Evidence for a Transitional Phase in the Development of Gender Constancy

EMMERICH, WALTER; GOLDMAN, KARLA S.; KIRSH, BARBARA; and SHARABANY, RUTH. Evidence for a Transitional Phase in the Development of Gender Constancy. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 930-936. This study identifies a phase in the development of gender identity which is transitional to attainment of gender constancy in the concrete operational sense. During this transitional phase, the child can judge gender constant despite stimulus transformation, but his reasoning is bound to certain stimulus cues and falls short of an operational concept of gender invariance. Distinctive structural properties of this phase are discussed. Based upon a developmental study of economically disadvantaged children aged 4-7, evidence is presented on the sequential placement of this transitional phase and on the role of general cognitive development in its mediation. The generalizability of this transitional phase and its possible import for sex-role development are discussed.