the possible effects that television may have upon children's concepts of gender roles.
Body of report
Introduction
How children learn and acquire gender roles is a topic which has recently gained increased interest. To what extent the environment influences children is a question common to many individuals. If the environment is seen to be influential, there is the potential for humans to be affected by the constant bombarding of information often obtained from television. It is quite possible for this information to shape gender role acquisition. A recent Australian study showed the most popular of all activities for children was watching television or videos, with 98% of children participating. It was also found that each child spent on average 22 hours a fortnight participating in these activities. From such statistics it seems inevitable that television will play an important role in developing the vulnerable and impressionable minds of children. The increased accessibility of television sets within households and the growth of mass media will only exacerbate this effect. Television has the potential to provide an image for what is acceptable and what is unacceptable in society. In its portrayal of 'normal' life, it reflects many important social roles, one of these being gender.
Of the many variables that influence a child’s understanding of gender, television is one of the most misunderstood. While television has been unjustly identified as uniquely responsible for many social problems such as obesity, violence and sexuality, its role is often overlooked or perhaps underestimated in areas such as gender-role development in children. Due to the increased amount of time children are watching television it would seem unwise not to pay some attention to it. For these reasons the research question ‘What role does television play in gender role development?’ was chosen. This question relates to the “Individuals and groups” and “Families and communities” chapters in the HSC preliminary course. The substantial amount of secondary information, and the topics potential for primary research was a contributing factor to the choice of this topic. This topic question will be answered by researching the factors which affect child gender role development and will be supported by primary research. The goal of this research project is to offer some understanding into the multifaceted implications of television on the lives of children, in terms of gender role development.
Definition of Key terms
Gender
“Gender is the primary category by which individuals identify themselves as well as being identified by others.” “The word gender describes the (biological) condition of being male, female, or neither. Gender comes from gendre, from genus, all meaning "kind", "sort", or "type".”
Sex “Sex is a biological term which refers to the functional differences between males and females and their reproductive potential.”
Gender Role “The term Gender role is used to signify all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself or herself as having the status of boy or man, girl or woman, respectively. It includes, but it not restricted to, sexuality.” “It is the adoption of masculine or feminine behavioural traits that are deemed appropriate or characteristic of a particular gender.”
Child
An individual between the age of 5 and 14
Development “Development is a significant event, occurrence, or change. It is the act of progression from one stage to another.”
Gender role development
“The process whereby children come to acquire the behaviors, attitudes, interests, emotional reactions, and motives that are culturally defined as appropriate for members of their sex.”
Literature review
In order to determine the role of television in gender role development it is necessary to review the existing information and research previously conducted. Current theories in which television might be considered in the acquisition of sex roles must be addressed. There are three main theories that will be discussed; these are ‘Biological Development Theory’, ‘Social Learning Theory’, and ‘Cognitive Development Theory’.
‘Biological Development Theory’
The biological theory suggests that people are born with intrinsic gender roles. According to this view, ‘prenatal exposure to androgen influences the development of gender identity - the feeling an individual has of being a man or a woman.’ This theory of gender-role development argues that women are born with ‘feminine identities’ and are naturally suited to roles such as mothering, and housekeeping. Whereas men are ‘natural’ hunters whose role is one of dominance. We can deduce from this theory that television will have no influence on the gender role development of children. According to this theory, the gender stereotypes on television are simply reflecting the social behaviours as they are in reality. Consequently the research carried out in this project, would be unlikely to support this theory.
Social Learning Theory
Some believe that it is environmental aspects which account for sex role acquisition. One theory that agrees with this is the ‘Social Learning Theory’. Among others Albert Bandura is considered the leading proponent of this theory. Bandura’s ‘Social-cognitive Theory’ is a more recent version of social learning approaches that highlights the active role of children in their observational learning. This theory believes that “we are psychosexually neutral at birth and that socialization is responsible for the development of gender identity.” It emphasizes that behaviour is learnt by a set of ‘learning principles’. These are observation, reinforcement, imitation and modeling. The ‘Social learning theory’ explains human behavior in terms of continuous equal interaction between cognitive, behavioural, and environmental influences. In terms of acquiring the concept of gender, ‘Social Learning theorists would argue that this occurs by the child observing gender-typed behaviour, having it reinforced through attitudes and
example, until the child imitates it and eventually adopts it.’ Bandura (1977) states "Learning would be exceedingly laborious, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do”. Fortunately, most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling. From observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action." The role of television in gender role development of children becomes a concern in terms of this theory. In this context, television becomes one of many factors that can contribute to sex role development.
