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“In the Eye of the Beholder”: Sex Bias in Observations and Ratings of Children’s Aggression
Abstract
The processes by which children are classified as aggressive have important educational and research implications. For example, aggression in childhood reliably predicts dropping out of school and incarceration. The author argues that the sex-role stereotypicality of aggression produces bias in both observers and raters of student behavior. The tendency is to overattribute aggression to boys, relative to girls, resulting in questionable validity of assessments. The author reviews these issues, proffers some explanations (e.g., gender schema theory), and makes policy recommendations (e.g., foregrounding the importance of social competence as an educational outcome).
... The well-established nature of these gender differences may, however, make these behaviors vulnerable to gender-stereotyped ratings that is, a greater tendency toward endorsement of maletypical behaviors in males and female-typical behaviors in females irrespective of child behavior (Harvey et al., 2013;Pellegrini, 2011). It has been suggested, for example, that overreporting of behavior consistent with gender norms may lead some informants to overreport aggressive behavior to a greater extent for males than for females, and to overreport prosocial behavior for females to a greater extent than for males (Fabes & Eisenberg, 1998). ...
... Youth, teachers, parents, and untrained observer reports have been shown to be vulnerable to biases consistent with gender stereotyping (Pellegrini, 2011). It is not clear, however, whether the ratings from some informants tend to be affected by gender stereotypes more than others. ...
... Considering teachers and youth selfreports, for example, there are arguments to suggest that either informant may be more affected by gender stereotyping in reports. Teachers, for example, observe children only in certain (highly structured) and supervised contexts, and they may not observe some behavior which children themselves are aware of (Pellegrini, 2011). Teachers may, therefore, rely to a greater extent on implicit theories about which behaviors occur in girls versus boys to impute the missing information. ...
Cross-informant discrepancies (CIDs) in youth behavior are common. Given that these same behaviors often show or are perceived to show gender differences, it is important to understand how informant perceptions and their discrepancies are affected by gender. In n = 1,048 (51% male) Grade 5 (age 11) Swiss youth, self- versus teacher (n = 261) CIDs were explored using latent difference score (LDS) modeling. CIDs in prosociality (β = -.15) and aggression (β = .14) were predicted by child gender after adjusting for a range of covariates. Males reported more aggression than was attributed to them by teachers whereas females reported less aggression than was attributed to them. Both genders reported more prosociality than was attributed to them, with a larger discrepancy for males. Accounting for gender-related informant differences could help improve assessments used to ascertain whether clinically significant problems are present. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
... For instance, evidence suggests that an observer's emotional state can bias observation ratings (Floman et al., 2016). Importantly, there is also evidence of gender bias in observer ratings of children, such that gender mismatch between observers and children can lead to higher scores of problematic behaviors (Pellegrini, 2011). In addition, observers' ratings can vary depending on a variety of contextual factors, such as time of day, child grouping configuration (e.g., whole vs. small group), content covered during the observation, and classroom composition (Thorpe et al., 2020). ...
Young children's language and social development is influenced by the linguistic environment of their classrooms, including their interactions with teachers and peers. Measurement of the classroom linguistic environment typically relies on observational methods, often providing limited 'snapshots' of children's interactions, from which broad generalizations are made. Recent technological advances, including artificial intelligence, provide opportunities to capture children's interactions using continuous recordings representing much longer durations of time. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy of the Interaction Detection in Early Childhood Settings (IDEAS) system on 13 automated indices of language output using recordings collected from 19 children and three teachers over two weeks in an urban preschool classroom. The accuracy of language outputs processed via IDEAS were compared to ground truth via linear correlations and median absolute relative error. Findings indicate high correlations between IDEAS and ground truth data on measures of teacher and child speech, and relatively low error rates on the majority of IDEAS language output measures. Study findings indicate that IDEAS may provide a useful measurement tool for advancing knowledge about children's classroom experiences and their role in shaping development.
... Research suggests that they are. Boys are stereotyped as more inattentive and impulsive (Fresson et al., 2019) and more aggressive than girls (Lyons & Serbin, 1986;Pellegrini, 2011). Regarding racial stereotypes, stereotypes of African American adults appear to be more readily applied to Black children than stereotypes of White adults to White children and teens (Goff et al., 2014;Small et al., 2012). ...
Introduction: This research investigates the possible role of racial and gender stereotypes in diagnosing children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). ODD is diagnosed more readily in boys and Black children, although the factors producing differential diagnosis rates are unclear. The authors conducted six studies investigating the possibility that overlap between racial and gender stereotypes with ODD diagnostic criteria might contribute to gaps in its judged prevalence across groups. Method: Participants completed reverse correlation procedures to determine whether mental representations of children expected versus unexpected to be diagnosed with ODD differed in facial characteristics. Separate participants viewed these images and judged the likelihood that each person depicted had been diagnosed with ODD. Results: Classification images (CIs) showed that the children selected as having ODD appeared more prototypically Black in facial appearance than children not chosen as having ODD. No differences emerged in the gendered appearance of the two group-level CIs. Judged rates of ODD were higher for the children who appeared to be Black. However, diagnostic judgments of clinical trainees and practitioners were unaffected by appearance factors, suggesting that formal clinical training might attenuate the influence of stereotypes on judgment. Discussion: These results indicate that an overlap in Black stereotypes and diagnostic criteria for ODD might contribute to elevated diagnosis of ODD in African American children.
... Despite the multiple practical and psychometric advantages of these measures, it is important to note the limitations of these for assessing variation across age, gender, culture, and time. Peer assessments are invariably a function of judgments of the appropriateness of behavior, decisions that are made in reference to implicit developmental, gender, and cultural norms and expectations (Pellegrini, 2011). Weisz, Chaiyasit, Weiss, Eastman, and Jackson (1995) provided an empirical demonstration of the impact of cultural norms upon the ratings of aggression by teachers. ...
The longitudinal associations between popularity, overt aggression, and relational aggression were assessed in middle school and high school cohorts drawn from a large urban Northwest Chinese city. The middle school (n = 880; 13.33 years.) and high school samples (n = 841; 16.66 years.) were each followed for 2 years. In the concurrent regression analyses, overt aggression was more strongly and consistently associated with popularity than relational aggression after controlling for likability. Cross-lagged analyses revealed that popularity predicted subsequent increases in overt and relational aggression throughout middle and high school whereas overt aggression at 7th and 10th grade predicted increases in popularity 1 year later. These findings provide further evidence that popularity is associated with aggression and suggest that overt and relational aggression may be a consequence rather than a contributor to popularity in Chinese adolescents.
