Article

Children's Gender‐Based Reasoning about Toys

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Abstract

The goal of these studies was to investigate how preschool children use gender-based reasoning in making judgments about toy preferences for themselves and for others. In Studies 1 and 2, children (n= 22, n= 71) were shown unfamiliar, non-sex-typed toys and asked to rate how much they, other girls, and other boys would like each toy. As expected, children made gender-based inferences: “What I like, children of my sex will also like, and children of the other sex will not like.” Study 3 was designed to assess how children use gender-based reasoning to make decisions about attractive and unattractive toys when they are given gender labels. Children (n= 91) were shown unfamiliar toys varying in attractiveness that were given explicit gender labels (e.g., “this is a toy girls really like”) or no label. With a different experimenter (to avoid demand characteristics), children rated their own and others' liking of the toys. Children used gender labels to guide their own preferences and their expectations for others. Even with very attractive toys, children liked toys less if they were labeled as being for the other sex, and expected other girls and boys to do the same. The role of gender-based reasoning in cognitive theories of gender and on children's play preferences is discussed.

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... Further support for this assumption is provided by work on the vocal expression of gender identity and gender roles. Such identification has been shown in children as young as 2-3 years old (Farr et al., 2018;Martin et al., 1995;Rohrmann, 2017). Studies have shown that gender identity and gender role self-concept is reflected in speech of adults (Weirich & Simpson, 2018); therefore, it is probable that this also plays a role in children's voices. ...
... One set contained a pink princess stereotyped "for girls"; another set contained a motorcyclist representing a stereotypical toy "for boys." The toys also matched the experimental findings for toy preferences (Farr et al., 2018;Martin et al., 1995;Serbin et al., 2001;Todd et al., 2017). A third toy included a wizard without any specific gender categorization on the packaging (e.g., color pink for the princess) was used as a neutral variant. ...
... Our results verify that GC is significantly different when the children are grouped according to birthassigned sex (see Results: Gender Conformity section). Boys and girls prefer to play with partners of their own sex and have different toy preferences, which is consistent with the findings of previous studies (Farr et al., 2018;Martin et al., 1995;Rohrmann, 2017;Serbin et al., 2001;Todd et al., 2017;Zosuls et al., 2011). ...
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Purpose This study investigates the perceptual and acoustic correlates of gender in prepubertal voices. The study is part of a longitudinal project analyzing recordings of circa 60 German primary school children from the first to fourth grades (6- to 10-year-olds). Method Spontaneous and content-controlled audio recordings were made of 62 first-grade children (29 girls, 33 boys; age: 6- to 7-year-olds) from two German primary schools. Information on gender conformity was also recorded. A total of 167 listeners judged the gender of the voices on a 7-point scale. The results of the listening experiments and gender conformity ratings were related to a range of typical acoustic parameters. Results Measures of self-reported gender conformity differ significantly between the boys and the girls. Sixteen of the 62 children show unambiguous gender attributions in the listening experiment. A hierarchical cluster analysis including gender perception, gender conformity, and acoustic parameters shows four different types of speakers. Two multiple regression models revealed a significant main effect of fundamental frequency on the gender perception ratings of the listening experiment across and within gender. Significant correlations were found between the center of gravity and skewness of the sibilants and gender conformity, especially for the male speakers. Conclusions Fundamental frequency plays an important role in influencing perceptual judgments, whereas sibilant spectra are correlated with gender conformity. In further listening experiments, we will examine in more detail the role of individual acoustic parameters and analyze how the vocal expression of gender and gender conformity in individual children develops before reaching puberty.
... Et à ce L'approche socioconstructiviste apparaît alors intéressante car elle suggère que se sentir homme ou femme, fille ou garçon, n'est pas inné. Il s'agirait surtout d'une construction psychologique (Tap, 1985 ;Lehalle et Mellier, 2005) au cours de laquelle l'individu acquiert (ou non) les normes en vigueur dans son milieu et évolue soit vers la conformité (Tap, 1985;Martin, Eisenbud et Rose, 1995) soit vers la non-conformité (Bem, 1981 ;Lorenzi-Cioldi, 1993 ;Chatard, 2004 ;Chatard, Guimond, Lorenzi-Cioldi et Désert, 2005 ;Manga, 2015). ...
... La plupart des auteurs qui étudient la socialisation des enfants en psychologie (Martin, Eisenbud et Rose, 1995 ;Deldime et Vermeulen, 1997 ;Martin et Fabes, 2001;Lerner, Easterbrooks et Mistry, 2003 ;Cartron et Winnykamen, 2004 ;Lehalle et Mellier, 2005 ;Le Maner-Idrissi et Renault, 2006 ;Rouyer, 2007 ;Gaudron, 2009 ;Delalande, 2003 ;Golay et Malatesta, 2012 ;Hanish et Fabes, 2014 ;Golshirazian, Dhillon, Maltz, Payne et Rabow, 2015) font état d'une ségrégation sexuée précoce entre les filles et les garçons. Toutefois, deux approches différentes vont apparaitre dans l'appréhension de cette ségrégation sexuée, d'abord entre la plupart des auteurs anglo-saxons et les auteurs francophones, puis entre les auteurs francophones eux-mêmes. ...
... Pour les auteurs anglo-saxons (Martin, Eisenbud et Rose, 1995), dès leur jeune âge (2-3 ans), filles et garçons tendent à avoir des centres d'intérêts divergents et à construire des sous-cultures sexuellement différenciées. De ce fait, il existerait chez les enfants une tendance naturelle à rechercher des jeux, des jouets stéréotypés et la compagnie des pairs de même sexe qui augmente avec l'âge et tend à se généraliser dans l'enfance ; les enfants ayant une préférence « naturelle » pour des partenaires de jeu de même sexe. ...
Thesis
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Dynamiques de construction entre entre l'identité individuelle et l'identité de groupe faisant de la ségrégation sexuée une ségrégation de genre chez les filles de 8 à 10 ans scolarisées au Cameroun
... Bradbard, 1985). In ogni caso, emerge con coerenza che i bambini preferiscono giocattoli che sono stereotipizzati o etichettati come appropriati per il proprio genere (Carter e Levy, 1988;Martin et al., 1995) e tendono a evitare giochi ritenuti appropriati per l'altro sesso; reagiscono ad esempio al colore del giocattolo e preferiscono i giocattoli con cui hanno visto giocare bambini dello stesso genere Cherney et al., 2003). ...
... Questo studio rivela solo degli atteggiamenti, che potrebbero in real tà non corrispondere al comportamento effettivo, per esempio giocattoli particolarmente attraenti e interessanti potrebbero mitigare l'effetto «patata bollente» e indurre i bambini a giocarci; ciò nonostante dimostra chiaramente che i bambini organizzano e attribuiscono un senso al mondo che li circonda grazie alla categorizzazione di genere (Martin et al., 1995). In effetti, chiedendo a bambini fra i 2 e i 5 anni di indicare quali giocattoli erano per bambini e quali per bambine, una delle ragioni più frequentemente addotte è stata che un giocattolo era maschile/femminile perché: «a lui/lei piace quel giocattolo, e lui/lei è un bambino/una bambina, quindi deve essere un gioco per bambini/bambine» , vale a dire una spiegazione egocentrica, e al secondo posto c'era una spiegazione per associazione di genere. ...
... L'approccio socio-cognitivo (Bussey e Bandura, 1999) propone come causa principale l'influenza sociale e si focalizza sul ruolo di genitori e pari nel modellare e rinforzare i comportamenti appropriati per il proprio genere, sottolineando che le discrepanze di comportamento tra i generi emergono ben prima che i bambini abbiano acquisito la costanza di genere, postulando quindi una precedenza del comportamento di gioco tipizzato per genere rispetto allo sviluppo dell'identità di genere. L'approccio evolutivo-costruttivista (Martin et al., 1995;Martin et al., 2002;Martin e Ruble, 2010) si focalizza invece sui processi di costruzione che i bambini utilizzano per sviluppare i concetti e i comportamenti legati al genere (Blakemore et al., 2009;Zosuls et al., 2009). Recenti evidenze empiriche sulle preferenze di gioco (Zosuls et al., 2009; Cherney e Dempsey, 2010) sembrano coerenti con l'approccio evolutivo-costruttivista piuttosto che con la teoria socio-cognitiva. ...
... Bradbard, 1985). In ogni caso, emerge con coerenza che i bambini preferiscono giocattoli che sono stereotipizzati o etichettati come appropriati per il proprio genere (Carter e Levy, 1988;Martin et al., 1995) e tendono a evitare giochi ritenuti appropriati per l'altro sesso; reagiscono ad esempio al colore del giocattolo e preferiscono i giocattoli con cui hanno visto giocare bambini dello stesso genere Cherney et al., 2003). ...
... Questo studio rivela solo degli atteggiamenti, che potrebbero in real tà non corrispondere al comportamento effettivo, per esempio giocattoli particolarmente attraenti e interessanti potrebbero mitigare l'effetto «patata bollente» e indurre i bambini a giocarci; ciò nonostante dimostra chiaramente che i bambini organizzano e attribuiscono un senso al mondo che li circonda grazie alla categorizzazione di genere (Martin et al., 1995). In effetti, chiedendo a bambini fra i 2 e i 5 anni di indicare quali giocattoli erano per bambini e quali per bambine, una delle ragioni più frequentemente addotte è stata che un giocattolo era maschile/femminile perché: «a lui/lei piace quel giocattolo, e lui/lei è un bambino/una bambina, quindi deve essere un gioco per bambini/bambine» , vale a dire una spiegazione egocentrica, e al secondo posto c'era una spiegazione per associazione di genere. ...
... L'approccio socio-cognitivo (Bussey e Bandura, 1999) propone come causa principale l'influenza sociale e si focalizza sul ruolo di genitori e pari nel modellare e rinforzare i comportamenti appropriati per il proprio genere, sottolineando che le discrepanze di comportamento tra i generi emergono ben prima che i bambini abbiano acquisito la costanza di genere, postulando quindi una precedenza del comportamento di gioco tipizzato per genere rispetto allo sviluppo dell'identità di genere. L'approccio evolutivo-costruttivista (Martin et al., 1995;Martin et al., 2002;Martin e Ruble, 2010) si focalizza invece sui processi di costruzione che i bambini utilizzano per sviluppare i concetti e i comportamenti legati al genere (Blakemore et al., 2009;Zosuls et al., 2009). Recenti evidenze empiriche sulle preferenze di gioco (Zosuls et al., 2009; Cherney e Dempsey, 2010) sembrano coerenti con l'approccio evolutivo-costruttivista piuttosto che con la teoria socio-cognitiva. ...
... After the gender label (i.e., 'this is for boys' or 'this is for girls') had been made salient, children actively changed their expressed preferences according to traditionally gender-stereotypic appropriate choices. In addition, Martin, Eisenbud, and Rose (1995;Study 3) showed that children's preferences for previously unknown toys and judgements regarding other children's preferences for those toys were influenced by gender labels. Even if an attractive toy was presented, children liked the toy less if it was labelled as being for the other sex and expected other same-sex children to do the same. ...
... The goal of the current study was to examine the effects of gendered information on unknown words in children's books. Although explicitly labelling neutral or novel objects as 'for boys' or 'for girls' influences children's judgements and preferences (Martin et al., 1995;Weisgram et al., 2014;Yeung & Wong, 2018), it is unclear whether a less apparent exposure to gender information in storybooks might be sufficient to establish incidentally a stereotypic association and to influence children's behavioural intentions. In particular, we were interested in the effects of the gendered context, in contrast to gender information provided by a male/female protagonist on gender association of unknown words. ...
