Two traditional perspectives on gender development—the socialisation and
cognitive perspectives— are reviewed. It is noted that although they deal
quite well with individual differences within each sex with regard to degree of
sex-typing, they do not offer satisfactory explanations for some of the most robust
gender dimorphisms: namely, gender segregation and the divergent patterns of
interaction within all-male as compared with all-female dyads or groups. These
patterns are briefly summarised, and their similarity to those found in nonhuman
primates and other mammals is noted. It is argued that an ethological perspective,
and its modern successor the psychobiological perspective, are needed, along with
the more traditional perspectives, to provide a comprehensive account of gender
development as it occurs in dyads and groups as well as within individual children.
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