... In light of the fact that adults judge the same behavior as either aggressive or not depending on the sex of the rater (Henry & Piercy, 1984;Pellegrini, 2011) and that multiinformant studies reduce bias in data (Tackett & Ostrov, 2010), future studies should include both mothers and fathers rating the behavior of their children. An additional advantage of this approach is that several studies have emphasized the value of multi-informant approaches (Ostrov, Ries, Stauffacher, Godleski, & Mullins, 2008;Tackett, Waldman, & Lahey, 2009). ...
Understanding the genetic influence on aggressive behavior in children is one way to understand pathways to the development of aggression in adults. While aggression is likely under some environmental influence, it is also likely under some genetic influence. Overt aggression associates with a variety of genes including dopaminergic and serotoninergic genes. Dopaminergic and serotonergic genes are known to be associated with overt aggression. However, little is known regarding the genetic pathways associated with relational aggression. Detecting genetic associates of relational aggression is important to eventually understanding pathways to socially aggressive behaviors in children. Therefore, we attempted to determine if relational aggression was also associated with dopaminergic and serotonergic genes. We invited the parents of 327 children to complete a modified version of the MacArthur Health and Behavior Questionnaire (HBQ-P), which has a subscale for relational aggression. We used logistic regression models that predicted relational aggression after controlling for covariates. One genetic predictor was added at a time until there was no model improvement. The covariates were overt aggression scores obtained from the HBQ-P and age. The final (best) model included as a significant predictor of relational aggression one SNP on SLC6A3 (rs2617605) and the covariates.
... Ostrov, Crick et Keating (2005) démontrent que les adultes ont non seulement une perception différentielle de genre de la prosocialité des enfants d'âge préscolaire, mais également de leurs comportements d'agression. Pellegrini (2011) rapporte des études qui témoignent d'une surestimation des comportements d'agression perçus et observés chez les garçons comparativement aux filles, et ce, de la petite enfance jusqu'au primaire. ...
Cette étude compare la prosocialité des enfants âgés de 5 et 6 ans selon leur genre ainsi que le contexte éducatif fréquenté, et ce, à partir de trois sources et méthodes d’évaluation : 1) la prosocialité perçue par l’adulte; 2) la prosocialité exprimée par l’enfant en situations hypothétiques; et 3) la prosocialité observée lors d’interactions sociales entre pairs. Les résultats démontrent que les filles sont perçues par leurs éducatrices ou leurs enseignantes comme étant plus prosociales que les garçons, mais ils ne révèlent pas d’effet significatif de genre en ce qui concerne la prosocialité exprimée et la prosocialité observée. Les enfants en maternelle affichent des scores plus élevés à la prosocialité exprimée que ceux en centre de la petite enfance (CPE), alors que c’est l’inverse en prosocialité observée. Ces résultats sont discutés au regard de leur implication dans la prévention de la violence en contextes éducatifs.
... Remarquons néanmoins que l'essentiel des différences de genre se manifeste à travers des mesures qui recourent aux évaluations du comportement des jeunes par les enseignants et les parents (Archer, 2004 ;Card et al., 2008). Or, certains chercheurs avancent que les observations par une personne extérieure et les évaluations par les enseignants de l'agression des élèves en particulier seraient biaisées par les schémas de genre (attentes, stéréotypes), en défaveur des garçons (Pellegrini, 2011). Ces biais entraîneraient une surestimation des différences de genre, a fortiori pour les agressions directes (comme pour les délits, Blaya, Debarbieux et Rudi, 2003). ...
This article assesses the size of gender differences in involvement in school bullying. Two studies conducted with students from grade 6 to grade 9 using anonymous questionnaires indicate that boys reported to be more often perpetrators of harassment than girls, and that 6th graders reported to be more often victims than 8th and 9th graders, with no gender differences. Factorial analyses support a unidimensional measure of bullying involvement rather than separated forms (verbal, physical, relational, material). Results of multigroup
analyses also show that the strength of the relationships between perceived classroom management, perceived performance goal structure, harassment, victimization, peer rejection, depression, and task value, fluctuates following grade level but not following gender.
... Thus, it is not surprising that a large proportion of articles (25.8 %; n = 16) in our primary citations sample focused on development. Recent articles have touched on subjects such as gender bias in ratings of children's aggression (Pellegrini 2011). Pellegrini hypothesized that adults' gender schemas influence attributions of aggression, specifically arguing that observers will over-attribute boys' behavior as aggressive more often than girls' behavior due to relying on the stereotype that boys are more aggressive. ...
One of Sandra Bem’s important contributions was the development of gender schema theory (GST; Bem 1981a). Through an analysis of journal articles referencing GST, we explored the breadth of the theory’s reach and the ways in which its use has changed over time. More specifically, we analyzed how often GST reached journals outside psychology as well as journals and research populations outside the United States, even though Bem was a U.S. psychologist whose empirical work was primarily with U.S. populations. We also assessed the range of research topics that have used a GST framework. We found that 34 years later, GST continues to be cited frequently, with a broad reach beyond U.S. psychology, particularly into international as well as communication and business journals. We found five primary novel uses of the theory: development, discrimination/stereotyping, occupations, historically marginalized populations, and mental health and trauma. We conclude that GST has been a generative theory. For the future, we recommend that GST be used to frame the study of intersectionality, for research-based activism, and as part of a project of theory-bridging.
... These attribution biases became particularly apparent because, in the behaviours of our nonhuman study species, group differences were largely absent. It is important to note that these methodical differences emerged despite the fact that stereotypical biases also influence behavioural observations of both human (Pellegrini, 2011) and nonhuman individuals (Uher, 2011b). This tendency argues for a profound impact of the ways in which quantitative data are generated in observational versus assessment methods as explored in this research (i.e., the real-time recording of occurrences of specified events versus the retrospective and memory-based construction of overall judgements that are based on unspecified events and algorithms). ...