... Second, in line with Bussey and Bandura's (1999) distinction between gender knowledge and the motivation to act on that knowledge, we examined children's behavioural intention to interact with the novel object or to pursue the novel activity. We expected that children's intention to interact with unknown objects presented in the stories depended on the congruence between their sex and gender information provided by the protagonist or context (Martin et al., 1995;Weisgram et al., 2014;Yeung & Wong, 2018;Hypothesis II). Finally, we compared the effects of protagonist and context on the association of novel words with gender and on the behavioural intention to interact with unknown objects or pursue unknown activities. ...
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Social‐cognitive theory posits that children learn gender stereotypes through gendered information. The present study examined whether children learn new gender stereotypes from stories when unknown words are linked to a gendered protagonist or context information. In Experiment 1, 40 3‐ to 6‐year‐old preschoolers were read stories with either a gendered protagonist embedded within a non‐gendered context, or a non‐gendered protagonist embedded within a gendered context. In Experiment 2, the same sample of children were read stories with the protagonist and the context displaying congruent or incongruent gender information. Each story featured an unknown activity linked with the stereotypical content. Both experiments indicate that the children rated the activity according to both the gender of the context and of the protagonist; however, the effect of the latter was stronger. In addition, children showed higher interest in the unknown activity if the protagonist’s gender matched their own sex. Thus, gender information in stories influences how children perceive unknown words.
... Children who are exposed to own gender-stereotyped toys, limit their experiences; Bem (1975) suggests that androgyny is psychologically healthier since it offers greater flexibility. Martin, Eisenbud & Rose (1995) investigated how children use gender-based thinking to make predictions about toy preferences using unfamiliar toys. ...
... As predicted children made gender-based interpretation, "What I like, children of my sex will also like, and children of the other sex will not like." (Martin, Eisenbud & Rose, 1995, p. 1453) However, it is unclear from the literature whether stereotyped-toys or stereotyped-colours have a greater impact in making judgements; if children depend on colours enough to use them as a sex defining mechanism, it is important to distinguish how children form their judgements -can children integrate both toy gender and colour simultaneously to make judgements about toy preferences? This issue will be a focus of the current investigation. ...
... Although, interestingly enough, children's judgment of toy preferences for stereotypical characters seem to be driven by gender-stereotyped toys and not colour, for instance, stereotypical girls will like to play with 'feminine' toys whether it was coloured in either blue or pink. Research has shown children prefer traditionally stereotyped toys for their sex, additionally research into gender-based reasoning (Martin, Eisenbud & Rose, 1995) has also demonstrated children use relevant information to guide their own preference and possible expectations for others. In respects to the current study, the toys the CONFLICTING GENDER CUES & POTENTIAL JUDGEMENT | 18 ...
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Theoretical background by Martin and Halverson (1981) and Bem (1981) demonstrate stereotypes are not irrational ways of thinking. As children get older they become flexible in their rational thinking about stereotypes. Current study tested how children use gender-related inferences to predict toy preferences and whether these preferences were driven by stereotyped-toys or colour. Seventy-two children (4-9 years) were presented with boy and girl characters with stereotypical and counter-stereotypical interests. Children rated how much these characters would like a selection of pink and blue 'masculine' and 'feminine' toys. Younger children ignored character interests and based predictions primarily on sex. Older children integrated available information (i.e. interests) to make appropriate judgements. Results may be due to different processing abilities.
... Sense of belonging mediated relation between gender-interest stereotypes and girls' lower interest in pursuing computer science. Girls may reason that if their group is supposedly not interested, then they are not likely to belong in the field (7,16,17). Not having a sense of belonging is a powerful deterrent for students (18)(19)(20)(21). ...
... Yet it remains critical to demonstrate the direction of causality. Gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys may cause girls to become less interested in pursuing these fields (16,17). Alternatively, girls who are less interested in these fields may use their own low interest as the basis for endorsing stereotypes that other girls have low interest as well (22). ...
Article
Societal stereotypes that girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering are endorsed by children and adolescents in a large and socioeconomically diverse sample, across multiple racial/ethnic and gender intersections, and as early as age six (first grade). Gender-interest stereotypes may contribute to subsequent gender disparities in the pursuit of these societally important fields. Addressing interest stereotypes may help improve educational equity.
... Sur le plan cognitif, la théorie du schéma de genre développée par Martin et Halverson (1981, citées par Martin, Eisenbud & Rose, 1995Dafflon Novelle, 2006 ;Le Maner-Idrissi & Renault, 2006 ;Rouyer et Troupel-Cremel, 2013) affirme que dès l'âge de 2-3 ans, l'émergence des comportements sexués est le fruit d'une construction psychique ayant à sa base un schéma de genre qui oriente la compréhension du monde en catégories de masculin et de féminin de sorte que l'enfant tend à rechercher les informations congréant avec son sexe et à s'y conformer tout en s'éloignant des informations concernant le sexe opposé. Les indicateurs utilisés pour caractériser les genres sont : les types de jeux, les jouets stéréotypés et le sexe des partenaires de jeux (Tap, 1985 ;Fagot & Leinbach, 1985 ;Martin, Eisenbud & Rose, 1995 ;Zaouche-Gaudron et Rouyer, 2002 ;Cartron & Winnikamen, 2004 ;Le Maner-Idrissi & Renault, 2006 ;Ruel-Traquet, 2010). Ainsi, une fillette jouera à des jeux de filles avec des jouets de fille et en compagnie de filles pour marquer son identité féminine. ...
... Ceci explique la difficulté des filles non conformes à dire en quoi elles sont des filles à un âge où cette certitude est déjà établie ; et justifie le fait que leur âge mental soit meilleur au personnage masculin ; une contradiction qui traduit un vécu peu féminisé du genre. Un tel résultat témoigne de l'émergence de la « non-féminité » chez des filles considérées comme « normales », et s'oppose à l'approche binaire du schéma de genre qui considère que les filles intègrent la féminité et les garçons la virilité (Martin, Eisenbud & Rose, 1995). ...
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RĖSUMĖ Dans l'approche génétique de la construction de l'identité de genre, des théories psychanalytiques, psychosociales et socio-cognitivistes sont utilisées pour expliquer l'émergence des comportements typiques aux filles et aux garçons. La principale limite de tels travaux est de se limiter au dimorphisme sexuel et à la conformité aux normes de genre en considérant que les filles acquièrent la féminité et les garçons, la virilité. Or, la bicatégorisation (homme/femme, fille/garçon) ne se développe pas toujours de façon stricte, des filles pouvant s'exprimer socialement comme des garçons, et vice versa. Le présent article vise à questionner le sexe en tant que construction psychique pour comprendre l'émergence des identités non-binaires chez les fillettes camerounaises. La méthode utilisée est le test de dessin du bonhomme (Royer, 2011) appliqué à 11 filles, élèves de 8 à 10 ans de l'école primaire d'Etoudi I à Yaoundé, afin d'explorer leur sentiment d'appartenance à un sexe et leur sentiment de masculinité/féminité. Les résultats montrent que certaines fillettes intègrent les normes de féminité tandis que d'autres évoluent vers la non-conformité de genre. Au-delà des évidences apportées à la théorie de l'androgynie psychologique, ces résultats questionnent sur les limites des études actuelles en psychologie du développement traitant du normal et du pathologique relativement à l'identité de genre ; ils montrent l'importance de la mère dans l'émergence de l'identité transgenre des filles et remettent en question les rapports de genre entre mères et filles favorisés par les sociétés traditionnelles camerounaises.
... Numerous scholars (Martin, Eisenbud & Rose, 1995;Gjini, 2001;Siegler & Alibali, 2005) and in particular the movements that work and act towards equality between people, claim that toys are part of shaping the personality of an individual, without neglecting the gender aspect. Each toy that the child comes in contact with carries with it a set of messages, noting the actions, beliefs, and roles it must perform in accordance with the consent of parents, relatives, and social environment. ...
... In the last decade, the world brands that deal with the production of children toys, have worked towards the creation of gender-neutral toys. However, as Martin et al. (1995) point out, what is seen in practice proves that children are divided in relation to which toys they prefer. According to Todd et al. (2018), in general, dolls are favored by girls, while toys with cubes or machines are favored by boys. ...
Article
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Abstract. The preschool period is the basis of building the character and personality of an individual. Many features built into this period remain unchanged throughout life. Even modern psychologists suggest that personality in general is relatively stable and permanent. In recent decades, special attention has been paid to the toys that children play with. The purpose of this paper is the theoretical and empirical treatment of the impact of toys on the development of understanding of gender in children. The research was based on consensual qualitative research (CQR) paradigm. Semi-Structured Interview (SSIs) was used to interview respondents. The research was conducted on a purposive sample. A kindergarten teacher, an economist, a private business administrator and an employee in a toy store in the Kicevo region of Republic of North Macedonia were interviewed. We used Constant Comparison Analysis (CCA) to analyze the data for this qualitative study. Research results show that children’s toys are segregated according to gender, gender neutral toys are less liked by buyers, while girls more easily engage in games with typical male toys. Key words: children toys, gender, gender construction
... Sense of belonging mediated relation between gender-interest stereotypes and girls' lower interest in pursuing computer science. Girls may reason that if their group is supposedly not interested, then they are not likely to belong in the field (7,16,17). Not having a sense of belonging is a powerful deterrent for students (18)(19)(20)(21). ...
... Yet it remains critical to demonstrate the direction of causality. Gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys may cause girls to become less interested in pursuing these fields (16,17). Alternatively, girls who are less interested in these fields may use their own low interest as the basis for endorsing stereotypes that other girls have low interest as well (22). ...
Article
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Societal stereotypes depict girls as less interested than boys in computer science and engineering. We demonstrate the existence of these stereotypes among children and adolescents from first to 12th grade and their potential negative consequences for girls’ sub- sequent participation in these fields. Studies 1 and 2 (n = 2,277; one preregistered) reveal that children as young as age six (first grade) and adolescents across multiple racial/ethnic and gender intersections (Black, Latinx, Asian, and White girls and boys) endorse stereotypes that girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering. The more that individual girls endorse gender- interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science and engineering, the lower their own interest and sense of belonging in these fields. These gender-interest stereotypes are endorsed even more strongly than gender stereotypes about computer science and engineering abilities. Studies 3 and 4 (n = 172; both preregistered) experimentally demonstrate that 8- to 9-y-old girls are significantly less interested in an activity marked with a gender stereotype (“girls are less interested in this activity than boys”) compared to an activity with no such stereotype (“girls and boys are equally interested in this activity”). Taken together, both eco- logically valid real-world studies (Studies 1 and 2) and controlled preregistered laboratory experiments (Studies 3 and 4) reveal that stereotypes that girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering emerge early and may contribute to gender disparities.
... Sense of belonging mediated relation between gender-interest stereotypes and girls' lower interest in pursuing computer science. Girls may reason that if their group is supposedly not interested, then they are not likely to belong in the field (7,16,17). Not having a sense of belonging is a powerful deterrent for students (18)(19)(20)(21). ...
... Yet it remains critical to demonstrate the direction of causality. Gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys may cause girls to become less interested in pursuing these fields (16,17). Alternatively, girls who are less interested in these fields may use their own low interest as the basis for endorsing stereotypes that other girls have low interest as well (22). ...
