Eleanor E. Maccoby

Lucy Rau

Lucy Rau Ferguson

Differential Cognitive Abilities

Theodore Mead Newcomb

Eugene L. Hartley

Readings in Social Psychology

How does being male or female shape us? And what, aside from obvious anatomical differences, does being male or female mean? In this book, the distinguished psychologist Eleanor Maccoby explores how individuals express their sexual identity at successive periods of their lives. A book about sex in the broadest sense, The Two Sexes seeks to tell us how our development from infancy through adolescence and into adulthood is affected by gender. Chief among Maccoby's contentions is that gender differences appear primarily in group, or social, contexts. In childhood, boys and girls tend to gravitate toward others of their own sex. The Two Sexes examines why this segregation occurs and how boys' groups and girls' groups develop distinct cultures with different agendas. Deploying evidence from her own research and studies by many other scholars, Maccoby identifies a complex combination of biological, cognitive, and social factors that contribute to gender segregation and group differentiation. A major finding of The Two Sexes is that these childhood experiences in same-sex groups profoundly influence how members of the two sexes relate to one another in adulthood--as lovers, coworkers, and parents. Maccoby shows how, in constructing these adult relationships, men and women utilize old elements from their childhood experiences as well as new ones arising from different adult agendas. Finally, she considers social changes in gender roles in light of her discoveries about the constraints and opportunities implicit in the same-sex and cross-sex relationships of childhood.

Growing Up Apart, Coming Together

The Two Sexes

Robert H. Mnookin

Questions about how children fare in divided families have become as perplexing and urgent as they are common. In this landmark work on custody arrangements, the developmental psychologist Eleanor Maccoby and the legal scholar Robert Mnookin consider these questions and their ramifications for society. The first book to examine the social and legal realities of how divorcing parents make arrangements for their children, Dividing the Child is based on a large, representative study of families from a wide range of socioeconomic levels. Maccoby and Mnookin followed a group of more than one thousand families for three years after the parents filed for divorce. Their findings show how different divorce agreements are reached, from uncontested dealings to formal judicial rulings, and how various custody arrangements fare as time passes and family circumstances change. Numerous examples of joint custody and father custody are considered in this account, along with the mother-custody families more commonly studied; and in most cases the point of view of both parents is presented. Among families in which children spend time in both parental households, the authors identify three different patterns of co-parenting: cooperative, conflicted, and disengaged. They find that although divorcing parents seldom engage in formal legal disputes, they are generally unable to cooperate effectively in raising their children. Full of interesting findings with far-reaching implications, this book will be invaluable to the lawyers, judges, social workers, and parents who, more and more often, must make wise and informed decisions concerning the welfare and care of children of divorce.

Social and Legal Dilemmas of Custody

Dividing the Child

Carol Nagy Jacklin

Lijvig en bijzonder goed gedocumenteerd werk over de verschillen tussen de seksen, wat betreft psychologisch functioneren. Met name bepaalde intellectuele capaciteiten en sociale gedragingen, waarvan algemeen wordt aangenomen dat ze verschillend zijn voor mannen en vrouwen, worden onder de loep genomen. De auteurs willen immers een onderscheid maken tussen enerzijds de meningen over sekseverschillen die een soliede feitenbasis hebben en anderzijds deze die louter gebaseerd zijn op veronderstellingen. Het boek doorprikt enkele mythen en geeft ook de sociale implicaties van deze 'ontmaskering' aan. In verband met onderwijs, is vooral het hoofdstuk over intellectuele capaciteiten en cognitieve stijlen van belang (p. 63-134).

The Psychology of Sex Differences

Eleanor E. Maccoby

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