Personality assessments and observations were contrasted by applying a philosophy-of-science paradigm and a study of 49 human raters and 150 capuchin monkeys. Twenty constructs were operationalised with 146 behavioural measurements in 17 situations to study capuchins’ individual-specific behaviours and with assessments on trait-adjective and behaviour-descriptive verb items to study raters’ pertinent mental representations. Analyses of reliability, cross-method coherence, taxonomic structures and demographic associations highlighted substantial biases in assessments. Deviations from observations are located in human impression formation, stereotypical biases and the findings that raters interpret standardised items differently and that assessments cannot generate scientific quantifications or capture behaviour. These issues have important implications for the interpretation of findings from assessments and provide an explanation for their frequent lack of replicability.
... The scientists' own positions in their social world (unintentionally) influence the ways in which they explore individuals. In addition to the risks for introducing anthropo-centric biases to their research that all scientists face, scientists exploring individuals are prone to introducing all kinds of ethno-centric biases, such as biases that are derived from their own language (Deutscher 2010), sociocultural and national background (Adam & Hanna 2012; Faucheux 1976; Russel 1927; Teo & Febbraro 2003), religion and worldview (Weber 1930Weber , 1946), education and scientific tradition (Geertz 1988; Kuhn 1976), historical time (Fischer 1970; Gergen 1973), age and gender (Pellegrini 2011). Finally, the scientists' own personal standpoints as individuals derived from their own personal experiences that they have made in their own lives entail additional risks for introducing all kinds of ego-centric biases to their research (Fahrenberg 2013; Ramón y Cajal 1897 Weber 1949). ...
A science of the individual encounters the unparalleled challenges of exploring the unique phenomena of the psyche and their workings. This article applies the Transdisciplinary Philosophy-of-Science Paradigm for Research on Individuals (TPS-Paradigm) to specify these challenges. Considering three metatheoretical properties—1) location in relation to the individual's body, 2) temporal extension and 3) physicality versus " non-physicality " —that can be conceived for various kinds of phenomena explored in individuals (e.g., behaviours, experiencings, semiotic representations), the TPS-Paradigm scrutinises these phenomena's perceptibility by individuals. From this metatheoretical perspective, the article traces developmental pathways in which psychical phenomena enable individuals to increasingly become actors—as single individuals, communities and species. The explorations first follow microgenetic and ontogenetic pathways in the development of perceptual and psychical representations of the physical phenomena encountered in life. Then the article explores how individually developed psychical properties, which are perceptible only by the individual him-or herself, can be communicated to other individuals and how individuals can develop psychical representations that are socially shared, thus enabling social coordination and the transmission of knowledge to subsequent generations. Many species have evolved abilities for co-constructing psychical representations reactively and based on occasions (e.g., observational learning). The evolution of abilities for co-constructing psychical representations also actively and based on intentions (e.g., instructed learning) entailed the development of semiotic representations through the creation of behavioural and material signs (e.g., language), allowing humans to communicate systematically about psychical abilities despite their imperceptibility by others individuals. This has opened up new pathways through which inventions can be propagated and continuously refined, thus producing cultural evolution. These processes enable humans to develop ever more complex psychical abilities and to become actors in the evolution of life.
... Analogous types of ethno-centric biases occur on both levels when scientists (unintentionally) approach their objects of research based on their own position in their social world (Faucheux 1976;Teo & Febbraro 2003). Their particular gender (Pellegrini 2011), stage of ontogenetic development (Baldwin 1906), educational and sociocultural background (Adam & Hanna 2012;Geertz 1988), scientific discipline and school of thought (Kuhn 1976), nationality within the same scientific discipline (Russel 1927, pp. 29-30), political attitude (Cattell 1950, p.11), religion and worldview (Weber 1930(Weber , 1946, language (Deutscher 2010) and historical time (Fischer 1970;Gergen 1973)-to name just a few-make them insiders to particular communities and outsiders to others. ...
Scientists exploring individuals, as such scientists are individuals themselves and thus not independent from their objects of research, encounter profound challenges; in particular, high risks for anthropo-, ethno- and ego-centric biases and various fallacies in reasoning. The Transdisciplinary Philosophy-of-Science Paradigm for Research on Individuals (TPS-Paradigm) aims to tackle these challenges by exploring and making explicit the philosophical presuppositions that are being made and the metatheories and methodologies that are used in the field. This article introduces basic fundamentals of the TPS-Paradigm including the epistemological principle of complementarity and metatheoretical concepts for exploring individuals as living organisms. Centrally, the TPS-Paradigm considers three metatheoretical properties (spatial location in relation to individuals' bodies, temporal extension, and physicality versus "non-physicality") that can be conceived in different forms for various kinds of phenomena explored in individuals (morphology, physiology, behaviour, the psyche, semiotic representations, artificially modified outer appearances and contexts). These properties, as they determine the phenomena's accessibility in everyday life and research, are used to elaborate philosophy-of-science foundations and to derive general methodological implications for the elementary problem of phenomenon-methodology matching and for scientific quantification of the various kinds of phenomena studied. On the basis of these foundations, the article explores the metatheories and methodologies that are used or needed to empirically study each given kind of phenomenon in individuals in general. Building on these general implications, the article derives special implications for exploring individuals' "personality", which the TPS-Paradigm conceives of as individual-specificity in all of the various kinds of phenomena studied in individuals.
Behavior rating scales are frequently used assessment tools to measure social skills. Use of norm-referenced assessments such as behavior rating scales requires examiners and test publishers to consider when norms become obsolete and norm-referenced scores can no longer be validly interpreted. A fundamental factor influencing norm obsolescence regards changes in baseline levels of targeted traits within the population. Yet, limited research exists regarding how social skills may change at a population level over time as measured by established assessment tools. Thus, the present study investigates population trends in social skills of K–12 children as rated by parents, teachers, and students by concordantly linking the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; nparent = 833, nteacher = 1215, nstudent = 4105) and the Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scales (SSIS-RS; nparent = 2400, nteacher = 750, nstudent = 800) using validity samples collected during the development of the SSIS-RS (nparent = 240, nteacher = 221, nstudent = 224). Analyses evaluated differences between ratings on the standardization data from 1988 and 2007 by informant, sex, grade level, and sex by grade level. After applying linear linking techniques, we conducted a series of statistical comparisons that revealed a general upward trend of ratings for the 2007 sample compared to the 1988 sample, with important differences across sex, grade level, and informant. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for consideration and assessment of children’s social skills.