Article
Full-text available
Significance Societal stereotypes that girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering are endorsed by children and adolescents in a large and socioeconomically diverse sample, across multiple racial/ethnic and gender intersections, and as early as age six (first grade). Gender-interest stereotypes may contribute to subsequent gender disparities in the pursuit of these societally important fields. Addressing interest stereotypes may help improve educational equity.
... Peter ve Tiffany (1984 s.215), Caldera vd. (1989, s.74), Martin (1995Martin ( , s.1469 ve Alexander ve Hines (2002, s.475) yaptıkları araştırmalarda çocukların oyuncak tercihlerinin cinsiyetlerine ve yaşlarına göre farklılaştığı bulmuşlardır. Butler vd. ...
... Çocukların oyuncak seçimlerinde cinsiyete özgü öğeleri dikkate aldıkları görülmektedir. Martin (1995Martin ( , s.1454) okul öncesi dönemdeki çocukların kendileri ve başkalarının oyuncak seçimleri hakkında yorum yapmaları istendiğinde, çocukların kendileri ve diğer çocukların oyuncak seçimleri hakkında karar verme yolu olarak hem cinsiyet etiketini, hem de cinsiyete dayalı eşleştirmeyi kullandıkları sonucuna ulaşmıştır. Alexander ve Hines (2002, s. 474) ve Tuzcuoğlu vd. ...
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ZET Araştırma okul öncesi eğitim kurumlarına devam eden çocukların yaptıkları resimlerdeki oyuncak çizimlerinin değerlendirilmesi, cinsiyet, yaş grubu, devam edilen okul türü ve okul öncesi eğitim kurumuna devam etme süresinin resimlerdeki oyuncak çizimlerini etkileyip etkilemediğini belirlemek amacıyla planlanmıştır. Araştırma, Gümüşhane İl Merkezinde bulunan Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı'na bağlı ilköğretim okullarındaki anasınıfları ve bağımsız anaokullarında bulunan dört-beş yaş grubundaki toplam 132 çocukla yürütülmüştür. Araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak, çocukların yaptıkları resimler ve araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilen Resimleri Değerlendirme Formu kullanılmıştır. Araştırmada elde edilen veriler SPSS 12 paket programı yardımı ile değerlendirilmiştir. Sınıflama düzeyinde elde edilen değişkenler arasındaki bağımlılık testleri için Ki-Kare testi kullanılmıştır. Teorik beklenen değeri 25+ olan kros tablolarda Pearson Ki-Kare testi, teorik beklenen değeri-5 olan 2X2 kros tablolarda ise Fisher's Exact testi kullanılmıştır. Kros tablolarda gözlere düşen denek sayıların yetersiz olması durumunda test uygulanamamıştır. Araştırma sonucunda çocuğun cinsiyeti ile çizdiği oyuncak sayısı, çocuğun oyuncağa göre resimdeki pozisyonu ve çizdiği oyuncağın şiddet içerikli olma durumu arasında istatistiksel açıdan anlamlı bir bağımlılığın olduğu bulunmuştur (p<0,05). Çocukların yaş grupları ve devam ettikleri okul türü ile çizilen oyuncağı çocuğa alan kişi arasında istatistiksel açıdan anlamlı bir bağımlılığın olduğu saptanmıştır (p<0,05). Araştırma sonucunda okul öncesi eğitime devam etme süresi ile resimde çizilen oyuncak sayısı, oyuncakla oynanırken çocuğun yanında olan kişi, resimde oyuncağın boyanma durumu, oyuncağın kime ait olduğu, çocuğa oyuncağı alan kişi, çocuğun oyuncağa göre pozisyonu ve oyuncağın şiddet içerikli olup olmaması arasında anlamlı bir ilişkinin olmadığı bulunmuştur (p>0,05). ABSTRACT This research was planned to evaluate toy drawings in the pictures drawn by children attending early childhood education and to determine whether gender, age group, school type and the duration of education affects the toy drawings drawn by children. This research was conducted among 132 children at the ages of 5 and 6
... Therefore, it should increase the association with the social category "female" compared to the generic masculine for both stereotypically masculine and feminine jobs. Activating an association with gender (by explicit labeling or by providing gender-associated information) has also been shown to influence performance, behavioral intentions, own and predicted interest of others, and liking of already gender-associated as well as of novel and therefore "ungendered" objects and activities (e.g., Martin et al., 1995;Montemayor, 1974;Seitz et al., 2020;Weisgram et al., 2014). For example, Seitz et al. (2020) introduced novel activities in children's stories in their experiments. ...
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Based on the assumption that language influences thinking, the present study investigated the effect of gender-fair language in German, a grammatically gendered language among primary school children. Specifically, in a single-study experiment, we compared 218 German third and fourth graders on the effects of the generic masculine (e.g., der Polizist; English: the policeman) and gender-fair language in terms of the feminine and masculine form (e.g., die Polizistin/der Polizist; English: the policewoman/the policeman) on the cognitive representation of women in stereotypically masculine occupations and occupational self-efficacy. General self-efficacy was examined as a moderator variable, assumed to influence the effect of gender-fair language on occupational self-efficacy. The results indicate that the gender-fair form led to a higher cognitive representation of women in stereotypically masculine occupations for girls and increased girls’ occupational self-efficacy for stereotypically masculine occupations. In contrast, the use of gender-fair language did not significantly influence boys’ cognitive representation of women and their occupational self-efficacy. General self-efficacy did not affect the effect of gender-fair language on occupational self-efficacy. Thus, even as early as in primary school, gender-fair language could help attracting girls to stereotypically masculine occupations.
... Such direct measurement of visual preferences are considerably helpful (Davis & Hines, 2020). It has been suggested that children prefer toys conventionally stereotyped for their gender over those 'designed' for the other gender (Martin et al., 1995). However, such preferences may be tremendously influenced by the parental perceptions (Boe & Woods, 2018; Eisen et al., 2021). ...
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A toy is an object or device designed for play and enjoyment. Engagement of children and adolescents with appropriate toys can have significant influences on their cognitive, emotional and socio-psychological development. In this review, we first discuss factors underlying binary gender-based preferences of toys, and their implications for child development. Further, the potential of toys in psycho-social, emotional and sensorimotor development of children and adolescents are debated, with a particular focus on neuro-divergent children. Additionally, implications for toy-play from ancient Indian literature and culture are discussed. Finally, future aspects for play with next-generation toys and challenges associated with them are delineated. We hope that the review will serve as a platform for promoting toys as tools for removing binary gender-prejudices and aiding child/adolescent development. We also anticipate that our work will result in further research and elaboration of this largely ignored field of early/late childhood and adolescence research.
... Children's understanding of their own and others' sex may contribute to play patterns by setting up expectations about the likely characteristics of play they would encounter with a same-sex child and with an other-sex child (Martin, 1994). For instance, preschool children expect that samesex peers will share their toy preferences but that other-sex peers will not, even with unfamiliar toys (Martin, Eisenbud, & Rose, 1995). The presumptions that children hold about shared interests for members of the same sex may guide their behavior, especially when peers are unfamiliar. ...
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This article addresses whether young children's play-partner choices are stable over time and how these choices influence behavior. Sixty-one children (28 boys and 33 girls; mean age = 53 months) were observed over 6 months, and type of play behavior and sex of play partners were recorded. Children's partner preferences were highly sex differentiated and stable over time, especially when larger aggregates of data were used. Two types of consequences were identified: a binary effect that influenced differences between the sexes and a social dosage effect that influenced variations within the sexes. The binary effect reflected a pattern in which the more both girls and boys played with same-sex partners, the more their behavior became sex differentiated. The social dosage effect reflected a pattern in which variations in levels of same-sex play in the fall contributed significantly to variations in the spring above initial levels of the target behaviors.
... For example, after examining the play patterns of preschool children, Goldberg et al. (2012) found that children of more traditional parents (e.g., mothers performing a majority of housework) exhibited more gender-stereotypical play at school compared to children with more non-traditional parents. For younger children, gendered attitudes and behavior are expressed through social preferences (e.g., choosing to play and sit with children of the same gender) and perceptual preferences (e.g., choosing to play with the same toys as other children of the same gender) during the preschool years (Caldera et al., 1989;Davis & Hines, 2020;Goble et al., 2012;Martin et al., 1995). Moreover, as children enter the school system, they begin to show appearance rigidity attitudes (i.e., pressures to dress and act in accordance with gender typicality) as they learn gender norms, roles, and expectations from their peers (Halim et al., 2014(Halim et al., , 2018. ...
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Although adult women and men receive social and economic penalties for violating prescriptive gender stereotypes, few studies have explored the consequences that children may face for gender stereotype violations and even less are aimed at perceptions of parental responses to gender norm deviance in their children. Across three pre-registered studies using United States-based, English-speaking participants, we examined how parents are perceived by adults when they reprimand their gender-deviant children compared to affirming or a control condition, and how children are perceived for gender-deviant behavior in a classroom setting. We found that parents were perceived negatively overall when they reprimanded their child for deviant behavior and positively overall when they were accepting of their child’s behavior (Study 1). This pattern was observed when specific behaviors were mentioned (Study 2), and when age of the child was manipulated (Study 3). We also found across all studies that as participants identified as more conservative, they rated the parents more favorably when they reprimanded their gender-deviant child, whereas political orientation was unrelated to perceptions of parents who affirmed their child for gender deviant behavior, suggesting some ambivalence about how they believed parents should respond. Our data did not rule out the possibility that boys face at least marginally more negative perceptions than girls (Study 2 and Study 3), suggesting that adults' attitudes towards gender stereotype violations for boys are less flexible than girls.
... However, once children form a gender concept, studies show gender schemas influence toy and play activity preferences increasingly with age (e.g., Zosuls et al., 2009). For example, experimental studies have demonstrated that preschool-age children tend to favor unfamiliar toys labeled for their own gender and to avoid toys labeled exclusively for the other gender (e.g., Martin, Eisenbud, & Rose, 1995). ...
Chapter
This chapter presents contemporary theory and research on children's gender development from a social-cognitive perspective. The author first examines contemporary social-cognitive theories and conceptual models pertinent to the study of gender development. These include cognitive-developmental, information-processing, intergroup, and motivational approaches. Second, he summarizes the development of children's gender cognitions and examines their ramifications for a variety of areas, including gender stereotyping, attitudes, prejudice, self-concepts, and gender as a social identity. Third, he considers possible causes and consequences of gender-typed play. In the fourth section, the author reviews research on gender similarities and differences in children's competencies in academic achievement (including verbal, spatial, mathematical, science, and artistic domains), athletic achievement, interpersonal competence, and intrapersonal competence, among others. Fifth, he highlights some of the individual and social-relational influences on gender-related variations in performance and achievement. The chapter closes by advocating for future work that offers more theory-bridging and replications of prior empirical research.
... The role of gender-based reasoning in cognitive theories of gender and children's play preferences are discussed in this research. (Carol Lynn Martin, 1995) In reference to the colored days themes conducted by the schools where children come up dressed in their favorite fictional character. An observation in this study revealed that young girls are ardent Disney princess fans and they address sex identities and talk connected to the wellknown movies and diversified toys. ...
