Development of Girls and Women

• Lifespan development focuses on the development of girls and women, influenced by cultural forces.

Infancy

• There are minimal sex differences in infancy regarding activity level, inhibitory control, perceptual sensitivity, negative affect, and attention.
• Infants can distinguish between male and female voices at approximately 6 months old.
• Infants can distinguish between male and female faces at approximately 9-12 months old.
• The gender segregation effect is the preference of children to play with others of the same gender.
• Mothers often underestimate their daughters' crawling abilities on inclines compared to their sons'.
• The Baby X study reveals that people's expectations of babies are influenced by perceived sex, even when the actual sex is unknown with participants assigning gender-stereotypical traits and behaviors based on clothing or descriptions.

Childhood

• Gender identity is one's internal sense of being male, female, both, or neither.
• Gender stability is the understanding that gender remains consistent over time.
• Gender consistency is the understanding that gender remains consistent despite changes in appearance or activities.
• Gender constancy is the understanding that gender is permanent, comprising gender identity, stability and consistency.
• Appearance rigidity is the adherence to gender-stereotypical appearance norms.
• Gender dysphoria is the distress caused by a discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their assigned sex at birth.
• Trans-affirmative practice involves supporting and validating a transgender person's gender identity and expression.
• Children typically develop a gender identity around age 2 or 3.
• Children develop gender constancy between the ages of 5 and 7.
• Children recognize the sex of other children around the age of 2.
• Preschoolers often display gender essentialism, viewing gender as fixed, biologically based, and associated with specific traits.
• Tobin et al.’s (2010) gender self-socialization model suggests children actively seek out information and behaviors consistent with their gender identity.
• Socialization involves learning and internalizing the norms and values of a culture and results in the acquisition of gender roles and expectations.
• Channeling (or shaping) is when parents provide different opportunities and activities based on their child's sex, reinforcing gender stereotypes.
• Parents use different language when speaking to boys and girls, and have different expectations and behaviors that reinforce gender stereotypes.
• Parental modeling impacts a child’s gender development, with children often imitating same-sex parents' behaviors and attitudes.
• Teachers can perpetuate gender stereotypes through differential attention and highlighting gender in the classroom.
• Media influences children’s gender development via stereotypical portrayals of males and females.
• Implicit gender identity refers to unconscious or automatic associations with one's gender, whereas explicit gender identity refers to conscious and self-reported identification with a particular gender.
• Transgender children show implicit and explicit gender identity preferences consistent with their expressed gender, similar to cisgender children.

Adolescence

• Gender intensification is the increased pressure to conform to traditional gender roles during early adolescence.
• Erikson's (1950) theory suggests that during adolescence, individuals face the crisis of identity vs. role confusion, with sex differences impacting identity development.
• Erikson’s theory is androcentric and does not fully account for female identity development, which often includes relational aspects.
• Male same-sex friendships tend to be activity-based, while female same-sex friendships are often more intimate and conversation-based.
• During adolescence, friendship composition becomes increasingly gender-segregated and reinforcing of gendered expectations.
• Male development of secondary sex characteristics include growth of body hair, deepening of the voice, and increased muscle mass.
• Female development of secondary sex characteristics include budding breasts and the onset of menstruation (menarche.
• These physical changes can impact psychology of individuals undergoing them, influencing self-image and social experiences.
• Girls typically experience the onset of puberty before boys, this may result in girls feeling self-conscious or experiencing social pressure.
• Effects of pubertal timing can vary, with early-maturing girls at higher risk for negative outcomes like depression and early sexual activity.
• Puberty can be particularly challenging for transgender youth, trans-affirmative care during this period includes hormone therapy and emotional support.
• Co-rumination is extensive discussion and rehashing of problems with a friend and girls tend to co-ruminate more than boys, potentially leading to increased risk for depression and anxiety.
• Sexualization (or sexual objectification) involves treating a person as a sexual object and leads to negative effects on adolescent girls, including body dissatisfaction and mental health issues.
• Objectified body consciousness involves internalizing an observer's perspective on one's own body, with girls more likely to experience this than boys.
• Girls' self-esteem often declines during adolescence and this may caused by increased social and media pressures to conform to beauty standards.

Early Adulthood

• The average age at which American women marry today is increasing, with a smaller percentage of women marrying by age 40.
• Marriage offers advantages like social support and economic stability, but unmarried women report high levels of psychological well-being.
• The 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
• The U.S. divorce rate remains high and women often experience economic disadvantages post-divorce.
• A minority of divorced women remarry.
• Jessie Bernard's (1972) "His and Hers Marriage" suggests that men and women experience marriage differently, with men benefiting more in terms of health and well-being.
• The motherhood mandate is the societal expectation that women should desire and become mothers.
• The motherhood war refers to the conflict between different perspectives on motherhood, including work-life balance and parenting styles.
• Intensive mothering is a parenting approach characterized by excessive time, energy, and resources devoted to child-rearing.
• Women who choose voluntary childlessness report similar or higher levels of well-being compared to mothers.
• Cultural differences exist in marriage practices like arranged marriages, and child-bearing policies like China’s two-child policy.

Middle Age

• The empty nest syndrome is the feeling of sadness or loss that parents may experience when their children leave home.
• Extant literature suggests that empty nest syndrome is not as prevalent or severe as once believed and many parents experience increased life satisfaction.
• Extant literature indicates that general psychological well-being in midlife tends to improve, with increased autonomy and resilience reported.
• Childbirth after 40 carries increased risks of complications.
• Menopause is the cessation of menstruation, it causes physical effects like hot flashes and hormonal changes, and psychological effects differ in severity.
• The grandmother effect is the phenomenon where grandmothers contribute to the survival and well-being of their grandchildren, enhancing their own fitness and longevity.

Old Age

• The double standard of aging is the tendency to view aging more negatively in women than in men, emphasizing physical appearance.
• Women tend to experience more chronic illnesses than men, but often live longer.
• The life expectancy for females exceeds that of males.
• The female/male ratio increases with age, resulting in more women than men in old age, impacting social support and caregiving.
• Women are more likely to experience widowhood than men, due to longer life expectancies and marrying older men.
• Sex differences exist in cognitive aging, with women at higher risk for Alzheimer's disease, while men are at higher risk for vascular dementia.