Résumé
Objectif et méthode
L’objectif de cet article consiste à étudier l’influence de la pragmatique du langage (usage du langage en contexte social) des filles et des garçons âgés de 4 ans (n = 120) sur la prosocialité telle qu’elle est perçue par leur éducatrice (n = 22) en centre de la petite enfance.
Résultats
À l’instar de moult travaux, les résultats font ressortir une différence significative en faveur des filles plutôt que des garçons, témoignant d’une perception différentielle de genre en prosocialité perçue. Puis, ils démontrent que l’initiative conversationnelle des garçons influe sur l’évaluation de la prosocialité perçue par leur éducatrice en CPE, alors que chez les filles, elle ne permet pas d’en rendre compte. En revanche, la pragmatique manifestée des filles (intentions de communication) est reliée à leur prosocialité perçue, tandis qu’elle ne l’est pas chez les garçons.
Conclusion
Ces résultats tendent à témoigner d’une influence différenciée de la pragmatique du langage selon le sexe des enfants de 4 ans dans la prosocialité perçue par leur éducatrice en CPE.
Subject. We examine gender effects in terms of corporate performance. The article focuses on the impact of gender on managerial decisions a person makes, activities and position at the microlevel. Objectives. We evaluate how gender factor influences management processes. The article also discusses distinctions of male and female management in the Russian economy. Methods. The study involves methods of analysis, comparison, questionnaire survey, analytical methods. We analyzed what qualities influence the corporate governance in the case of male or female genders. Results. The article traces the dependence of the manager’s gender and managerial decisions. We demonstrate how the effectiveness of corporate management depends on personal qualities of the staff, including gender-related factors. Having analyzed the management in the context of different genders, with a special focus put on female management, we pinpointed the need to raise the gender-related agenda for managers so as to create a more productive and favorable atmosphere and improve the overall performance. The article displays the socio-economic inequality of men and women in Russia. Conclusions and Relevance. In Russia, gender factors obviously influence the style and methods of management. People demonstrate a different gender identity no matter what gender they pertain to. It is reasonable to conduct the gender analysis of corporate staff, refine the male-female ratio in the entity, thus eliminating the gender inequality and overcoming the gender-related bias. More women should be hired for managerial positions to ensure more successful and socio-oriented operations of entities.
This study examined the moderating role of pragmatic language skills in the relationship between perceived prosociality and gender among children in two different educational contexts and age groups (n = 108 children in childcare centres, age 4–5; n = 113 children in kindergarten, age 5–6). In line with many other studies, the results showed that boys were perceived by their ECEs and kindergarten teachers as being less prosocial than girls. In seeking to explain this gender gap, the moderating role played by perceived pragmatics in the prosociality of girls and boys as perceived by their ECEs and teachers was investigated and tended to be supported. These results are discussed in terms of gender stereotypes and their implications for promoting egalitarian relationships between boys and girls in educational contexts.
Individuals are explored in various kinds of phenomena and contexts. But how can scientists compare individual variations across phenomena with heterogeneous properties that require different methods for their exploration? How can measurements of individual variations be made directly comparable between different studies, groups of individuals or even species? This research applies the Transdisciplinary Philosophy-of-Science Paradigm for Research on Individuals (TPS-Paradigm) to elaborate metatheoretical concepts and analytical methodologies for quantitative comparisons of individual variations within and across situations, groups and species using behavioural phenomena as examples. Established concepts from personality psychology, differential psychology and cross-cultural and cross-species research are systematically integrated into coherent frameworks and extended by adding concepts for comparing individual-specific variations (i.e., " personality ") between species. Basic principles for establishing the functional comparability of behavioural and situational categories are elaborated while considering that individuals from different groups and species often show different behaviours and encounter different situations and therefore cannot be studied with identical variables as is done in assessment-based research. Building on these principles, the chapter explores methodologies for the statistical analyses of the configurational comparability of constructs and of mean-level differences between groups and species. It highlights that situational properties are crucial for quantitative comparisons of individual variations. Fundamental differences between observational methods and assessment methods are explored, revealing serious limitations and fallacies inherent to comparisons of individuals on the basis of assessments. Implementations of the methodological principles and concepts presented are illustrated with behavioural data from four primate species (weeper capuchins, mandrills, toque macaques and rhesus macaques).
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.
26 male and 26 female undergraduates watched a videotape of a 3-yr-old child who was identified as either a girl or a boy; they then rated the child on a number of personality and ability measures. Males' ratings on many of the measures were more favorable for the "girl" than for the "boy," whereas females' ratings were more favorable for the "boy" than for the "girl." There was also a main effect for sex of S, with females rating the child more favorably than males.
In recent years, a question has arisen as to whether male and female investigators view natural phenomena in the same way. There could be differences in the research questions asked, the type of data collected, or the way in which a particular datum or observation is interpreted (Fox-Keller, 1985), leading to the possibility that male domination of certain fields leads to a biased view of nature. Lawton, Garska, and Hanks (this volume) have suggested that male-biased narratives have become so pervasive that both male and female researchers are trained to emphasize this perspective, such that some female investigators use a male-centered perspective in their research.