Article
This study aims to explore whether, the teaching methodologies deployedin private schools in Islamabad are confining children (between the agesof 3-12 years) to polarized gender identities? This question of children’sgendering becomes pertinent when we explore the implications of raisingchildren in gender confined environments. This research will analyze themechanisms deployed in private Montessori/Kindergarten and elementaryschools in Islamabad from feminist perspective. For this purpose,qualitative method research will be used, and we will conduct semistructured interviews with fifteen school teachers of five private schoolsbased in Islamabad. This particular category of schools has been chosenbecause these schools draw their teaching methodology and curriculumfrom the American and British systems of education. Based on thispremise these schools claim to be progressive and forward looking in theirscope to education and child development. Moreover, these privateschools are engaged with different international syllabi and techniques toengage the students of diverse socio-economic class backgrounds. Basedon this premise these schools claim to be progressive and forward lookingin their scope to education and child development. However, given thelack of attention to social learning in schools this study aims to find outwhether such ‘modernist’ schools are also blinded by the concerns forraising children in gender discriminatory environments. The paper aims toestablish that if gender binaries are transmitted to children through earlyyears schooling then what consequences does that instill on the childrenfrom the feminist standpoint. But the question that how and whetherchildren can be trained in schools to live beyond gendered binaries arebeyond the scope of this paper.
... Diese Befunde im Hinblick auf die visuelle Unterscheidbarkeit der Geschlechtskategorien sind in Studien mit weiblichen und männlichen Stimmen als Hinweisreize weitgehend repliziert worden (für einen Überblick siehe . (Levy & Fivush, 1993) und sie geben an, dass sie attraktive Spielzeuge weniger mögen, wenn sie erfahren, dass diese für das andere Geschlecht entwickelt wurden (Martin et al., 1995). Sowohl das Wissen über Geschlechterkategorien als auch geschlechtskongruentes Verhalten nimmt zwischen dem zweiten und dritten Lebensjahr weiter zu (Campbell et al., 2004). ...
Chapter
Im ersten Teil des vorliegenden Kapitels wird zunächst beschrieben, wie Menschen sich selbst und andere in Gruppen einteilen (soziale Kategorisierung) und diese Gruppen mit bestimmten Eigenschaften verbinden (Stereotype). Anschließend werden theoretische Ansätze zur Entwicklung von Stereotypen im Kindesalter dargelegt. Im zweiten Teil des Kapitels werden Forschungsergebnisse zu sozialer Kategorisierung und Stereotypen bei jungen Kindern (vom Säuglingsalter bis zum Grundschulübergang) zusammengefasst. Der dritte Teil fokussiert die Aktivierung und Anwendung von Stereotypen. Es werden Ansätze dargestellt, die erklären, wann Stereotype eher einen Einfluss auf das Verhalten haben, und es wird herausgearbeitet, unter welchen Umständen Stereotypisierung in Kindertagesstätten und Kindergärten wahrscheinlich ist. Im vierten Teil werden verschiedene Ansätze zur Reduzierung von Stereotypen, Vorurteilen und Diskriminierung dargestellt und es werden Befunde zur Wirksamkeit von Interventionen diskutiert. Exemplarisch wird im fünften Teil eine Intervention (die Prejudice Habit-Breaking Intervention) vorgestellt und mit praktischen Anwendungsbeispielen im Kontext Kindergarten und Kindertagesstätte illustriert. Zuletzt findet sich eine praxisorientierte Kurzzusammenfassung der Hauptinhalte des Kapitels für pädagogische Fachkräfte.
... Additionally, the implicit and explicit gender labeling present in toys further strengthen the rigidity of the stereotypes presented in children's media. Labeling occurs when a toy, object, or activity's attributes cause a child or those around them to determine it as 'for them' or 'not for them' (Martin et al., 1995). This labeling can occur explicitly, when toys are advertised as 'girls' toys' or 'boys' toys' or implicitly, when toys are painted in feminine or masculine colors (pink vs. blue), signaling for whom the toy is meant (Weisgram et al., 2014;Wong & Hines, 2015). ...
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Children’s gender schematic cognitions guide their attention, affinities, and behaviors, often narrowing their opportunities. The goal of the present study is to examine how children’s exposure to animated Disney princesses modeling agentic behaviors (such as being a leader) alters children’s gender schematic perceptions of princesses’ characteristics, and if this exposure impacts children’s perceptions of their own gender-typed qualities. Interviews with 60 children from the northeast region of the United States (Mage = 4.5 years old) at the beginning and end of six weeks indicate that, as hypothesized, children’s perceptions of princesses and themselves became less gender schematic after cumulative exposure to animated videos depicting princesses modeling agentic behaviors. Children’s perceptions of princesses’ agency and their own agency increased throughout the study, asserting that with exposure to nontraditional gender-typed characters, children begin to see themselves as less gender-typed. These findings provide new insights into the role of early children’s media exposure in shaping children’s gender cognitions.
... Evidence for gender-typed preferences and behavior in early childhood has been found in many empirical studies. For example, children have been shown to prefer gender-congruent toys by age 2 years (Serbin et al., 2001), like novel gender-neutral attractive toys less when they are labeled as being toys for the other gender at ages 4−6 years (Martin et al., 1995), and prefer gendertyped toys at ages 4−7 years (Spinner et al., 2018). A longitudinal study also found that children's gender-typed play behavior increased as their gender labeling skills developed (Fagot & Leinbach, 1989). ...
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Research investigating occupational aspirations in childhood is scarce. In addition, most research on occupational aspirations has focused on increasing the number of women in agentic jobs. In the present work, we investigate factors associated with communal occupational aspirations in two studies with young children (Study 1: 159 children [84 boys, 75 girls], M age = 5.51 years, SD = 0.37; Study 2: 96 children [48 boys, 48 girls]; M age = 9.44 years, SD = 1.91). We found gender differences in communal aspirations only among the older children. In both samples, as well as when combining the two samples, the stronger the communal occupational gender stereotypes children reported, the less boys (and the more girls) aspired toward communal occupations. In the combined sample, communal self-perceptions mediated the relationship between child gender and occupational aspirations. Finally, the perceived status of the occupations was positively associated with communal aspirations among older children.
... Parents and other caregivers provide messages concerning toys' and plays' appropriateness, saying sentences such as 'Boys like vehicles' and 'Girls like dolls' (Boe & Woods, 2018) or encouraging boys to engage in rough-and-tumble play and girls to play house (Blakemore & Centers, 2005). Gender labeling can lead to infants' preference or avoidance of some toys in later (Martin, Eisenbud, & Rose, 1995) as shown by boys' and girls' equal preference for dolls at 12 months which changes when boys get older and start preferring cars and blocks over dolls and dollhouses (Jadva, Hines, & Golombok, 2010;Balzan, Farrugia, Casha, & Wodehouse, 2018). Gendertyped toy preferences emerge about 9-12 months (Lamminmåki et al. 2012;Todd, Barry, & Thommessen, 2017) and represents a stable sex-related attractor system in subsequent months (Fausto-Sterling, Coll, & Lamarre, 2012). ...
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Elucidating the elements involved in the gender development is challenging and transcends the nature/nurture dichotomy. We investigated if gender differences would be more pronounced in older infants (11-18 months) than younger ones (6-11 months); and related to gendered toys (masculine: vehicles, and feminine: dolls, dress-up accessories, and domestic items). We discussed our findings in line with the Dynamic Systems Theory. Mothers filled out an online sociodemographic questionnaire, and the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development – Infant Scale. Gender differences were found just from 12 months on and in three out of the four gendered toys. Girls presented more dolls and dress-up accessories and boys, more vehicles and animal toys. Male gender, number of siblings and older infants predicted higher number of vehicles and animal toys, while only female gender predicted higher number of dolls and dress-up accessories. Socialization influence gender role stereotyping, producing distinct sex-typed toy preferences.
... This can include representation of stereotypes (Coyne, Linder, Rasmussen, Nelson, & Birkbeck, 2016;Coyne, Linder, Rasmussen, Nelson, & Collier, 2014;Sherman & Zurbriggen, 2014) and exclusion by absence. Children detect and apply symbolism in toys (Martin, Eisenbud, & Rose 1995;Saha et al. 2014). If toys and environments do not represent the children and do not include what is important in a positive manner, then children may experience stigma about culture, gender, disability, or other factors. ...
Chapter
Although theoretically any space can become a space for play to occur, certain spaces are more conducive for play than others. For a child with a disability, some spaces can present significant barriers to play. In these cases, occupational therapy practitioners promote the development of play spaces that foster and encourage play, through specific environmental modifications as well as training of key adults or peers. Occupational therapy practitioners address the physical environment’s safety, usability, and spatial arrangement and the personal relevance of specific environments and objects in them, as well as the influence of the social environment, to promote inclusive opportunities to play. Using direct and indirect interventions, practitioners apply their knowledge to help families, children, and others select playful play spaces, adapt play spaces to become more apt to promote play, and advocate for policy changes that promote greater access to playful spaces. This chapter highlights very specific strategies to promote play through explicit attention to many aspects of the environment for play.
... One of the most striking differences between boys and girls by gender is seen in their toy preferences (Golombok et al., 2008). Toys, forming the basis of children's daily life experiences, play an important role in their lives (Martin et al., 1995). However, gender differentiation in children's early play experiences may lead to gender differences on issues such as cognitive abilities and social interactions (Dinella et al., 2017). ...
Article
Araştırmanın amacı, çocukların oyuncak tercihleri, oyuncaklarla kimlerin oynayabileceğine ilişkin seçimleri ve oyuncak tercihlerinin altında yatan gerekçelerin incelenmesidir. Araştırmanın katılımcılarını 5 yaş grubu 30 kız ve 30 erkek olmak üzere toplam 60 çocuk oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma verileri; dişil ve eril renklerde hazırlanmış üzerinde eril, dişil ve nötr oyuncak resimleri bulunan toplam 12 oyuncak kartı aracılığıyla toplanmıştır. Araştırmanın nicel verileri iki yönlü tekrarlı ölçümler ANOVA ve kay-kare testi ile nitel verileri ise içerik analizi ile çözümlenmiştir. Araştırma sonuçları; çocukların oyuncak tercihlerinde, oyuncak renginin oyuncak türünden daha belirleyici olduğunu göstermektedir. Kızlar en az eril renkli oyuncakları tercih ederken erkeklerin en az tercih ettiği oyuncakların dişil renkli olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Renklerine bakılmaksızın; kız çocukların nötr oyuncakları daha fazla tercih ettikleri, erkek çocukların ise en fazla eril oyuncakları tercih ettikleri, nötr ve dişil oyuncakları ise eşit düzeyde tercih ettikleri belirlenmiştir. Bununla birlikte araştırma kapsamında yer alan çocuklar oyuncak türüne bakılmaksızın eril renkli tüm oyuncakların sadece erkekler için uygun olduğu görüşündedir. Oyuncak tercihinin altında yatan gerekçeler incelendiğinde; çocukların çoğunlukla toplumsal cinsiyete ilişkin gerekçeler sundukları, bu gerekçeler arasında ise sıklıkla oyuncağın rengi ve türüne vurgu yaptıkları belirlenmiştir.
... These observed toy preferences are aided by the presence of explicit gender labels. For example, children presented with novel gender-neutral toys prefer the ones they are told are liked by their own gender, and they predict other children will have similar preferences (Martin et al., 1995). ...
