Firstly, although there are many new lessons that I have gained from the resources, I must admit that learning about the main factors that influence gender identity would be instrumental in my career as a social worker (Ho & Kwong, 2013). Based on the resources, it is clear that despite the fact that formation of gender identity may not be completely understood, many factors have been put forward as influencing the gender identity development. For example, biological factors may include the levels of hormones both in pre-natal and post-natal stages as well as the genetic composition of an individual. On the other hand, the primary social factor influencing gender identity development include the notions of gender roles which are shaped by authoritative figures in the community, immediate family, mass media and other stakeholders who directly affect the life of a child. In addition, learning language also helps in separating feminine and masculine characteristics while unconsciously adjusting life’s behavior to predetermined roles.
Notably, individuals’ gender identity affects development through young and middle adulthood in different ways (Hornby, 2011) . During the early to mid-adolescence, the understanding of gender among the youth is extremely stereotyped and rigid. Thus, younger adolescents mostly participate in behaviors that are more gender stereotyped compared to the older adolescents. In this way, the girls gravitate towards more girly activities and the boys towards boy activities. Some of the main reasons for such stereotyped behavior is due to hormonal body changes during puberty, influence from the society and since teens are interested in forming romantic and dating relationships, they like performing stereotypic and gender-specific behaviors to attract the opposite sex (Hornby, 2011). However, as one transitions to middle adulthood, the gender-stereotyped behaviors start to subside, and young adults are willing to perform some activities of the opposite gender.
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At a personal level, I wish to learn more about the gender identity behaviors at every stage of human development and the factors that influence the same. In this way, I will be able to use this knowledge when dealing with different people in my practice.
References
Ho, E. S., & Kwong, W.-M. (2013). Parental involvement in children's education: What works
in Hong Kong . Singapore: Springer.
Hornby, G. (2015). Gender identity development. New York: Springer.
