Bettina Hannover
University of Dortmund

The present volume aims at bridging gaps between developmental and social
psychological perspectives on gender. To promote this goal, this chapter
considers the role of gender in the development of the self. We suggest that
differences in the ways in which males' and females' selves change over
time can account for gender-typed behavior and gender differences in
various attributes.

Traditionally, developmental psychologists have focused on the prerequi-
site cognitive conditions for a self-categorization as male or female and for
the acquisition of a particular gender-role identity (e.g., Fagot & Leinbach,
1985; Kohlberg, 1966; Martin & Halverson, 1981; Piaget, 1960), as well as
on developmental changes in knowledge about gender stereotypes and their
application (e.g., Berndt & Heller, 1986; Biernat, 1991; Deaux, 1984; Ruble
& Martin, 1998). Social psychologists, on the other hand, have examined
how gender stereotypes arise (e.g., Eagly & Steffen, 1984; Hoffman &
Hurst, 1990; Swim, 1994), how they affect the processing of social informa-
tion (e.g., Banaji, Hardin, & Rothman, 1993; Bem, 1981), and how they
foster the development of gender-typed interests and behavior (e.g., Bussey
& Bandura, 1984; Eagly, 1987; Geis, 1993; Lott & Maluso, 1993).

Eckes and Trautner (chap. 1, this volume) have pointed to the fact that
whereas social psychologists have typically failed to consider variables
referring to change over time, evident in their research participants almost
exclusively stemming from a very narrow age group, developmental
psychologists have often neglected the social influence emanating from the
context in which an individual is acting. Here, we set about integrating
social psychological and developmental perspectives by describing how
social context variables influence individuals' self-construals over time. We

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