Article
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Contemporary discussions around gender roles, stereotypes, and play highlight the need for updated research on the influences of children’s early play experiences and learning (Weisgram, 2018). Different types of play relate to different skills and vary by gender, such as spatial play and spatial skill (Jirout & Newcombe, 2015; Voyer et al., 1995), and very little is known about gender and digital play. This study assessed parent and child gendered beliefs about play preference and ability with spatial and non-spatial toys and screen media, parent-rated educational value of toys, and frequency of child play (N=60 parent-child dyads; Mage=5.5). Though parents reported some stereotypical beliefs, especially for preferences, they considered screen media neutral. Children’s responses only related to parents’ for spatial preference, and were egocentric across toy types. Ratings of educational value related to play frequency and were lower for screen media than physical toys. Additional results and implications are discussed.
... As derived in this study, gender stereotyping appears is a crucial variable in choice or dispensing of toys, their made availability and patterns of use (Venkatesan, 2014;Martin, Eisenbud & Rose, 1995;Robinson & Morris, 1986). , for instance, found that boys spent more time on leisure activities like engagement in sports, watching television and playing computer games than girls. ...
Article
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Neuropsychological Functioning of Patient with Organic Personality Disorder with Caudate Nucleus Infarct: A Case Study
... As derived in this study, gender stereotyping appears is a crucial variable in choice or dispensing of toys, their made availability and patterns of use (Venkatesan, 2014;Martin, Eisenbud & Rose, 1995;Robinson & Morris, 1986). , for instance, found that boys spent more time on leisure activities like engagement in sports, watching television and playing computer games than girls. ...
... Los estudios citados, a diferencia de investigaciones realizadas con tareas descontextualizadas (Piaget e Inhelder, 1951;Edwards, 1968;Cohen, 1979), se estructuraron conforme con contenido temático cotidiano, cuestión que induce a sesgos a la hora de valorar la información y poner en juego la predicción. Tales sesgos se relacionan con teorías implícitas o esquemas que influyen a la hora de interpretar la información disponible (Martin y Little, 1990;Martin, Eisenbud y Rose, 1995). Castañeda y Rodrigo (2001), estudian el comportamiento predictivo de sujetos en diferentes edades, concluyendo que a menor edad los juicios se modifican en función de la información distribucional, aunque con prioridad en la idiosincrática o autogenerada, y secundariamente en la diagnóstica. ...
Article
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p>El presente se propone revelar los modos en que se expresa la inferencia predictiva en estudiantes universitarios de biología. La muestra está conformada por veinticinco alumnos del último nivel de la carrera. El instrumento de recolección de datos está constituido por dos tareas, la primera de ellas requiere la elaboración de predicciones al modo deductivo clásico, en tanto que la segunda lo hace mediante el uso de análogos. Los estudiantes muestran mediana eficacia predictiva, y dicha capacidad no difiere sustancialmente si se realiza de manera deductiva o analógica. Se advierte que las relaciones directas o inversas entre los factores incidentes, la influencia del tiempo cronológico en los sucesos, y la complejidad del contenido, afectan la asertividad de la predicción.</p
... Gender-related expectations also figure in children's opportunities for exploratory learning, especially in the STEM domains. Boys and girls tend to play with different types of toys, and parents tend to provide genderstereotyped toys and activities to their children (e.g., Fulcher & Coyle, 2018;Martin, Eisenbud, & Rose, 1995). Gender-stereotyped toys provided different types of affordances for children's exploratory play, with building and block toys allowing for engineering-related exploration, while doll play invites exploration through pretend play and social interaction. ...
Article
Young children develop causal knowledge through everyday family conversations and activities. Children's museums are an informative setting for studying the social context of causal learning because family members engage together in everyday scientific thinking as they play in museums. In this multisite collaborative project, we investigate children's developing causal thinking in the context of family interaction at museum exhibits. We focus on explaining and exploring as two fundamental collaborative processes in parent–child interaction, investigating how families explain and explore in open‐ended collaboration at gear exhibits in three children's museums in Providence, RI, San Jose, CA, and Austin, TX. Our main research questions examined (a) how open‐ended family exploration and explanation relate to one another to form a dynamic for children's learning; (b) how that dynamic differs for families using different interaction styles, and relates to contextual factors such as families' science background, and (c) how that dynamic predicts children's independent causal thinking when given more structured tasks. We summarize findings on exploring, explaining, and parent–child interaction (PCI) styles. We then present findings on how these measures related to one another, and finally how that dynamic predicts children's causal thinking. In studying children's exploring we described two types of behaviors of importance for causal thinking: (a) Systematic Exploration : Connecting gears to form a gear machine followed by spinning the gear machine. (b) Resolute Behavior : Problem‐solving behaviors, in which children attempted to connect or spin a particular set of gears, hit an obstacle, and then persisted to succeed (as opposed to moving on to another behavior). Older children engaged in both behaviors more than younger children, and the proportion of these behaviors were correlated with one another. Parents and children talked to each other while interacting with the exhibits. We coded causal language, as well as other types of utterances. Parents' causal language predicted children's causal language, independent of age. The proportion of parents' causal language also predicted the proportion of children's systematic exploration. Resolute behavior on the part of children did not correlate with parents' causal language, but did correlate with children's own talk about actions and the exhibit. We next considered who set goals for the play in a more holistic measure of parent–child interaction style, identifying dyads as parent‐directed, child‐directed, or jointly‐directed in their interaction with one another. Children in different parent–child interaction styles engaged in different amounts of systematic exploration and had parents who engaged in different amounts of causal language. Resolute behavior and the language related to children engaging in such troubleshooting, seemed more consistent across the three parent–child interaction styles. Using general linear mixed modeling, we considered relations within sequences of action and talk. We found that the timing of parents' causal language was crucial to whether children engaged in systematic exploration. Parents' causal talk was a predictor of children's systematic exploration only if it occurred prior to the act of spinning the gears (while children were building gear machines). We did not observe an effect of causal language when it occurred concurrently with or after children's spinning. Similarly, children's talk about their actions and the exhibit predicted their resolute behavior, but only when the talk occurred while the child was encountering the problem. No effects were found for models where the talk happened concurrently or after resolving the problem. Finally, we considered how explaining and exploring related to children's causal thinking. We analyzed measures of children's causal thinking about gears and a free play measure with a novel set of gears. Principal component analysis revealed a latent factor of causal thinking in these measures. Structural equation modeling examined how parents' background in science related to children's systematic exploration, parents' causal language, and parent–child interaction style, and then how those factors predicted children's causal thinking. In a full model, with children's age and gender included, children's systematic exploration related to children's causal thinking. Overall, these data demonstrate that children's systematic exploration and parents' causal explanation are best studied in relation to one another, because both contributed to children's learning while playing at a museum exhibit. Children engaged in systematic exploration, which supported their causal thinking. Parents' causal talk supported children's exploration when it was presented at certain times during the interaction. In contrast, children's persistence in problem solving was less sensitive to parents' talk or interaction style, and more related to children's own language, which may act as a form of self‐explanation. We discuss the findings in light of ongoing approaches to promote the benefit of parent–child interaction during play for children's learning and problem solving. We also examine the implications of these findings for formal and informal learning settings, and for theoretical integration of constructivist and sociocultural approaches in the study of children's causal thinking.
... Similarly, doll play, which is stereotypically associated with girls (Miller, Lurye, Zosuls, & Ruble, 2009), allows children to practice their socioemotional skills (Li & Wong, 2016). Because peers exclude children from activities based on gender stereotypes (Theimer et al., 2001), and because children become less interested in toys they think are ''for" another gender (Martin, Eisenbud, & Rose, 1995), stereotyping may cause children to miss opportunities to develop important skills. Given its problematic nature, it is critical to develop methods to reduce stereotyping early in development. ...
Article
Children think that peers prefer gender-stereotypical toys over gender-counterstereotypical toys. These beliefs can limit children's exploration of gender-counterstereotypical behaviors and prevent the development of broad skills and interests. The current research tested interventions to combat gender-based stereotyping about toys among children aged 47 years (N = 373). Across four experiments featuring seven different intervention versions, participants saw videos where a teacher provided counterstereotypical messages about toy preferences (e.g., "boys like dolls," "girls like trucks"). The phrasing of the messages (e.g., generic vs. demonstrative) and accompanying photographs (e.g., images of many children vs. one child) varied across experiments. In all intervention conditions, participants made more counterstereotypical (and fewer stereotypical) predictions about peers' toy preferences after viewing intervention videos; differences in the phrasing of the intervention message (e.g., "boys like dolls" vs. "this kid likes dolls") had little effect on participants' predictions. In Experiment 4, an intervention condition containing generic phrasing and gender noun labels (e.g., "boys like dolls") changed children's selection of toys for peers. This research provides promise for counterstereotyping as an impactful and easily implementable intervention strategy.
... Importantly, children act based on the stereotypes they learn from those around them and from broader cultural messages. Early-acquired gender stereotypes about the intellectual abilities of men and women, for example, shape children's behavior and are likely to steer their interests away from activities and topics that they might have otherwise enjoyed (e.g., Ambady et al., 2001;Cimpian, Mu, & Erickson, 2012;Martin, Eisenbud, & Rose, 1995;McKown & Weinstein, 2003;Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). To date, most of the developmental work on stereotypes relevant to intellectual ability has targeted specific domains, such as math, science, or verbal ability (for reviews, see Boston & Cimpian, 2018;Cheryan, Master, & Meltzoff, 2015). ...
Article
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The common stereotype that brilliance is a male trait is an obstacle to women’s success in many prestigious careers. This gender-brilliance stereotype is powerful in part because it seems to be acquired early in life and might thus shape girls’ career aspirations. To date, however, research on this stereotype has not considered how its acquisition might intersect with (1) the other social identities that men and women are perceived to hold, and (2) the social identities that children themselves hold. The present study examined these open questions. First, we compared 5- and 6-year-old children’s (N = 203) assumptions about the intellectual abilities of White men and women with their assumptions about the intellectual abilities of Black men and women. Second, we compared White children’s assumptions about the intellectual abilities of men and women with those of children of color (primarily Latinx, Black, and Asian). The results suggested two main conclusions: First, children learn to associate White men (vs. women), but not Black men (vs. women), with brilliance. In fact, children generally see Black men as less brilliant than Black women. Second, the results suggested that the stereotype associating White men with brilliance is shared by children regardless of their own race. These results add considerable nuance to the literature on the development of gender stereotypes about intellectual ability and have implications for policies that might be implemented to prevent the negative effects of these stereotypes.
... Research on stereotyping processes has demonstrated that by the age of five, children develop a constellation of stereotypes about gender that they rigidly apply to themselves and others (Halim, Ruble, Tamis-LeMonda, & Shrout, 2013). By middle childhood children are able to attribute stereotypical characteristics of the opposite gender to pre-pubertal children displaying counterstereotypical traits in at least four content domains: physical appearance, personality, activities, and toy preferences (Banerjee & Lintern, 2000;Blakemore, 2003;Campbell, Shirley, & Caygill, 2002;Martin, Eisenbud, & Rose, 1995;Martin, Wood, & Little, 1990). In a correlational study on children's sex-typing of self and others, Martin et al. (1990) revealed that 4-and 6-year-olds make stereotypic inferences within such domains (e.g., knowing that a child of unknown gender likes to play with tool kits leads to the inference that this child may like playing with airplanes as well). ...