Evidence relating to this theory is rather contradictory. Bandura (1966) concluded that children were more likely to imitate same-sex models and that the imitation was intensified if reward was given. Wolf (1973) found evidence to support this and discovered that children even imitated their gender role model when the models behaviour was not stereotypical. At the same time Barkley (1972) found the reverse to be true. He concluded that children imitate behaviour appropriate to their own sex regardless of the sex of the role model. Supporting the concept that children have already learnt sex-appropriate behaviour.
Parents are around children constantly, providing them with specific role models. They can influence what the child understands from what they see on television. Grusac and Brinker (1972) considered the role of parents and found that children attend equally to all models, but imitate the same-sex models because they are reinforced for doing so. Thus if parents are constantly praising the actions of 'traditional' gender role characters on television, it is likely that the child will also adopt these beliefs and behave in that manner.
Cognitive development
Lawrence Kohlberg (1966) is one of many to propose a cognitive development theory for gender role acquisition. While recognizing the importance of observational learning, Kohlberg presented a very different account of how children come to understand and enact gender roles. In Kohlberg’s words his theory “assumes that basic sexual attitudes are not patterned directly by either biological instincts or arbitrary cultural norms, but by the child’s cognitive organization of his social world along sex-role dimensions” In other words the cognitive developmental approach takes into account the role that the child has in the process and argues that the attainment of gender roles is slightly dependant upon the child's cognitive understanding of their social environment.
Kohlberg, and other proponents of this approach, argue that children develop a sense of gender identity in a sequence of distinct stages, an idea developed by Jean Piaget’s work on cognitive development. The Kohlberg sequence of gender identity development involves three stages: 1. The child identifies as male or female. 2. The child recognizes that gender is stable and does not change. 3. The child realizes that gender is permanent and consistent.
From the cognitive development perspective, television could play a role as a source of information for children constructing their gender roles and social understanding. Thus if television characters portray biased or stereotyped gender roles, that is what such a child will be likely to adopt.
Research into gender by cognitive development theorists suggests that the influence that television can have on gender roles depends upon which of the three stages of cognitive development the child is at. The results of a study conducted by Van Evra (1984) indicated that younger children perceived the stereotypical portrayals on television as similar to real life, whereas older children tended to recognize the stereotypes. Slaby and Frey (1975) found that children of six years of age were more likely to focus on the same sex models observed in films. One could argue that the cognitive development theory is perhaps the most effective when looking at a topic such as this, as it takes into account a wider amount of variables.
Interesting and relevant Case Study
Tannis McBeth Williams (1985) conducted a study in Canada to examine the impact of television on a community which had previously had no television reception. She also did control studies at a town with a single television channel, and one with four broadcast channels and cable. They studied the town twice: once before television came to the town (Phase 1) and again after it had television for two years (Phase 2).
She tested the sex role attitudes of a number of children who lived in the community both in phase 1 and then phase 2. In this study each child was given a list of characteristics (e.g. honest) and then chose whether these were more typical of boys and fathers or girls and mothers. A lot of differences would indicate strong sex-typing.
In Phase one she found that children in a community where there was television were more sex stereotyped than the children in the community who had no television. She found in Phase 2 that those introduced to television after two years were significantly more gender stereotyped than they had been before. This evidence suggests that television plays a significant role in gender role development.
Methodology
Research methodology 1: Survey-Questionnaire
“A questionnaire is a primary research method combining a question and tally sheet, to which people are asked to respond.” In the case of this research project a written questionnaire was used to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data. The language used was simple and in large writing to cater for the young age of the participants. The number of questions were limited as this ensures respondents do not lose interest. Most of the questions were quantitative and closed to allow statistical information to be collected and to maintain the short attention span of younger children. The participants were given a limited choice of responses as these were more easily controlled and compared. As Questionnaires are the easiest and quickest way to collect the necessary information from a large group of people, it was the most appropriate choice of data collection. It was a successful way for responses to be compared between each of the participants as there was a written record of the data. By utilising this research method it gave parents and children time to complete the survey and consider their responses.