The outcomes of 148 studies of whether men and women differ in how easily they are influenced are examined meta-analytically. The analysis indicates that (a) women are more persuasible and more conforming than men in group pressure situations that involve surveillance by the influencing agent. In situations not involving surveillance, women are also more conforming, but this effect is vulnerable to the "file-drawer" problem discussed by R. Rosenthal (1979). Effect-size estimates show that the sex difference in influenceability is generally small. The present article also describes a study with 83 male and 118 female undergraduates that supported the hypothesis that sex of researchers is a determinant of the sex difference. 79% of the authors of influenceability studies were male, and men obtained larger sex differences in the direction of greater persuasibility and conformity among women. In studies authored by women, there was no sex difference. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
By means of 30 hours of direct observation of teacher-pupil interactions in each of 3 classrooms, it was found that boys received a statistically significant larger number of disapproval con acts than girls. A modified "guess who?" technique was used to discover if children were aware of sex differences in their teachers' approval and disapproval evaluations. Both boys and girls nominated more boys than girls for disapproval items; this difference was statistically reliable. Findings of this study were interpreted as confirming the notion of a sex difference in attitude toward aggressive behavior. It was concluded that teachers attempt to "socialize" boys by dominative counter-aggressive behavior. Consequences of the above are discussed. 30 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Hypothesized that many null findings in behavioral development (presumed to be unrelated because of repeated failures to obtain substantial correlations) have often been due to failures to aggregate. The principle of aggregation states that the sum of a set of multiple measurements is a more stable and representative estimator than any single measurement. This greater representation occurs because there is inevitably some error associated with measurement. By combining numerous exemplars, such errors of measurement are averaged out, leaving a clearer view of underlying relationships. The usefulness of this principle is illustrated in 12 major areas of developmental research in which the issue of negligible correlations figures prominently: (a) the validity of judges' ratings, (b) the cross-situational consistency of moral character and personality, (c) the longitudinal stability of personality, (d) the coherence of stages of cognitive development, (e) metacognition, (f) the attitude–behavior relationship, (g) the personality–behavior relationship, (h) the role-taking/altruism relationship, (i) the moral-judgment/altruism relationship, (j) the legitimacy of the construct of attachment, (k) the existence of sex differences, and (l) the assessment of emotionality in animals. (109 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The school classroom and playground provide an important context for learning about young children's social interactions. A multimethod, multiinformant, short-term longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the utility of including school-based observational assessments of both form (i.e., physical and relational) and function (i.e., proactive and reactive) of aggressive behavior at school with a young sample during early childhood (132 children; M = 44.37 months;
SD = 9.88). The study revealed low intercorrelations between observed proactive and reactive functions of aggression and low to moderate levels of stability. Based on 160 min of observation per child for an academic year, the findings revealed that boys are more physically aggressive to peers than are girls, whereas girls are more relationally aggressive than are boys. The results provide evidence for the differential association between aggression categories and future social-psychological adjustment constructs with particular relevancy for school contexts (i.e., peer rejection and student-teacher conflict). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Conducted a meta-analysis of studies of gender differences in aggression, based on the sample of studies in the E. E. Maccoby and C. N. Jacklin (1974) review and a recent sample of studies from 1978 to 1981, for a total of 143 studies. Meta-analysis techniques were also extended to applications of interest to developmental psychologists. The median value of ω–2 for gender differences in aggression was .05, and the median value of
d was .50, indicating that, although the differences appear fairly reliably, they are not large. There was a trend for gender differences to be smaller in recent studies. Gender differences tended to be larger in naturalistic, correlational studies than in experimental studies. Gender differences also tended to be larger when the method of measurement was direct observation, a projective test, or peer report, and smaller when self-reports or parent or teacher reports were used. Finally, there was a modest negative association between magnitude of gender differences and age. For studies in which mean Ss' age was 6 yrs or less, the median ω–2 was .07 and
d was .58; in contrast, for studies of college students the median ω–2 was .01 and
d was .27. Overall results indicate that approximately 5% of the variance in aggression is due to gender differences. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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)
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)
Methods of identifying aggressive/bullying and victimized youngsters in a middle school sample were compared. First, the authors compared teachers' and research associates' ratings of students' aggression and found that the 2 measures were significantly correlated. Second, direct observations of youngsters' aggression and victimization were compared with indirect, diary measures kept by youngsters of the same behaviors. The measures were not interrelated, but the diary measures were related to the peer and self-report measures, whereas the direct observations were related to peer and teacher measures. Third, the authors compared the ability of different peer and self-report measures to identify youngsters at different levels of aggression and victimization severity. All measures were associated, even at low levels of severity. Results are discussed in terms of different instruments that provide information on public and private behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The IQ score has been the most frequently utilized outcome measure in evaluations of early childhood intervention programs. Reasons for the popularity of the IQ as an assessment tool are discussed, and problems raised by employing the IQ in this manner are noted. The importance of accurate outcome evaluation of programs with clearly defined goals is related to both the social science and policy-making arenas. The authors argue that social competence, rather than IQ, should be the primary measure of the success of intervention efforts. Difficulties in defining and assessing social competence are discussed. An index of social competence is suggested that includes measures of physical health, IQ, school achievement, certain motivational and emotional variables, and such molar social expectancy variables as school attendance and incidence of juvenile delinquency. (59 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The concept of social competence presents problems for conceptualization and assessment. At times researchers have tried to circumvent these problems by defining competence in terms of specific capacities or skills, with the consequence that the integrative potential of the concept is lost. On the other hand, more molar definitions (e.g., “effectiveness”), while being true to the integrative nature of the construct, provide little guidance for assessment. In this paper a developmental perspective on competence is presented which is congruent with a molar definition of competence while still guiding assessment efforts. In addition to this developmental viewpoint, certain practical guidelines are presented for assessment of competence across ages. These include the use of broadband assessments, which are tied to real-life adaptational problems, call for the coordination of affect, cognition, and behavior, and tax the integrative capacities of the child. Initial validation of the developmental competence construct and this approach to assessment is presented.
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the presence of teacher biases with regard to identification of students with learning disabilities (LD). Factors related to teachers' gender, age, and experience, along with children's gender, were investigated. Results suggested that teacher gender is associated with biases with regard to identification of learning disabilities by a factor of 2:1. In other words, every child who is rated by female teachers as having an LD (who actually has LD) corresponds two children when rated by male teachers. Students' gender, on the other hand, did not differentially predict identification rates. Furthermore, teacher age and experience did not contribute significantly to student identification rates. The findings are discussed with regard to policy mandates and classification schemes.
Meta-analytic reviews of sex differences in aggression from real-world settings are described. They cover self-reports, observations, peer reports, and teacher reports of overall direct, physical, verbal, and indirect forms of aggression, as well as (for self-reports) trait anger. Findings are related to sexual selection theory and social role theory. Direct, especially physical, aggression was more common in males and females at all ages sampled, was consistent across cultures, and occurred from early childhood on, showing a peak between 20 and 30 years. Anger showed no sex differences. Higher female indirect aggression was limited to later childhood and adolescence and varied with method of measurement. The overall pattern indicated males' greater use of costly methods of aggression rather than a threshold difference in anger. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
An integrative model is proposed for understanding the development of physical and relational aggression in early and middle childhood. The central goal was to posit a new theoretical framework that expands on existing social-cognitive and gender schema models (i.e., Social Information-Processing Model of Children's Adjustment [N. R. Crick & K. A. Dodge, 1994] and the Schematic-Processing Model of Sex Role Stereotyping [C. L. Martin & C. F. Halverson, 1981]). The proposed model suggests several individual- and group-level effects and the available evidence for each of these hypotheses is discussed. The ways in which the proposed model may guide future research in the field are presented.