Article
In the absence of clear sex differences in vocal anatomy, the expression of gender in pre‐pubertal children's voices has a strong behavioural dimension. However, whether children are sensitive to this gender‐related variation in the voice and use it to make inferences about their peers’ masculinity and femininity remains unexplored. Using a cross‐modal matching task, thirty‐one 7‐ to 8‐year‐olds and forty‐two adults were asked to associate prototypical voices of boys and girls, and their re‐synthesized masculinized and feminized versions, to fictional stereotypically masculine, gender‐neutral, and stereotypically feminine child characters. We found that listeners spontaneously associated stereotypically masculine and feminine descriptors of a child character with masculinized voices and feminized voices, respectively. Adults made overall more stereotypical associations and were less influenced by character sex than children. Our observations highlight for the first time the contribution of acoustic cues to gender stereotyping from childhood, and its potential implications for the gender schema literature. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? • Research on stereotyping shows children's schematic processing of the visible aspects of gender expression • Psychoacoustic research shows that variation in children's voices affects adults’ judgments of their masculinity What does this study add? • Children and adults linked voice variation to gender‐stereotypical characterizations of child characters • Adults made overall more stereotypical associations than children and were less influenced by character's sex • Our results highlight the existence of a vocal component in children's and adults’ gender schemas
... Young children who favor same-gender playmates develop more extreme gender-typed interests and behaviors over time (Martin & Fabes, 2001). In addition, children become less interested in playing with particular toys once they believe that such toys are ''for" the other gender (Martin, Eisenbud, & Rose, 1995; see also Bian et al., 2017). These findings are of consequence given that gender-typed behaviors and interests are related to the development of skills associated with success in school (Serbin, Zelkowitz, Doyle, Gold, & Wheaton, 1990). ...
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To test how early social environments affect children’s consideration of gender, 3- to 6-year-old children (N = 80) enrolled in gender-neutral or typical preschool programs in the central district of a large Swedish city completed measures designed to assess their gender-based social preferences, stereotypes, and automatic encoding. Compared with children in typical preschools, a greater proportion of children in the gender-neutral school were interested in playing with unfamiliar other-gender children. In addition, children attending the gender-neutral preschool scored lower on a gender stereotyping measure than children attending typical preschools. Children at the gender-neutral school, however, were not less likely to automatically encode others’ gender. The findings suggest that gender-neutral pedagogy has moderate effects on how children think and feel about people of different genders but might not affect children’s tendency to spontaneously notice gender.
... From 2-3 years of age, children possess a naïve theory of ownership framed in terms of causal principles that connect possessions to permissible actions (Nancekivell et al., in press), including those that may be deeply self-relevant. Even preschoolers view object choices as requiring consistency with their self-concept (e.g., a boy will reject an attractive novel toy as not 'for me' if earlier he heard that it was one that girls really liked; Martin, Eisenbud, & Rose, 1995), and prefer foods that are modeled by those that they perceive as similar to themselves (Frazier et al., 2012). Furthermore, as noted earlier, an item can be incorporated into a child's self-concept by 5 years of age (Diesendruck & Perez, 2015). ...
Article
We thank Deborah John, Lan Chaplin, and Daphna Oyserman for their insightful and generous responses. Each commentary seriously takes up the challenge we set forth at the end of our target article—how to link the research on children's concepts of object value to broader issues involving persuasion, including social influences on choices, behaviors, and values. In doing so, they build on our original paper in rich and exciting ways. This article is part of a Research Dialogue: Krishna (2019): https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1095 Gelman & Echelbarger (2019): https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1097 John & Chaplin (2019): https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1094 Oyserman (2019): https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1093
... Given that children chose gender-consistent packaging even when it meant refusing a tastier, albeit cross-gender, snack, we wondered whether children were drawn to the gender-consistent packaging or repelled by gender-inconsistent packaging. Martin, Eisenbud, and Rose (1995) found that children avoided attractive toys labeled for the other gender, so we expected this to hold for food as well. To test this, we offered a different group of children a choice between the same gummy snacks packaged for the other gender and an unembellished mandarin orange. ...
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Children at the peak age of cognitive gender rigidity (age 3–6 years) demonstrate preference for gender-typed activities, toys, and peers. This study explores whether this preference extends to gender-typed food. A total of 212 Virginia preschool and elementary school children performed a card sort of food images and chose between snacks with gender-consistent and gender-inconsistent packaging. Chi-squared analyses revealed that children were more likely to choose a snack in gender-consistent packaging, even when a tastier snack in gender-inconsistent packaging was available. Further, children consistently sorted pink-frosted cupcakes for girls and blue-frosted cupcakes for boys; and a subset of children who imposed gender onto other foods did so consistently (e.g., hamburgers for boys). Consistent with other evidence of children's gender rigidity, these findings support cognitive developmental theories of gender and add a gender-based explanation of children's food choice.
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The gender stereotypes adults hold can influence whether they approve or disapprove of behavior shown by children, depending on whether this behavior is in line with stereotypes. Adults report negative evaluations toward children whose behavior does not adhere to gender stereotypes, particularly toward feminine boys. Whether pedagogical educators in training show negative reactions toward children who violate gender stereotypes has not been examined. We investigate this question by firstly assessing what gender stereotypes adults hold about children in Germany. In Study 1, we assessed descriptive, prescriptive, and proscriptive gender stereotypes identified by adults for children in German society. Stereotypes gathered from this first study were used to construct four vignettes of stereotypical and nonstereotypical boys and girls in order to examine how pedagogical educators in training (N = 414) evaluated these children in Study 2. We investigated ratings of one of these vignettes (2 × 2 between-participants design) regarding liking, perceived competence, creativity, self-esteem, prosocial behavior, as well as internalizing and externalizing problems. A series of ANOVAs revealed that girls displaying masculine behavior received advantageous ratings on competence, creativity, and self-esteem, while boys showing femininity were perceived as the most prosocial. More than gender nonconformity, masculinity and femininity strongly related to externalizing and internalizing problems, respectively. We review how our results in Germany differ from the literature originating in the USA, as we did not find backlash for feminine boys. Possible bias against femininity and toward masculinity within society and cultural and sampling factors is discussed.
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Children tend to categorize novel objects according to their shape rather than their color, texture, or other salient properties—known as “shape bias.” We investigated whether this bias also extends to the social domain, where it should lead children to categorize people according to their weight (their body shape) rather than their race (their skin color). In Study 1, participants ( n = 50 US 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds) were asked to extend a novel label from a target object/person to either an object/person who shared the target's shape/weight, color/race, or neither. Children selected the shape‐/weight‐matched individual over the color‐/race‐matched individual (d objects = 1.58, d people = 0.99) and their shape biases were correlated across the two domains. In Study 2, participants ( n = 20 US 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds) were asked to extend a novel internal property from a target person to either a person who shared the target's weight, race, or neither. Again, children selected the weight‐matched individual ( d = 1.98), suggesting they view an individual's weight as more predictive of their internal properties than their race. Overall, results suggest that children's early shape bias extends into the social domain. Implications for weight bias and early social cognition are discussed. Research Highlights Preschoolers extend novel labels based on people's weight rather than their race. Preschoolers infer internal features based on people's weight rather than their race. Shape biases are present, and correlated, across the social and object domains.
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Much has been established about children's preference for gender‐typed toys, but far less is known about their reasoning about novel toys. Using such toys, this study explored children's emerging use of gender to make predictions about peers as a form of stereotype construction with its correlates. Two to 4‐year‐olds were shown novel, nonstereotyped toys and asked if they and others would like each item. Gender‐typing was measured by liking for familiar gender‐typed toys, and categorization skills by sorting. Parents completed measures on gender language and behavioural expectations. It was found that gender‐centric reasoning (what children like, they expect same‐gender peers but not other‐gender peers to like) was apparent from age 3 years, with boys showing a higher tendency. Apart from age in months, categorization skills and parental behavioural expectations uniquely contributed to children's degree of gender‐centrism. The findings are discussed in relation to cognitive development, parental gender socialization, stereotype formation and practical implications. Highlights From age 3, children tend to predict peers' liking for novel, nonstereotyped toys based on their own and peers' gender as a form of stereotype construction. Older boys are more likely to differentiate between their own novel toy‐liking and that of outgroup peers (girls) compared to girls. Children's categorization skills and their parents' behavioural expectations contribute to gender‐based reasoning, giving scope for interventions based on modifiable factors.
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Cet article décrit l'émergence des identités intersexuées et transgenres selon le système des formes identitaires subjectives FIS (Guichard, 2013) où une dialectique identification/personnalisation sous-tend le processus de socialisation de genre dans une perspective de co-construction où le sujet en situation construit son identité personnelle et sociale en interaction avec le contexte dans lequel il évolue et qu’il contribue à faire évoluer.
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Studies of gender development typically use binary, discrete measures of identity. However, growing literature indicates that some children might not identify with a binary gender. We tested a continuous measure of felt gender identity with gender‐non‐conforming children, socially transitioned transgender children, cisgender siblings, and unrelated cisgender children. In two studies, we found that transgender and cisgender children did not differ in their degree of identifying as their current gender, that they showed more binary identities compared with gender‐ non‐conforming children, and that the continuum was a valid predictor of other measures of gender development. We also found that children's use of the continuous measure was stable over time. Our results demonstrate the test–retest reliability and validity of a new single‐item continuous measure of gender.
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Examinations of knowledge and applications about toy selections of mothers who have child 1-3 age group
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Social categorization is a universal mechanism for making sense of a vast social world with roots in perceptual, conceptual, and social systems. These systems emerge strikingly early in life and undergo important developmental changes across childhood. The development of social categorization entails identifying which ways of classifying people are culturally meaningful, how these categories might be used to predict, explain, and evaluate the behavior of other people, and how one's own identity relates to these systems of categorization and representation. Social categorization can help children simplify and understand their social environment but has detrimental consequences in the forms of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Thus, understanding how social categorization develops is a central problem for the cognitive, social, and developmental sciences. This review details the multiple developmental processes that underlie this core psychological capacity.
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La investigación realizada sobre la campaña publicitaria juguetera emitida en España en la televisión comercial durante las navidades del 2009-10 manifiesta una clara tendencia a la repetición de los estereotipos sexuales. Se seleccionó una muestra de 379 anuncios emitidos en las cadenas comerciales a las que se aplicó una ficha de codificación de 253 items. Se destacan en los spot todavía valores distintos en atención al género como diversión y competición, riesgo y agresividad para los chicos y belleza, apariencia o la atención a las tareas del hogar para las niñas. Hemos analizado los juguetes más anunciados, el color de las marcas, la voz en off vinculada a los productos y los valores asociados a los mismos para determinar el uso dado a estas herramientas.
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College students’ beliefs concerning socializing children about sexism and other culturally important topics were investigated using mixed methods. In Study 1, participants (N = 71) defined sexism and explained their beliefs about addressing sexism with children. Thirty‐five percent argued against childhood sexism‐socialization. Emergent themes provided insights about how sexism is viewed and yielded data needed to design a closed‐ended socialization‐beliefs survey. In Study 2, students (N = 141) completed this survey and reported their feminist beliefs and childhood‐socialization experiences. Childhood sexism‐socialization was more commonly endorsed by women, stronger feminists, and those who had themselves experienced childhood sexism‐socialization. Descriptive data document socialization beliefs about 21 culturally important topics. Results suggest that programs aimed at socializing children about sexism should also address beliefs of the adults responsible for program implementation.