Bias in research cannot be fully overcome; however the impact can be lessened by the researcher remaining as objective as possible in the methods they choose, how they implement these methods and how they interpret and present the results. Bias was avoided throughout the survey by designing the questions to be to the point, relevant and easily interpreted. In an attempt to avoid bias an appropriately representative sample group and quantitative questions were used. The number of open ended questions was also limited. The difficulty with this method is that the respondents may have answered according to expectations, rather than as they truly believe.
Ethics in research involves the most socially responsible or moral way of proceeding. To ensure the protection of the children being surveyed the School Principal, the Department of Education and Training (DET) and each parent was contacted to ensure the survey was appropriate and that consent and permission of all people was obtained. The wording of questions was carefully considered so they were not too personal and individuals were not offended. “N/A” was available as an option if the individual did not feel comfortable answering the question. Privacy was also an important ethical consideration. The individuals remained anonymous for each of the surveys and the amount of personal detail required was limited to age and gender. Integrity was maintained by being honest with the purpose of the research and making it clear who will have access to the findings and how the research will be used.
Research methodology 1: Participants
The participants were 45 primary school students attending school in the middle class suburb of Wingham NSW and their associated parent or guardian. Most of the children were of European Australian background. This limited focus allowed every student to be used by the researcher. A stratified sample group allowed comparison between each stratum or layer of the larger population of children. It provided a wide range of answers but ensured the data did not become unmanageable. The sample size was also due to the topic being based around children. It is very difficult and time consuming to work with children and as a result of Protection Acts etc. within schools it was more time effective to work within one primary school.
Included in this survey was:
- 15 Year 1 Students
- 15 Year 3 Students
- 15 Year 5 Students
- 23 girls and 22 boys.
It should be noted that the television viewing content of the children consists of Australian, American and British content in terms of gender role portrayals. For instance, approximately 40-50% of broadcast material is imported, predominantly from the United States and the United Kingdom
Research methodology 1: Procedure
The procedure for the research methodology 1 will be answered according to each question within the survey to ensure minimal confusion. Refer to Sample Questionnaire
Questionnaire part 1: Gender Allocation Task
During each survey, the child was asked to predict who would be most likely to perform a relevant job by circling male, female or both. Each parent then filled out corresponding questions which detailed gender responsibility within the home. The child’s responses were then compared to the parent’s in an attempt to uncover basic sex role beliefs. This determined whether the child’s answers were guided by experiences within his home or those derived from elsewhere, presumably television. The results of this section were entirely based on the honesty of both the parent and child. By the parent filling out the corresponding questions it was possible to view any deviations from the child’s answers thus determining what occurs at home, and what information children are receiving elsewhere. A point was awarded for each instance where the child’s response differed from the adults. Each child received a score out of 11. In addition to the child’s score it was determined if this deviation was due to the child’s broader view of gender roles or a narrow view. A broader view was defined as responses that indicated an acceptance of both sexes as suitable for a particular activity despite a narrower view of gender roles occurring within the home (indicated by the parent’s responses). A narrower view was defined as children who chose that activities were specific to a certain gender despite this not being the accepted norm within the home. Each child was then assigned ‘x’ meaning that the child had a broader view of gender roles or ‘y’ meaning the child had a narrower view. To avoid bias the two surveys were placed on separate pages so that the children did not have clear view of the parent’s responses. This is highly significant as younger children are often influenced by their parents. In most cases it was possible to apply the questions to the child’s home experiences.
Questionnaire part 2: Age & Sex Age and sex were recorded in this survey to determine if gender roles are more prevalent in one sex, or within one age group. There has been significant research into the role of age and sex in gender-role development so to determine its influence these questions were included.