In this review, we examine the oft-made claim that peer-relationship difficulties in childhood predict serious adjustment problems in later life. The article begins with a framework for conceptualizing and assessing children’s peer difficulties and with a discussion of conceptual and methodological issues in longitudinal risk research. Following this, three indexes of problematic peer relationships (acceptance, aggressiveness, and shyness/withdrawal) are evaluated as predictors of three later outcomes (dropping out of school, criminality, and psychopathology). The relation between peer difficulties and later maladjustment is examined in terms of both the consistency and strength of prediction. A review and analysis of the literature indicates general support for the hypothesis that children with poor peer adjustment are at risk for later life difficulties. Support is clearest for the outcomes of dropping out and criminality. It is also clearest for low acceptance and aggressiveness as predictors, whereas a link between shyness/withdrawal and later maladjustment has not yet been adequately tested. The article concludes with a critical discussion of the implicit models that have guided past research in this area and a set of recommendations for the next generation of research on the risk hypothesis.
Our purpose in this article was to determine the degree of consistency between different informants’ reports of the behavioral/emotional problems of subjects aged from 1½ to 19 years. We found 269 samples in 119 studies for meta-analyses of Pearson r s between ratings by parents, teachers, mental health workers, observers, peers, and the subjects themselves. The mean r s between all types of informants were statistically significant. The mean r s were .60 between similar informants (e.g., pairs of parents), .28 between different types of informants (e.g., parent/teacher), and .22 between subjects and other informants. Correlations were significantly higher for 6- to 11-year-olds than for adolescents, and for undercontrolled versus overcontrolled problems, although these differences were not large. The modest correlations between informants indicate that child and adolescent problems are not effectively captured by present-versus-absent judgments of problems. Instead, the variations between reports by different informants argue for assessment in terms of multiple axes designed to reflect the perceived variations in child and adolescent functioning.
In our meta-analytic review of sex differences in aggressive behavior reported in the social psychological literature we found that although men were somewhat more aggressive than women on the average, sex differences were inconsistent across studies. The magnitude of the sex differences was significantly related to various attributes of the studies. In particular, the tendency for men to aggress more than women was more pronounced for aggression that produces pain or physical injury than for aggression that produces psychological or social harm. In addition, sex differences in aggressive behavior were larger to the extent that women, more than men, perceived that enacting a behavior would produce harm to the target, guilt and anxiety in oneself, as well as danger to oneself. Our interpretation of these results emphasizes that aggression sex differences are a function of perceived consequences of aggression that are learned as aspects of gender roles and other social roles.
The role of play in human development has long been the subject of controversy. Despite being championed by many of the foremost scholars of the twentieth century, play has been dogged by underrepresentation and marginalization in literature across the scientific disciplines. The Oxford Handbook of the Development of Play attempts to examine the development of children's play through a rigorous and multidisciplinary approach. This book aims to reset the landscape of developmental science and makes a compelling case for the benefits of play.
Adult nurturance is a critical factor in establishing dependency in children and in facilitating the socialization process. This chapter presents the concept of a dependency or social drive, and focuses on various classes of responses that have been linked, in the child-training and social-psychological literature, with the concept of a dependency drive. The relationships between variables, such as social deprivation, dependency, self-esteem, and various measures of social influence can be largely understood in terms of eliciting and modification of orienting and attending responses, and the behavioral effects of variations in emotional arousal. To understand fully the nature of dependency behavior as a socially significant variable requires, an understanding of the acquisition of social judgments involving the labeling of behavior as dependent, and the conditions under which these judgments are evoked. The concept of dependency motive is not characteristics of human agents, but constructs, by means of which human beings order social phenomena, and evaluate behavior in terms of its acceptability or nonacceptability within a given cultural context. The motivational interpretations of behavior involve complicated evaluations having reference to the complex stimulus events as well as to the consequences that an agent's behavior produces for others. Therefore, it is not surprising that evaluative judgments in terms of the intent or motive of the agent, rather than the consequences of the act, become relatively more frequent as a child grows older, and increasingly conforms to the standards to which the child is exposed.
"Construct validation was introduced in order to specify types of research required in developing tests for which the conventional views on validation are inappropriate. Personality tests, and some tests of ability, are interpreted in terms of attributes for which there is no adequate criterion. This paper indicates what sorts of evidence can substantiate such an interpretation, and how such evidence is to be interpreted." 60 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the relationship among 4 measures of school-aged children's social competence (behavioral, sociometric, teacher completed, and child self-report) and their relationship to an academic measure. 116 third-grade children served as subjects. A correlational matrix and a factor analysis were performed on the data. The results indicated that children with high academic achievement scores were liked by and interacted positively with peers. Negative peer interaction was not related to popularity, while positive peer interaction was negatively correlated with peer dislike. Teacher ratings suggested that teachers can identify children who are liked and disliked by their peers. The child self-report measure produced few correlations with other measures. The factor analysis resulted in the identification of 5 factors: social status, teacher-perceived deviance, sociability, academic, and peer aggressive. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Evolutionary biology and feminism share a variety of philosophical and practical concerns. I have tried to describe how a perspective from both evolutionary biology and feminism can accelerate the achievement of goals for both feminists and evolutionary biologists. In an early section of this paper I discuss the importance of variation to the disciplines of evolutionary biology and feminism. In the section entitled "Control of Female Reproduction" I demonstrate how insight provided by participation in life as woman and also as a feminist suggests testable hypotheses about the evolution of social behavior-hypotheses that are applicable to our investigations of the evolution of social behavior in nonhuman animals. In the section on "Deceit, Self-deception, and Patriarchal Reversals" I have overtly conceded that evolutionary biology, a scientific discipline, also represents a human cultural practice that, like other human cultural practices, may in parts and at times be characterized by deceit and self-deception. In the section on "Femininity" I have indicated how questions cast and answered and hypotheses tested from an evolutionary perspective can serve women and men struggling with sexist oppression.
