Abstract

Research on gender development draws on two principal hypotheses: gender is a multi-dimensional construct and gender develops within social contexts. The present study examines the associations between gender identity, peer acceptance and self-worth across two contexts, single-sex (all-girls) and mixed-sex schools. The investigation examined whether peer relations mediate the association between gender identity and self-worth and whether type of school moderates the association between gender identity and peer relations. Early adolescents (N = 676, mean age = 10.13 years) rated their gender typicality, felt pressure to conform, social competence and self-worth and indicated which of their peers was a friend. We present competing theories, one favouring a stronger association between gender identity and peer acceptance for the girls in the all-girls schools, the other for the girls in the mixed-sex schools. We hypothesized that the associations between gender identity and peer acceptance would be higher for the boys as compared to girls in the mixed-sex schools. We expected our mediational model to be applicable to all groups. Multi-group structural equation modeling was used. Mediation was found in the case of the girls in the all-girls schools. Higher typicality was related to higher social competence in the all-girls schools while the inverse was true for the girls in the mixed-sex schools. This study provides further evidence for the conceptualization of gender within a social context. It highlights the importance of the association between gender identity and social competence, which has a strong impact on well-being.