Questionnaire part 3: Favourite Programs, Future Occupations The children were asked to list their five favourite television shows. For each favourite program the ‘character of importance’ was determined as male, female or neither then tallied. The children were also asked to list the five careers they would like to have in the future. These careers were determined as gender stereotyped jobs or non-stereotyped, and compared to the amount of time spent watching television. This comparison was made to determine televisions influence on gender roles in the workplace.
Questionnaire part 4: Amount of time watching television
The relationship between the amount of time spent watching television, and its influence is another factor which research has been conducted on. It seems reasonable to assume that the more television a child watches, the more likely they will be to believe and assimilate the gender stereotypes they see represented. To determine if this theory is correct each child was asked to write how many television shows they watched per day.
Questionnaire part 5: Heroes and icons
One way to determine televisions influence on children is to examine whether or not they identify with the characters they see on television. For this reason the children were asked “If you could be anyone who would you be?” thus determining their heroes or icons.
Research methodology 2: Observation/ Case Study of the Simpson’s television show
A case study involves a detailed investigation of one issue. A case study of ‘The Simpsons’ was chosen as the second research methodology as it allowed a detailed examination, deeper understanding and obtained qualitative information. ‘The Simpson’s’ was chosen as this program is representative of television programs viewed by children. The Case study is achieved through the research methodology of an observation. This was a non-participant observation as it is not possible to interact with fictional characters. This was an advantage as it meant the research was more objective and easier to record. Through this method it was possible to measure the relationships between the members of the “Simpsons” family and observe the gender- roles portrayed in the television show. It is these gender role stereotypes portrayed that have the potential to influence children. Generalisations and privacy were not a problem within this case study as the characters are not human.
Research methodology 2: Procedure
To understand how television may influence the development of young viewer’s gender role stereotypes, it is essential to be familiar with the content they are viewing. For this reason an observation of ‘The Simpsons’ was completed. In collaboration with the survey it was possible to determine that ‘The Simpsons’ is a highly popular television show in the ages of six to eleven. Of the children that completed the survey, 40% chose ‘The Simpsons’ as one of their favourite television shows. As a result it was the most favourite television show within the survey. Thus three episodes of ‘The Simpsons’ were chosen to be observed. While this observation may seem rather implausible with a seemingly harmless cartoon such as “The Simpsons”, children often have difficulty telling fantasy from reality and are thus particularly susceptible to the portrayals of gender types on television, especially cartoons. ‘The Simpsons’ also portrays characteristics of a ‘sitcom’ and previous studies have come up with interesting observations about the potential influences of certain ‘sitcom’ comedies. The three episodes were chosen at random and these were “Simpson’s roasting on an open fire”, “Two cars in every garage and three eyes on every fish” and “Tree-house of horror”. Whilst observing these episodes I examined the gender-role stereotypes portrayed through the relationships in the episodes through the aid of scripts, and DVDs. This case study will be presented further in the report.
Results and Tables
Results and Tables are discussed and analysed throughout this section to ensure little confusion.
Research methodology 1: Survey-Questionnaire
Gender allocation task
Table 1: Gender allocation task
As evident in table 1 64% of children made deviations from their parents and home reality. It is thus substantial to suggest that these children are accepting and reinforcing gender role attitudes from a place other than the home. With well over half of the children having deviations from their parents it is suggested that these students are imposing stereotypical attitudes on the basic realities that confront them daily. Due to this high occurrence of deviations it is clear that parents could not be the only contributing factor to gender roles. As television plays a major role in the lives of most children it has been assumed that it is one of the causative factors to developing gender attitudes. If this presumption is made we can also conclude that the influence of television on gender roles is not entirely negative. 31% of these deviations meant that the child had a broader view of gender role stereotypes. However 69% of the deviations meant that the child had a narrower view. There are however many exceptions to this. 29% of children reflected very closely what they are observing in the home and received a score 0/11. This could be attributed to bias, as it is quite obvious in some responses that the child copied the answers straight from their parents in an attempt to get them ‘right’. Parental responses indicate that many of the stereotypical views begin at home, as the parents have taken on these roles. Overall we can see that each family is unique and consequently no two surveys were the same. As a result it is difficult to develop a generalized view of the role television plays in the home.