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To study effects of the gender‐packaging of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) toys, mother–child dyads (31 daughters; 30 sons; M = 5.2 years) were randomly assigned to play with a mechanical toy packaged for girls (GoldieBlox) or boys (BobbyBlox). When familiarizing themselves with the toy to prepare for play, mothers given BobbyBlox built more with toy pieces than did mothers given GoldieBlox. During dyadic play, mothers with sons built more; mothers with daughters read the toy's narrative instructions more. Children's independent play likewise varied with game packaging. Girls learned the mechanical belt‐drive principle better from playing with BobbyBlox; boys learned the principle better from playing with GoldieBlox. Implications for gender‐schema theories, STEM interventions, and toy marketing are discussed.
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re-examine a very old social psychological question: why do our labels for social categories possess such extraordinary power / the argument we propose in this paper utilizes a distinction between 'natural kind' categories (such as birds, fish, gold, and daffodils) and 'human artifact' categories (such as chair, bicycle, sweater, and house) / argue that people are inclined to view categories of natural kinds as less arbitrary than those of artifact kinds because natural kinds are believed to possess underlying essences that make one category different from another / whereas social categories are in reality more like human artifacts than natural kinds, they are often perceived as more like natural kinds are social categories like natural kinds / the inductive potential of social categories / the alterability of social categories / implications of treating social categories as natural kinds (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Investigated changes between childhood and adulthood in reliance on gender stereotypes when making inferences about another person. 36 children from each of 3 age groups (kindergarten [mean age 5 yrs 8 mo], 3rd grade [mean age 8 yrs 9 mo], and 6th grade [mean age 11 yrs 8 mo]) and 36 college students were told that a boy or a girl had chosen activities consistent or inconsistent with gender stereotypes. Ss were asked to predict the actor's future behavior, rate the actor on several traits, and estimate the actor's popularity with peers. College students predicted that the actor's future behavior would be approximately as consistent (or inconsistent) with gender stereotypes as their past behavior. College students' ratings of the actor's traits and their judgments about the popularity of boys were also influenced by the actor's past behavior. Sixth graders showed a similar pattern of social inferences, but the effects of the actor's past behavior were weaker than at college age. By contrast, 3rd graders predicted that the actor's future behavior would be stereotypical, even if his or her past behavior was not. Past behavior had some effect on 3rd graders' trait ratings but not on their popularity judgments. At kindergarten, only predictions for a girl's future behavior were affected by past-behavior information. The age differences are discussed in the context of current models of the development and functioning of gender stereotypes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Examined the toy preferences of 20-mo-old Ss under free play and modeling conditions. The relationship between toy familiarity and preference was also studied. The interaction between sex of child and sex-type of toy was significant. The hypothesis that toy contacts or imitation would be associated with toy familiarity was not supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Gender schema theory proposes that the phenomenon of sex typing derives, in part, from gender-based schematic processing— a generalized readiness to process information on the basis of the sex-linked associations that constitute the gender schema. In particular, the theory proposes that sex typing results from the fact that the self-concept itself is assimilated in the gender schema. Several studies are described, including 2 experiments with 96 male and 96 female undergraduates, that demonstrate that sex-typed individuals do, in fact, have a greater readiness to process information—including information about the self—in terms of the gender schema. It is speculated that such gender-based schematic processing derives, in part, from the society's ubiquitous insistence on the functional importance of the gender dichotomy. The political implications of gender schema theory and its relationship to the concept of androgyny are discussed. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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95 children between 5- and 10-yrs-old watched televised boys and girls who differentially endorsed toys of varying attractiveness. The study was designed to test the hypothesis that behavioral expression of gender norms that arouse conflict would be delayed relative to norms that are conflict-free. Predictions were supported for boys. Gender-constant boys spent more time playing with an uninteresting sex-typed toy than did preconstant boys. When the sex-typed toy was relatively interesting, preconstant boys played with it as much as gender constant boys. Toy play among girls was related to toy attractiveness and the girl's agreement with televised stereotypes. Possible reasons for observed sex differences and previous inconsistencies in the gender constancy literature are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Tested how children use information about others" sex, sex-typed interests, and cross-sex labels to make predictions. 72 children (4–10 years) heard descriptions of girls and boys with either stereotypic, counterstereotypic, or neutral interests, or they were labeled as tomboys or sissies. Children rated how much they and other boys and girls would like each child and predicted how much each child would want to play with 4 sex-typed toys. Both younger and older children liked same-sex children and disliked tomboys and sissies. In contrast, younger and older children used information differently when predicting toy preferences. Young children ignored targets" interests and based their judgments on targets" sex, whereas older children used both types of information. These results may be due to younger and older children"s different processing abilities, to age changes in gender stereotypes, or to both. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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25 girls and 31 boys (aged 4–9 yrs) were presented with novel objects in 3 sex-labeled boxes and were given 6 min to explore the objects. Memory for information about the objects was tested 1 wk later. Results show that Ss tactually explored novel objects labeled for their own sex more than similar objects labeled for the other sex and remembered more detailed information about own-sex than other-sex objects. Furthermore, regardless of labeling condition, Ss recalled the sex-typed label applied by the experimenter to each object. As expected from the C. L. Martin and C. F. Halverson, Jr. (see record 1982-05576-001) schematic processing model, an incentive to remember did not improve recall in any labeling condition. The sex-typed labeling effects on exploration occurred primarily among the older children, whereas the effects on recall appeared among the younger and older boys and the younger girls. The results suggest that sex stereotypes restrict children's behavior by limiting their competence rather than their performance. Findings are discussed in relation to an earlier study by the 1st author and R. C. Endsley (see record 1983-32397-001). (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Hypothesized that psychologically "androgynous" individuals (as measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory) might be more likely than either masculine or feminine individuals to display sex role adaptability across situations, engaging in situationally effective behavior without regard for its stereotype as more appropriate for one sex or the other. 2 experiments with a total of 108 college students supported this hypothesis. Androgynous Ss of both sexes displayed "masculine" independence when under pressure to conform, and "feminine" playfullness when given the opportunity to interact with a tiny kitten. In contrast, all of the nonandrogynous Ss displayed behavioral deficits of one sort of another, with the feminine females showing perhaps the greatest deficit of all. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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It is proposed that gender stereotypes arise to rationalize the distribution of the sexes into social roles. Ss read descriptions of members of two fictional categories, one having 80% "city workers" and 20% "child raisers," the other with the percentages reversed. They later made personality ratings of each category and of the category subgroups occupying each role. Ss formed role-based category stereotypes that affected their ratings even when targets' roles were specified. Stronger stereotypes arose when the categories were biologically defined or when Ss attempted to explain the category–role correlation. The basic effect was replicated using roles that are not differentially linked to familiar human groups. The findings are interpreted as showing that stereotypes can arise solely in response to a sexual division of labor and serve to rationalize this division by attributing to the sexes intrinsic personality differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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This study investigated developmental shifts in (a) the use of global gender stereotypes (base rates) and individuating gender-relevant information when making social judgments and (b) the perceived association between masculinity and femininity. Interviews/surveys of kindergartners, 3rd graders, 7th graders, 10th graders, and college students (N = 491) were conducted, in which Ss were presented with descriptions of boys or girls with stereotypical or counterstereotypical attributes and asked to judge other characteristics these boys or girls might have. The data indicated that (a) reliance on gender labels as judgment cues remains stable developmentally, (b) use of individuating information (particularly masculine individuating information) increases with age, and (c) the relationship between masculinity and femininity becomes increasingly negative with age, suggesting that gender may initially be viewed in dualistic terms but later as a unidimensional construct.
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Research and theory on categorization and conceptual structure have recently undergone two major shifts. The first shift is from the assumption that concepts have defining properties (the classical view) to the idea that concept representations may be based on properties that are only characteristic or typical of category examples (the probabilistic view). Both the probabilistic view and the classical view assume that categorization is driven by similarity relations. A major problem with describing category structure in terms of similarity is that the notion of similarity is too unconstrained to give an account of conceptual coherence. The second major shift is from the idea that concepts are organized by similarity to the idea that concepts are organized around theories. In this article, the evidence and rationale associated with these shifts are described, and one means of integrating similarity-based and theory-driven categorization is outlined.
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Examined whether preschool males could resist sex-inappropriate behavior advocated by an esteemed female teacher, with 30 male and 30 female 3-5 yr. olds as Ss. Each S lst chose a toy to keep and stated the toy preference for the opposite sex. The teacher then advocated a sex-inappropriate toy choice. S was free to resist, and social and nonsocial opportunities for supporting resistance were available. Results support the hypotheses that (a) most males would resist sex-inappropriate behavior, (b) males would more often exhibit resistance techniques than females, and (c) both sexes would choose sex-appropriate toys for males more often than for females.
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A technique was developed for measuring avoidance of inappropriate sex-typing uncontaminated by sex-appropriate preferences. 69 boys and 78 girls, ages 3 through 8, were observed while playing with sex-inappropriate and neutral toys. Latency of orienting to inappropriate toys was longer for older than younger boys, but no age difference was found for girls. Percent of time spent with inappropriate toys was lower for older than younger children of both sexes. Latencies for boys, but not girls, were longer when E was present than when absent. E's presence did not affect percent-inappropriate scores of either boys or girls. These avoidance measures were not correlated with M-F scores on the It Scale for Children.
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One of the primary functions of natural kind terms (e.g., tiger, gold) is to support inductive inferences. People expect members of such categories to share important, unforeseen properties, such as internal organs and genetic structure. Moreover, inductions can be made without perceptual support: even when an object does not look much like other members of its category, and even when a property is unobservable. The present work addresses how expectations about natural kinds originate. Young children, with their usual reliance on perceptual appearances and only rudimentary scientific knowledge, might not induce new information within natural kind categories. To test this possibility, category membership was pitted against perceptual similarity in an induction task. For example, children had to decide whether a shark is more likely to breathe as a tropical fish does because both are fish, or as a dolphin does because they look alike. By at least age 4, children can use categories to support inductive inferences even when category membership conflicts with appearances. Moreover, these young children have partially separated out properties that support induction within a category (e.g., means of breathing) from those that are in fact determined by perceptual appearances (such as weight). Since we examined only natural kind categories, we do not know to what extent children have differentiated natural kinds from other sorts of categories. Children may start out assuming that categories named by language have the structure of natural kinds and with development refine these expectations.
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This study investigated the relationship between children’s scores on a traditional toy-preference test and their spontaneous toy/activity preferences as these occurred during unstructured periods of free play. Ss were 57 4year- old children. Results indicated that scores on the Concealed It version of Brown’s It Scale for Children do not predict the degree to which a child’s spontaneous play choices are any more or less stereotyped than the choices of other children of the same sex. It is suggested that scores on traditional tests of toy preference be interpreted as measures of sex-role knowledge and not as measures of a more generalized factor of “sex-role preference.
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In a study assessing the nature of folk theories about the causes of sex and race differences and correlates of these theories, 464 undergraduates completed questionnaires concerning (a) causes of sex and race differences (e.g., socialization, opportunities, and biological factors), (b) the ease of eliminating differences, (c) perceptions of variability within and between the sexes, (d) intolerance of ambiguity, and (e) values concerning research on sex differences. Folk theories are similar for sex and race: Both social and biological factors are believed to cause differences, but social factors are considered more influential. Folk theories related to how the sexes were perceived. The more biology was believed to cause sex differences, the more the sexes were seen to differ. Folk theories were weakly correlated with intolerance of ambiguity. Students' values indicated that they believe it is important to detect and report sex differences even if errors occur because nonexistent sex differences are falsely reported.
