Am J Psychiatry 1978; 135:48-52
Copyright © 1978 by American Psychiatric Association
Adaptive and pathogenic aspects of sex-role stereotypes: implications for parenting and psychotherapy
HE Lerner
There has been considerable controversy concerning adaptive versus
pathogenic effects of sex-role stereotypes on individual development. The
author evaluates both the positive and negative consequences of sex- role
stereotypes without regard for any particular sociocultural definition of
masculinity or feminity. She hypothesizes that the degree to which sex-role
stereotypes are adaptive and facilitative (as opposed to restrictive and
pathogenic) is inversely related to the degree to which an individual has
consolidated a comfortable and stable gender is identity. Implications for
parenting and treatment are elaborated.