Age & gender
Age differences were obtained which indicate that between the ages 6 to 11 children are still developing their gender role views. Yr 1 students were in this case more likely to conform to traditional stereotypes and this decreased with age in most cases. The evidence also indicates that boys and girls take different views of the significance of gender in judging ability for masculine and feminine stereotyped tasks. This however varied between each individual significantly and no obvious trend can be observed.
Results for favorite programs
Table 2: Favourite programs
Total= 225 answers
Graph 1: Males Favourite Programs Graph 2: Females Favourite Programs
The definition of male or female dominated program was determined by assigning shows on the basis of the main character of importance. In terms of the responses, male children are in favor of balanced television shows, however male dominated shows account for a large percentage (33%). It must be difficult for boys to reflect fairly upon a total world view when only 1% of males watched shows in which females represented the main character. Females chose television shows in general that had an equal representation of males and females, balanced representing 72%. In this study females had observed an almost equal amount of male characters of importance (9%) and female characters of importance (12%). Whilst females have ample opportunities to view the male on television, in comparatively numerous numbers of situations both of power and subordination, the male is denied such opportunity. It can be assumed that if children actively choose their own role models, it is not unreasonable to assume that their favourite programs may be those which have the potential to exert most influence.
Future careers
Graph 3: Occupational gender stereotypes vs. average number of shows per day.
Key
Purple: Non-stereotyped responses
Blue: Stereotyped responses
Table 3: Occupation gender stereotypes vs. time spent watching television
A review of the choices of future careers for boys and girls in the survey revealed a slightly different but compatible pattern of results. Recall that the questions asked “what would you like to be when you grow up?” 49% of children chose exclusively gender stereotyped occupations such as a hairdresser for females and fireman for males. However an equal 47% of children felt they could obtain any chosen occupation independent of gender role stereotypes. For instance one boy chose he wanted to be a dancer, and one female wanted to be a builder. Examples such as these are apparent throughout the whole survey. Graph 2 illustrates that the average amount of time spent watching television has little correlation to the gender role stereotypes that children had about occupations. This indicates that television may only have only a minor role in the development of gender roles perception relating to occupations. However, as children have little knowledge of what occupations involve their views are mostly derived from what they have seen on television. From this research we can come to the understanding that gender-role stereotypes in occupations are not as prevalent in this group of children.
Amount of time spent watching television
Table 4: Amount of time spent watching television vs. Gender allocation task
An overall trend can be observed that the more time children spent watching television the greater the influence on the child. This is especially true of the age group six to seven where this trend is most evident. Exceptions to this theory are found. Take for instance individual three in year three featured in table 4, had no variations to the parent, however watches seven television shows a day. If we take a closer look at this individual it would be impossible to assume the child got his gender-role stereotypes from television as they are prevalent within the individual’s home. It is extremely difficult to make a definite overall judgment about such an issue due to the variety of factors influencing this research. However we can conclude that high amounts of television viewing is possibly correlated with stronger traditional sex role development.
Questionnaire part 5: Heroes and icons
Table 5: Icon/ heroes
Graph 4: Icons/ heroes
51% of children identified with a character they saw on television and wanted to be that individual. This trend clearly demonstrates that television does have an influence on children. If a child identifies with a character which he or she particularly admires, then they are more likely to imitate the displayed behaviour. If this behaviour is gender stereotyped then the child is more likely to conform to gender roles. From the responses in this survey television has had a greater impact on the child then parents and other individuals who are close to the child. A general observation was made that younger children tended to identify with those who they knew, whereas older children tended to be more wishful and imaginative in terms of whom they would like be.
Research methodology 2: Observation/ Case Study of the Simpson’s television show
From an observation of three Simpson’s episodes we view the stereotypical gender-roles expected of males and females through the characters of Homer, Marge, Lisa and Bart Simpson. It seems reasonable to assume that if this was the favourite program of a child, it may have the potential to exert the greatest influence. While many of these roles may be observed as a reflection of reality or simply a form of satire by adults, it may be possible for children to adopt such gender role stereotypes. The results indicated notable discrepancies between the portrayals of males and females in ‘The Simpsons’.