Previously unacquainted pairs of 33-month-old children were brought together in same-sex or mixed-sex pairs in a laboratory playroom, and the amount and kind of social behavior directed by each child toward the playmate was recorded. Children directed more social behavior-both positive and negative-to same-sex playmates than to opposite-sex ones. Girls paired with boys were more likely to stand passively watching their partners, or to withdraw toward their mothers, than boys in any pairing or girls playing with girls. Sequential analysis disclosed that boys were unlikely to respond to the vocal prohibitions of girls, while partners did respond to such prohibitions in other pairings. Statistical issues in measuring dyadic interaction are discussed, as are the implications of the findings for children's self-segregation by sex in play groups.
Toddler children and their parents were observed in their homes using an observation checklist of 46 child behaviors and 19 reactions by parents. The parent behaviors were categorized as positive, negative, or neutral, and parental reactions to specific child behaviors were examined to determine if the sex of the child or the actual behavior influenced the type of parental reaction. It was found that parents reacted significantly more favorably to the child when the child was engaged in a same-sex-preferred behavior and were more likely to give negative responses to cross-sex-preferred behaviors. Parents gave girls more negative responses when engaged in active, large motor activities. They gave girls more positive responses when they engaged in adult-oriented, dependent behavior. No difference in parental reaction toward boys and girls was present for aggressive behavior. Parents' self-report data and the observation of parents reactions did not correlate highly.
In the eyes of the American public, crime and violence now rank as the most important problems facing this country (Berke, 1994), and homicide is now the leading cause of death among urban males aged 15 to 24 (Centers for Disease Control, 1991; Huesmann & Miller, 1994). The problem is acutely American: Teenagers in the United States are at least four times more likely to be murdered than are teenagers in 21 other industrialized countries (Goldstein, 1992). These rapid changes in American society have been paralleled by changes in the research on the development of aggressive and antisocial behavior. Research in the past 20 years has increasingly focused on the development of chronically antisocial individuals (e.g., Why does this person become more violent than most people?) in contrast to research on specieswide patterns in aggressive behavior (e.g., Why is the human species aggressive?). This shift has been exemplified in numerous longitudinal studies of individual differences in aggressive behavioral development across the life span. Important breakthroughs have been made in the genetic, biological, socialization, environmental, and contextual factors relating to aggression and other antisocial behavior. These advances have shaped much of this chapter. Four questions guide the organization of this chapter. What is the developmental course of aggression and antisocial behavior in human beings? What factors lead humans to aggress against each other? What stability and change occur in the life course of individual differences in antisocial behavior? Why do some individuals become more antisocial than others? The first two questions address the issues of specieswide human aggression. The last two questions address the developmental course and determinants of individual differences in aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The structure of this chapter can be summarized easily. I present first a brief historical perspective on the concept of temperament and the reasons for its recent appeal. The chapter then presents a concise statement of the nodes of agreement and disagreement among investigators. The two most important controversies involve the validity of parental reports of children's behavior and whether temperamental qualities should be conceived of as continua or categories. The heart of the chapter is a summary of the most robust generalizations regarding the temperamental characteristics of irritability in infants and sociability and shyness in older children. The final sections consider, more briefly, the relevance of temperament to psychopathology, ethnicity, and the growth of morality. The chapter focuses on infancy and early childhood and does not consider in any detail the interesting research on the temperamental characteristics of adolescents and adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The goal of this chapter is to summarize what the author knows about the origins, continuity, and change of individual differences in personality. The answers are sometimes obvious, sometimes surprising, and sometimes unsatisfactory. The chapter is divided into four sections. The first section offers a personality primer and sketches the conceptual and methodological concerns of modern personality research. The second section summarizes research evidence about the genetic and environmental origins of personality differences, and explores how early-emerging temperamental differences become elaborated into personality differences. The third section looks at personality from a longitudinal perspective and examines processes that promote continuity across the life course. The fourth section examines the multiple meanings of the term change and seeks to answer whether people can and do change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study develops a video playback methodology: children aged five to eight years viewed taped play fighting and real fighting bouts in which they were both participants and nonparticipants. Views of participants were also compared for immediate and delayed viewing. The methodology examines the criteria used to distinguish play fighting and real fighting; views concerning the characteristics of such episodes; and the motivations involved. The methodology was found to be feasible at this age; and useful in terms of differing views of participants and nonparticipants. There was evidence for increased insight from participants, who used more criteria to make their judgments, and more informative criteria such as knowledge of the rules of a game being played. Participant knowledge was most evident at the immediate viewings, but was partially retained one week later. Participants (more than nonparticipants) mostly described play fighting as friendly, and not involving hurt or showing off. The methodology could usefully be applied to examine further developmental changes in older children. Aggr. Behav. 30:164–173, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
This chapter reviews the literatures on the normative development of antisocial behavior and how individual differences in antisocial behavior develop across the life span. The literature can be integrated with a model that includes biological (genetic, neural, and temperament) and socialization (parenting, peer, academic, and neighborhood) factors in antisocial development. These factors operate as main effects that cumulate, interaction effects that moderate each other, and developmental processes that mediate each other and transact across time. Social information processing factors (e.g., selective attention, hostile attributional bias, incompetent social problem-solving skills, and response evaluation biases) have been found to mediate these effects. Interventions that address these factors have proven partially successful in preventing antisocial development and may be targets for future efforts.
Keywords:
biological factors;
individual differences;
intervention;
normative development;
social information processing;
socialization factors
This study tested two alternative hypotheses regarding the relations between child behavior and peer preference. The first hypothesis is generated from the person–group similarity model, which predicts that the acceptability of social behaviors will vary as a function of peer group norms. The second hypothesis is generated by the social skill model, which predicts that behavioral skill deficiencies reduce and behavioral competencies enhance peer preference. A total of 2895 children in 134 regular first-grade classrooms participated in the study. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to compare four different behaviors as predictors of peer preference in the context of classrooms with varying levels of these behavior problems. The results of the study supported both predictive models, with the acceptability of aggression and withdrawal varying across classrooms (following a person–group similarity model) and the effects of inattentive/hyperactive behavior (in a negative direction) and prosocial behavior (in a positive direction) following a social skill model and remaining constant in their associations with peer preference across classrooms. Gender differences also emerged, with aggression following the person–group similarity model for boys more strongly than for girls. The effects of both child behaviors and the peer group context on peer preference and on the trajectory of social development are discussed.
