Social concepts and applications

Social Psychology

In the case study of the eight girls and eight boys and their mother's interactions with them, a distinct difference between the way the mother's treated the different genders exists. All of the mothers talked to their daughters on a more intimate level, discussing the daughters feelings and relationships with their friends. Seven out of the eight mothers of the boys talked to the boys on a more general level, discussing games and school accomplishments. Only one of the mothers of the boys discussed feelings, which had to do with a soccer game that was lost. These gender differences can best be explained through the application of Sociocultural theory. Sociocultural theory deals with culture, which is a way of life for people. Culture comprises of the beliefs, customs, habits, and language shared by the people living in a particular time and place. This includes social norms, or informal and formal rules of behavior established by society, and values, what people in society consider desirable or good, and social institutions, such as the government, the educational system, and the family.

There are three reasons why Sociocultural theory can be used to explain gender differences in the above mother-child interactions. First, which sociocultural theory assumes that individuals act based on symbolic meanings found in any given situation, and interact with the symbols, forming relationships around them. One of the main aspects of this theory is that individuals act toward others based on the meaning that those other people have for them. In society, girls are expected operate more off of feelings than boys operate. Girls are expected to be softener, care about relationships and others. Meaning is created in the interactions we have with other people in sharing our interpretations of symbols. Meanings are also modified through an interpretive process whereby we first internally create meaning, then check it externally and with other people. Boys are expected to be stronger, both mentally and physically, which is why the mothers talked to them about games and sports. The one mother that did talk about feelings with her son talked about feelings related to a sports game. Additionally, Sociocultural theory assumes that individuals develop self-concepts through interaction with others, and we are influenced by culture and social processes, such as social norms. Social norms dictate that girls are more sensitive and boys are less emotional, thus further explaining the gender differences in the above case study.

The two predictions of how these interactions affect a child's development are: 1) if the child is treated with more love, intimacy, and talked to about feelings, the child will grow up being more sensitive to others and more open to discuss their feelings with others. If the child is taught not to respond to their feelings, or let their emotions guide them, the child will grow up to be less sensitive, more aggressive and less likely to discuss their feelings. Depending on treatment, a child may grow up to have negative qualities, such as violence or repressed anger.