Final answer:
Operant conditioning affects gender-role behavior by reinforcing gender-appropriate behaviors, as parents and peers provide feedback that encourages adherence to societal gender norms. The symbolic interactionist perspective further indicates that gender is continuously performed in all of our behaviors.
Step-by-step explanation:
Operant conditioning affects gender-role behavior primarily by reinforcing gender-appropriate behaviors. For example, when parents supply boys and girls with stereotypically gendered toys and provide positive feedback for playing with these toys, they are reinforcing what they consider gender-appropriate behavior. Studies have revealed that this positive feedback typically includes praise, involvement, and physical closeness, which encourages children to continue displaying behaviors that align with societal gender norms.
Peers also play a crucial role in reinforcing gender roles. They may criticize or marginalize those who act outside their expected gender roles, leading to informal but severe negative sanctions. Thus, peer groups can act as enforcers of gender norms, pressing children to conform to societal expectations concerning gender.
Additionally, the symbolic interactionist perspective suggests that we "do gender" all of the time, in everything we do. This perspective highlights the omnipresence of gender performance in our daily lives, with our behavior constantly reflecting and reinforcing societal gender norms.