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2 measures of children's use of gender as a schematic dimension were developed, 1 measuring gender-based categorization, the other reflecting the degree to which children use the gender dimension to make personal affiliation choices when other schematic bases for responding are available. 2 samples, totaling 147 boys and girls aged 3-7, were tested on the 2 measures of gender salience to establish developmental patterns of gender-based categorization and affiliation. Relations with sex-role knowledge and gender concepts, and with measures of sex-role adoption, were also examined. A Guttman Scale analysis confirmed the developmental sequence in which a decline in gender-based categorization occurred after sex-role knowledge regarding activities and occupations was acquired. Further, once the decline in gender-based categorization occurred, children began to show more cognitive flexibility on a measure of sex-role attitudes. In contrast, use of the gender dimension to make personal affiliation choices did not decline with age but seemed to reflect individual differences in degree of sex typing. Because of these distinct underlying cognitive processes, there seems to be little relation between what a child knows about sex roles and how sex typed the child's attitudes and behavior will be during this period.
Article
The present study tested a distinction between inferring new categories on the basis of property information (predicted to be difficult) and inferring new properties on the basis of category information (predicted to be easier). One group of preschoolers learned new properties for specific boys and girls and was asked to say which property a new child would have, given a gender label that conflicted with the child's appearance. Other children saw the identical stimuli but were to classify them as "boy" or "girl" when given a sex-linked property that conflicted with appearance. All children were also tested on gender constancy. As predicted, children performed poorly on gender constancy and the classification task but accurately inferred many sex-linked properties on the basis of category membership, ignoring conflicting perceptual information. Control conditions support the claim that these effects are not due to differential memory demands in the different conditions. Future research should distinguish between using a category as the basis for making property inferences and the developmentally later skill of classifying an object by using property information. Preschoolers can ignore conflicting perceptual information much more easily on the former than on the latter task.
Article
The purpose of the present study was to explore the meaning of children's choices in toy preference tasks and to determine if children's understanding of sex appropriateness of toys is an important conscious determinant of sex-typed object choices. 3- and 4-year-old children were interviewed to determine which sex-typed toys they thought they themselves, another boy, and another girl would like and dislike, and were questioned about their reasoning for each choice. Further, when the children played with various toys during free play, they were questioned concerning their reasons. According to the data, the children used considerable amounts of sex-role-oriented thinking (11%-55%) to justify their answers regarding other children's likes and dislikes. They used significantly less of this type of reasoning to justify decisions regarding their own toy preferences (especially their likes) in the test situation. Further, children seldom justify their actual toy choices during play with references to sex-role stereotypes. Rather, they tended to choose favorite toys for themselves (and others) based primarily on what the toy could do. Thus, tests of own toy preference and tests assessing children's knowledge of others' preferences may not be equivalent in meaning. Further, it is questionable that children's sex-typed preferences are the result of conscious attempts to act in accordance with sex-role stereotypes.
Article
2 sets of scales were developed designed to measure the strength of sex typing in children's play patterns in a naturalistic setting. Over a 12-week observational period, the scales based upon those activities showing a sex difference in play preferences appeared to be more stable than those scales based upon adult ratings of masculine and feminine activities. Masculine and feminine activity preferences, as measured by the more stable scales, were correlated with observational measures of other classroom behavior and performance on 3 cognitive tests. These results suggested that (a) many children have already learned to avoid opposite-sex activities by the time they enter nursery school; (b) sex-role learning during the preschool period appears to involve increasing attention to same-sex activities; and (c) the development of visual-spatial ability in boys is related to involvement in masculine activities. The advantages of a behaviorally based definition of masculine and feminine activity preference are discussed.
Article
Differential reward and punishment of 3- and 5-year-old girls' and boys' sex-typed behaviors were examined using a laboratory analog of a natural play context. In study 1, mothers' and peers' reactions to sex-appropriate and sex-inappropriate play were observed. Fathers' reactions were assessed in study 2. Mothers used more reward for their children's play than did peers, while peers used more punishment than mothers. Both mothers and peers differentially rewarded and punished girls' sex-typed play, but boys received only differential punishment from peers. Fathers were generally more rewarding to girls and to 3-year-olds and more punishing to boys and to 5-year-olds. Moreover, fathers differentially rewarded play with same-sex toys and punished play with cross-sex toys for both sons and daughters. Implications for social learning and reciprocal-role theories of sex-role development are explored and a social network perspective emphasizing the complementary roles of mothers, fathers, and peers in children's social development is discussed.
Article
Children 6-8 years old played a game which was labeled either sex-appropriate, sex-neutral, or sex-inappropriate. Measures of performance and attractiveness of the game were obtained. For both boys and girls, performance was highest when the game was labeled sex-appropriate, intermediate when no sex label was given for the game, and lowest when the game was labeled sex-inappropriate. For attractiveness, the appropriate and neutral label conditions were similar and both were higher than the inappropriate condition.
Article
The thesis of the present paper is that sex stereotyping is a normal cognitive process and is best examined in terms of information-processing constructs. A model is proposed in which stereotypes are assumed to function as schemas that serve to organize and structure information. The particular schemas involved in stereotyping are described, and the functions and biases associated with these schemas are elaborated. Both the development and maintenance of stereotypes are explained using the schematic processing model. The schematic model is found to be useful for explaining many of the results from sex-typing and stereotyping studies, as well as indicating areas needing further investigation. To describe the relation between sex schemas and other types of schemas, a typology is proposed which divides schemas according to whether they are potentially self-defining and according to their salience or availability. Using the typology, stereotyping and sex stereotyping are said to occur because the schemas involved are self-defining and salient. The role of salience in mediating the use of schemas is discussed.
Article
The reactions of peers and teachers to sex-typed behaviors of 106 boys and 101 girls in preschool classrooms were examined. Boys received significantly more peer and teacher criticism for engaging in stereotypic feminine behaviors, but more favorable reactions when engaging in task behaviors. Girls received more teacher criticism when they played in role activities with groups of boys. Boys who showed cross-gender preferences were given significantly more peer criticism and fewer positive reactions. Girls with cross-gender preferences did not receive differential peer reaction.
Article
Seven male and 7 female children whose play preferences had been classified as highly masculine and equal numbers classified as highly feminine (mean age 4.5 yrs) were administered the Block Design and Vocabulary subtests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Results suggest that play with "boys' toys" develops spatial abilities, while "girls' toys" develop verbal ability, and that females may develop a deficit in visual-spatial performance. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
According to diaries kept by parents of 26 boys and 21 girls (aged 9–76 mo) of their children's Christmas toy requests and gifts, toys requested increased with age, while toys received did not; boys requested and received more vehicles than girls, while girls requested and received more domestic items than boys. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
This paper addresses the issue of when children realize that biological concepts reflect biological knowledge, rather than irrelevant superficial features. Three sets of studies are reviewed, examining children’s use of biological categories as the basis of inductive reasoning. The first reports early-emerging beliefs about biological categories. The second examines how children begin to distinguish between biological and nonbiological categories. The third focuses on children’s own descriptions of underlying similarities (what living things have inside). All three sets of studies suggest that young children expect biological categories to capture underlying similarities that go beyond what is obvious or already known. However, children only gradually distinguish between biological and nonbiological categories in the inferences they draw. In short, although children draw important distinctions between living and nonliving things by preschool age, they do not at first realize that these categories differ in the richness of inferences they promote.
Article
This research provides normative information on the gender-stereotyped nature of Christmas toys that children received from their parents. A list of over 500 toys was obtained from the parents of 86 children between the ages of 31 and 65 months. The toys were rated and placed into gender-stereotyped groups, and were categorized into child requested or nonrequested groups. It was found that the children had considerable input into the types of toys they received from their parents for Christmas, requesting approximately one half of the toys. Toys the children requested were judged to be more gender stereotyped than nonrequested toys. Very few boys received either requested or nonrequested toys considered stereotyped for the opposite sex. In contrast, one third of the girls received at least one toy judged to be stereotyped for the opposite sex. Also, boys appeared to develop sex-typed interests in toys at an earlier age than girls, and they requested 72%, 76%, and 75% gender-stereotyped toys in the corresponding age groups of 36-, 48-, and 60-months. The girls' sex-typed interests in toys lagged behind the boys', with girls requesting 29%, 51%, and 73% gender-stereotyped toys for the same age groups. In the nonrequested condition, parents selected types of toys judged to be traditionally more sex role neutral and emphasized musical instruments, art supplies, and educational toys for their sons and educational toys for their daughters.
Article
When preschool children are exposed to novel objects, will their tactual and verbal information seeking about these objects and the amount of information they remember about these objects be influenced by whether an adult labels them as things for girls or for boys? The findings reveal that children actually explored less frequently, asked fewer questions, and recalled the names of objects less frequently when the objects were labeled for the opposite sex than when they were labeled either for their own sex or for both sexes. The results are discussed both in terms of implications for adults who aim to broaden the scope of learning available to children and in terms of the need for additional research to clarify the relation between sex-typed labeling and memory mechanisms involved in facilitating or inhibiting recall.
Article
Recent analyses of natural kind terms (e.g., dog, gold) suggest that people expect members of a kind to share unforeseen properties. The present study investigated the development of this expectation by studying children's inductive inferences. On each of a series of problems, 3- and 4-year-old children were taught a new fact about an object and then were asked whether it would generalize to: an object that looked like the original, that had the same label as the original, that looked like the original and had the same label, or that differed from the original in both respects. The results indicate that 3- and 4-year-olds drew more inferences based on category membership than on perceptual appearances, when both were available. Furthermore, children often based their inferences on category membership even when no label was provided. Thus even 3-year-olds assumed that natural kind categories include more than superficial features.
Article
One of the primary functions of natural kind terms (e.g., tiger, gold) is to support inductive inferences. People expect members of such categories to share important, unforeseen properties, such as internal organs and genetic structure. Moreover, inductions can be made without perceptual support: even when an object does not look much like other members of its category, and even when a property is unobservable. The present work addresses how expectations about natural kinds originate. Young children, with their usual reliance on perceptual appearances and only rudimentary scientific knowledge, might not induce new information within natural kind categories. To test this possibility, category membership was pitted against perceptual similarity in an induction task. For example, children had to decide whether a shark is more likely to breathe as a tropical fish does because both are fish, or as a dolphin does because they look alike. By at least age 4, children can use categories to support inductive inferences even when category membership conflicts with appearances. Moreover, these young children have partially separated out properties that support induction within a category (e.g., means of breathing) from those that are in fact determined by perceptual appearances (such as weight). Since we examined only natural kind categories, we do not know to what extent children have differentiated natural kinds from other sorts of categories. Children may start out assuming that categories named by language have the structure of natural kinds and with development refine these expectations.
Article
In the first study, the motor activity level and vigor of play of 52 toddlers was assessed as they played with a set of sex-role stereotyped and neutral toys. Boys and girls showed the same level of activity, and both were significantly more active when playing with stereotypically masculine toys. In the second study, 27 toddlers were observed playing with toys defined as potentially eliciting high, medium, or low activity within the masculine, feminine, and neutral categories. Again, boys and girls did not differ in overall activity level. All children preferred toys that allowed moderate to high activity, but given this preference, they selected toys stereotyped for their own gender above those stereotyped for the other gender.
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