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6 - Sex Differences in Early Life

A Cross-Cultural Perspective

from Section 2 - Developmental Perspectives of the International Psychology of Women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 July 2020

By
Wang Ivy Wong  and
Doug P. VanderLaan
Edited by
Fanny M. Cheung  and
Diane F. Halpern
Fanny M. Cheung
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Diane F. Halpern
Affiliation:
Claremont McKenna College, California
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Summary

Identifying and quantifying sex differences and similarities has been a central research question and fascinated scientists for centuries. A large body of work has been accumulated on this topic; however, conclusions are often drawn as if they are applicable across cultures even though studies have predominantly relied on Western samples. This chapter reviews cross-cultural literature on several early childhood sex differences in domains of development that have caught attention in the literature recently: gender-typed play, gender identity, and gender expression. We also offer an overview of possible influences on sex differences, including evolutionary, biodevelopmental (genetics, sex hormones, and immune factors), and sociocultural mechanisms (socialization and macro-cultural factors). Given that a cross-cultural perspective has often been lacking in this literature, this chapter reviews research on early gender development in males and females from Western populations as well as the non-Western populations wherever possible to highlight important cultural (in)consistencies.

Keywords

Gender differencessex developmentgender expressionearly childhoodgender-typed playgender identitygender nonconformitytransgendergender stereotypesgender socializationbiodevelopmental influencescross-cultural differences
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Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of the International Psychology of Women , pp. 83 - 95
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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Ivy Wong is an Assistant Professor in the Gender Studies Program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a gender development psychologist focusing on the expression of gender and its development at the intersection of socialization, cognition, and biology. She studies gender and sexuality across the life span. Her expertise includes gender-typed play, gender differences and similarities, sex segregation, gender socialization, gender variance, gender stereotypes, and sexual orientation. She is interested in bridging the gap between the West and other cultures in research on the psychology of gender. Wong was born in Mainland China, and moved to Hong Kong when she was 6. She was an undergraduate student at the University of Hong Kong. In her third year she obtained a scholarship to spend a full year at Cambridge University. Then she stayed on for an MPhil and PhD at Cambridge where she spent over five years. Wong is a full-blood Teochew, an ethnic Han group from southeastern China. She is fond of the Teochew dialect and traditions that her family is still able to keep.

Doug P. VanderLaan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and a Collaborator Scientist in Child and Youth Psychiatry at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. He has conducted community-based and clinical research on the development of gender expression as well as cross-cultural field studies on third gender individuals and sexual orientation in Samoa and Thailand. His other cross-cultural work on these topics has included collaborations with researchers in the Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, mainland China, and Hong Kong. VanderLaan was born in Canada in the Central/Toronto area. He attended college and graduate school in western Canada. VanderLaan has spent long periods of time in Japan, Samoa, and Thailand. He is of Sicilian and Dutch heritage.

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