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Adolescent Gender‐Role Identity and Mental Health: Gender Intensification Revisited
Author(s) -
Priess Heather A.,
Lindberg Sara M.,
Hyde Janet Shibley
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01349.x
Subject(s) - masculinity , femininity , psychology , developmental psychology , gender identity , gender role , mental health , longitudinal study , identity (music) , gender psychology , depression (economics) , sexual identity , social psychology , gender studies , human sexuality , psychiatry , statistics , physics , mathematics , sociology , acoustics , psychoanalysis , economics , macroeconomics
Gender intensification, an increased pressure for adolescents to conform to culturally sanctioned gender roles, has been posited as an explanation for the emergence of the gender difference in depression. This longitudinal study assessed whether 410 individuals became more stereotypical in their gender‐role identity across adolescence and whether such patterns predicted depressive symptoms. Girls reported higher femininity than boys at ages 11, 13, and 15, but girls and boys did not differ in masculinity. Contrary to prevailing views, there was not evidence of intensification in femininity or masculinity. Positive trajectories in masculinity for both girls and boys predicted fewer depressive symptoms, particularly at moderate levels of stress. Findings suggest a need to reconceptualize gender intensification in ways that characterize contemporary adolescence.