All three episodes suggest that a woman (Marge) is behind the throne of the husband (Homer). The split between the genders can be seen through both generations within the family unit. Marge like the wives in the 1950s takes care not to let her husband know that she is on a higher level both ethically and intellectually. She cooks, nags, cleans and takes care of her home, husband and children. This expectation can be seen through the episode “Two cars in every garage, three eyes on every fish” in the conversation between Homer and Marge: Marge: “I don't want to snuggle with anybody who's not letting me express myself.” Homer: “But you do get to express yourself! In the lovely home you keep and the food you serve.”
While Marge is featured in most conversations cooking and cleaning in the kitchen, Homer is featured on the lounge, at the bar drinking beer, or at work. In all three episodes there are no scenes in which the female characters are working outside the home and at no stage are males seen doing housework. The nuclear power plant, Homers workplace features men only. Even though Homer is very incompetent he still remains the "head of the house". Women are portrayed as more altruistic and use personal charm to accomplish goals; males were more likely to use trickery or deceit. This can be seen through Homer constantly refusing to stay home and instead goes to Moe's Tavern to drink, knowing that Marge’s passive personality will forgive him when he returns home.
The stereotypical view that girls are “good” and boys are “bad” is suggested throughout the episodes. It could be quite possible that young boys could accept Barts “Eat my shorts” attitude and believe that this is the social norm. This can be seen through the episode “Simpson’s roasting on an open fire” in which Bart’s bad behaviour is dismissed: Bart : “Dear God, we paid for all this stuff ourselves, so thanks for nothing.” Burns: (chuckling) “Only an innocent boy could get away with such blasphemy. God bless them all. Amen.” However there were some positive messages received through ‘The Simpsons’ on gender-roles through the character of Lisa. Unlike her mother, Lisa never hides her intelligence from the men in her life. This demonstrates that women don't need to hide their ambitions to be loved.
Analysis and Discussion
The findings confirmed the prediction that gender stereotypes are portrayed on television and that young children have the potential to be influenced by these. There was also confirmation that the awareness of stereotypical view’s increases as children age. The evidence obtained here is consistent with the view that, from an early age, children who are involved with television are influenced by its portrayals of gender-roles. Not all of the studies evaluated have accounted for other possibilities and as such assumptions have been made. Many of the assumptions are made in compliance with the Social Learning Theory, whereby the child is believed to be passive to the messages received from television. The problems encountered throughout the research interpretation leads us to believe that if television was an isolated element responsible for gender role stereotypes, there would be no problem measuring its influence on children. It remains at this stage that television is one possible variable among many. However the extent to which young viewers do draw on their gender knowledge in the course of everyday television viewing remains an issue for future research, and clearly one which poses methodological challenges.
Summary and Conclusion
Whilst researching the potential influence of television on child gender role development we must understand that this is problematic as children are not socialized and influenced by television alone. It is important to bear in mind the many diverse and complex factors working towards the formation of these gender roles. Faced with such an array of variables the narrow focus on television was employed rather than a focus which was too large and perhaps unmanageable. As a result it must be stressed that the conclusion will undoubtedly be limited but hopefully nonetheless valuable.
The primary research conducted and the majority of the secondary information suggests that television has the potential to reflect gender role stereotypes and to have an effect on children. It is to what extent television influences children that is inconclusive. It is uncertain what factors make one child more susceptible to the influences of television. Furthermore from the research gathered we note that television is simply one variable in many. As such, the research has simply shed light upon the possible effects that television may have upon children's concepts of gender roles.
What has come to be understood in this Project from the surveys conducted is that there are correlations between the amount of time spent watching television and the child’s gender role development, and that children have the potential to be influenced by their admiration of particular characters on television. We can also note that the role of television is not necessarily negative and can result in a broader view of gender roles depending on the types of shows the child is exposed to.
Despite the continuing prominence of the television in most children’s daily lives, little research is being conducted on its influence on gender role development. It is apparent that more research must be conducted. An effective methodology should be developed which eliminates the majority of other factors influencing gender role development, so that television can be specifically isolated. It is necessary for this research to be on a larger scale and be representative of more individuals.
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