In order to examine the possibility that the attribution of more aggression to boys may be in part a function of observer bias, 40 adults were asked in Study 1 to record the degree of aggression in a series of line drawings that showed children interacting. It was found that a significant subset of both males and females recorded more aggression for boys than for girls when they scanned scenes that showed numerous children interacting. When they rated a series of drawings of two children interacting, males rated boys as significantly more aggressive than girls. Study 2 examined 48 adults' responses under one of three instruction conditions. The findings of Study 1 were replicated. Additionally, it was found that some forms of instruction eliminate sex-typed biases while others yield significant biases among both male and female untrained observers. These results are interpreted in light of the literature on schematic processing. Implications pertaining to the socialization of aggression and to research on sex differences in aggression are discussed.
Forty-eight toddler boys and girls, 18 to 36 months of age, were observed in play groups. The assertive acts of each child and the responses of peers and teachers were recorded. The most common type of assertion for both groups was grab or take objects, then hit, and then verbal assault. Boys produced more assertive acts than did girls. Girls' assertive acts were ignored significantly more than boys. Boys responded more to the acts of other boys than to the acts of girls, while girls responded more equally to the assertive acts of boys and girls. Hitting and taking objects received similar responses from peers. Responses to assertive acts are seen as information sources for the assertive child. The higher response rate to boys' acts informs the child that this kind of behavior will produce an effect in his world, while the lack of response to girls' acts suggest the opposite to girls.
One hundred and twenty-five undergraduate students, selected on the basis of their competency in making behavioral observations, were given differential expectations concerning the trait-state of a child observee. Then they viewed video tape recordings of that child, making time sample behavior recordings of six categories simultaneously. In addition, subjects completed post-experimental questionnaires with regard to their subjective impressions of the child observee. The subjective impressions differed significantly across expectation groups while the behavioral records did not. It was suggested that differential expectations for aggression and hyperactivity were internalized as a single pathology dimension. Although subjects apparently held differential expectations concerning the trait-state of the observee, their objective recordings of that observee's behavior were not influenced in any noticeable manner.
Most studies of animal behaviour are based on direct observations of behaviour in a natural or laboratory context. While the potential for observation biases has often been discussed, there have been few quantitative analyses of the kinds of biases that may affect behavioural data. We used multiple observers of aggression and foraging behaviour in red-backed salamanders, Plethodon cinereus, to investigate observation biases related to the gender of the observer. We divided observers so that half were aware of the sex of the salamanders and the other half were kept blind to salamander sex. We then used comparisons between blind and unblind treatments to determine the magnitude of observation biases. We found little evidence for bias due to differential perception of male and female animals by men and women observers (‘gender identification bias’) for any of the behaviours examined. Although the expectations of men and women about salamander behaviour did sometimes differ, we also found no evidence that observers' expectations affected their observations of salamander behaviour. However, for one component of aggressive behaviour and one component of foraging behaviour, men observed higher overall frequencies of behaviour than did women, regardless of the sex of the salamander. Additionally, for three components of aggressive behaviour, both men and women recorded greater frequencies of behaviour when they were aware of the sex of the salamander than when they were unaware of the salamanders' sex. For two components of foraging behaviour, there were no significant biases with respect to the observers' gender or their knowledge of the sex of the salamander. These results suggest that observation biases with respect to observer gender may exist for some behavioural variables, and that these biases may be relatively subtle. Although conducting blind experiments may eliminate some types of bias, our results suggest that behaviours should also be carefully screened for consistency and repeatability prior to formal data collection, even for blind experiments.
Sex differences in adults' observations and ratings of children's aggression was studied in a sample of preschool children (N=89, mean age=44.00months, SD=8.48). When examining the direct observations made by trained observers, male observers, relative to female observers, more frequently recorded aggressive bouts, especially of boys. On rating scales assessing aggression, trained male raters also gave higher aggressive ratings than female raters. Lastly, we compared the ratings of trained female raters and female teachers on the same scale and found no differences. Results are discussed in terms male raters' and observers' prior experiences in activating their experiential schemata where males' greater experience in aggression, relative to that of females, leads them to perceive greater levels of aggression.
The current study involved a short-term longitudinal study of young children (M = 44.56 months, SD = 11.88, N = 103) to test the prospective associations between peer victimization and aggression subtypes. Path analyses documented that teacher-reported physical victimization was uniquely associated with increases in observed physical aggression over time. The path model also revealed that teacher-reported relational victimization was uniquely associated with statistically significant increases in observed relational aggression over time. Ways in which these findings extend the extant developmental literature are discussed.
Male and female college students watched a videotape of a 3-year-old child who was identified as either a girl or a boy; they then rated the child on a number of personaltiy and ability measures. Males' ratings on many of the measures were more favorable for the "girl" than for the "boy," whereas females' ratings were more favorable for the "boy" than for the "girl." In addition to these interactions, there was also a main effect for sex of subject, with females rating the child more favorably than males.
To investigate the influence of gender label on adults' perceptions of aggression in children, a videotape of 2 preschool children playing roughly in the snow was shown to 175 college students (139 females, 36 males) who were asked to judge the degree of aggression displayed by 1 of the children (the target child). In the videotape, the children's snowsuits disguised their actual gender, and 4 experimental conditions were created by varying the gender label of both the target and the other (nonrated) child. Hence, the 4 conditions consisted of all possible combinations of gender; boy-boy, boy-girl, girl-boy, and girl-girl. All subjects viewed the same film; only the gender labels used to describe the children varied. Subjects' aggression ratings of the target child varied significantly as a function of the gender label attributed to both the target and the nonrated child. Specifically, the boy-boy condition was rated as significantly less aggressive than the other 3 conditions, which did not differ in level of perceived aggression. This effect was particularly strong among subjects with more experience with children. The results have interesting implications for understanding the process of social category perception.