Title

The Early Development Of Gender Differences

Keywords

Dominance; Evolutionary psychology; Patriarchy; Reproductive ecology; Temperament

Abstract

This article reviews findings from anthropology, psychology, and other disciplines about the role of biological factors in the development of sex differences in human behavior, including biological theories, the developmental course of sex differences, and the interaction of biological and cultural gendering processes at different ages. Current evidence suggests that major biological influences on individual differences in human gender, to the extent that they exist, operate primarily in early development, during and especially prior to puberty. Biological effects are likely to be mediated by relatively simple processes, like temperament, which are then elaborated through social interactions (as with motherand peers) into morecomplexgendered featuresofadult personality. Biological anthropologists and psychologists interested in gender should direct more attention to understanding how social processes influence the development and function of the reproductive endocrine system. Copyright © 2009 by Annual Reviews.

Publication Date

10-1-2009

Publication Title

Annual Review of Anthropology

Volume

38

Number of Pages

83-97

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-091908-164338

Socpus ID

70350443796 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/70350443796

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