TY - JOUR
T1 - Beyond Pink and Blue
T2 - The Complexity of Early Androgen Effects on Gender Development
AU - Berenbaum, Sheri A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The work reported in this article was supported by grants HD19644, HD044398, and HD057930 from the National Institutes of Health. I appreciate the many people who have contributed to the research; for especially significant help, I thank Kristina Bryk, who skillfully managed the projects and contributed to all stages from conceptualization through dissemination; collaborators, particularly Adriene Beltz and Susan McHale; pediatric endocrinologists and family support group staff who assisted with recruiting families; Diana Crom, who coordinated the intensive data collection for the study of preteen girls; and graduate and undergraduate students and research assistants who helped coordinate studies, and collect and process data. I am especially grateful to the families who participated in the studies.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author. Child Development Perspectives © 2017 The Society for Research in Child Development
PY - 2018/3
Y1 - 2018/3
N2 - Why do girls and women differ from boys and men? Gender development is typically considered to result from socialization, but sex hormones present during sensitive periods of development, particularly prenatal androgens, play an important role. Data from natural experiments, especially from females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, show the complexity of the effects of androgens on behavior: Prenatal androgens apparently have large effects on interests and engagement in gendered activities; moderate effects on spatial abilities; and relatively small or no effects on gender identity, gender cognitions, and gendered peer involvement. These differential effects provide an opportunity to move beyond identifying sources of variation in behavior to understanding developmental processes. These processes include links among gendered characteristics, psychological and neural mechanisms underlying development, and the joint effects of biological predispositions and social experiences.
AB - Why do girls and women differ from boys and men? Gender development is typically considered to result from socialization, but sex hormones present during sensitive periods of development, particularly prenatal androgens, play an important role. Data from natural experiments, especially from females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, show the complexity of the effects of androgens on behavior: Prenatal androgens apparently have large effects on interests and engagement in gendered activities; moderate effects on spatial abilities; and relatively small or no effects on gender identity, gender cognitions, and gendered peer involvement. These differential effects provide an opportunity to move beyond identifying sources of variation in behavior to understanding developmental processes. These processes include links among gendered characteristics, psychological and neural mechanisms underlying development, and the joint effects of biological predispositions and social experiences.
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U2 - 10.1111/cdep.12261
DO - 10.1111/cdep.12261
M3 - Article
C2 - 29736184
AN - SCOPUS:85032833686
SN - 1750-8592
VL - 12
SP - 58
EP - 64
JO - Child Development Perspectives
JF - Child Development Perspectives
IS - 1
ER -