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Gender Differences in Rough and Tumble Play Behaviors
Abstract
I conducted 10 one-hour observations in a Kindergarten classroom to determine if there were gender differences in the types of Rough and Tumble play (RTP) that children engaged in. Previous research reported that (a) boys were more likely than girls to engage in RTP, (b) boys were more likely than girls to engage in solitary forms of RTP, (c) girls were more likely than boys to engage in collaborative forms of RTP, and (d) boys were more likely than girls to engage in aggressive forms of RTP. My findings were similar to those of previous research. I found that boys participated in RTP more than girls and the forms of RTP engaged in by boys were more aggressive. I also found that boys engaged in more solitary RTP than girls, although both boys and girls engaged in more solitary than collaborative RTP. Unlike previous research findings, boys and girls in my study engaged in similar rates of collaborative RTP. I also found that the presence of one particular girl influenced the occurrence of collaborative mixed-gender RTP, which I refer to as the "Amber Effect." The influence of one player on the likelihood of RTP occurring has not been reported in previous research. Pseudonyms are used throughout this article to maintain the confidentiality of the site and participants in this study.
... Some studies report that fathers engage in RTP more frequently with boys than girls (Paquette et al., 2003), while others find that there are no sex differences in the frequency of father-child RTP Shears, 2007). Additionally, there are suggestions that sex can alter the type of RTP a father engages in, with father-daughter RTP play behaviours more often mimicking behaviours related to caring, protecting, and rescuing, and involving more language, compared to father-son RTP, which involves greater levels of fighting and play strength competition (Harbin, 2016;Jarvis, 2006), with these interactions more commonly referencing current media (e.g., television, movies, and video games, Erden & Alpaslan, 2017;Pellegrini et al., 2007). Further, father-son RTP has been found to include greater levels of activity, intensity and competition compared to father-daughter RTP (Fry, 2005;Shaffer & Kipp, 2013). ...
Parent–child interactions are critical for a child’s overall wellbeing and growth, however there are differences in the types of interactions that mothers and fathers engage in. For example, fathers often utilize physical play, such as Rough-and-Tumble Play (RTP), to interact and bond with their child. Father-child RTP appears to contribute to a range of child outcomes, including social, emotional cognitive and behaviour development. Given the now robust evidence for these benefits of father–child play and RTP specifically, there is a need for a more complete understanding of the factors that contribute to the quality of fathers’ RTP. This study examined the association between quality of father–toddler RTP and a range of paternal characteristics, parenting factors, child demographics and child developmental domains. The study included 64 sets of parents (mothers and fathers) and their toddler (age 18–24 months). Parent-reported questionnaires (demographic information, frequency of father–toddler RTP, father parenting stress, and child social-emotional development) were collected, observations of child developmental attainment (Bayley-III) completed and father–toddler RTP play interactions were rated for quality. We found that RTP for fathers who engaged in more father–toddler RTP, whose children were older and more socially-emotionally mature, was rated as higher quality in their RTP. By demonstrating links of RTP quality with both parenting behaviour and child development, this study contributes to a more complete understanding of the nature and context of father–child interactions. Father–child physical play, including RTP, may present an opportunity for professionals to bring fathers into their work with families.
... It is intriguing, however, that there appears to be a gender difference in response to abuse type, with men having a considerably more severe response to emotional abuse in terms of propensity to develop alcoholism later in life. For example, an explanation for why women appear to suffer greater consequences in terms of abusing alcohol later in life could be that boys are more likely to engage in roughand-tumble play and play fights [43], and are thus desensitized to physical abuse to a higher extent than women. It is also, however, possible that measurement invariance could explain the perceived gender differences. ...
Childhood maltreatment increases the risk of subsequent depression, anxiety and alcohol abuse, but the rate of resilient victims is unknown. Here, we investigated the rate of victims that do not suffer from clinical levels of these problems after severe maltreatment in a population based sample of 10980 adult participants. Compared to men, women reported more severe emotional and sexual abuse, as well as more severe emotional neglect. For both genders, severe emotional abuse (OR = 3.80 [2.22, 6.52]); severe physical abuse (OR = 3.97 [1.72, 9.16]); severe emotional neglect (OR = 3.36 [1.73, 6.54]); and severe physical neglect (OR = 11.90 [2.66, 53.22]) were associated with depression and anxiety while only severe physical abuse (OR = 3.40 [1.28, 9.03]) was associated with alcohol abuse. Looking at men and women separately, severe emotional abuse (OR = 6.05 [1.62, 22.60] in men; OR = 3.74 [2.06, 6.81] in women) and severe physical abuse (OR = 6.05 [1.62, 22.60] in men; OR = 3.03 [0.99, 9.33] in women) were associated with clinical levels of depression and anxiety. In addition, in women, severe sexual abuse (OR = 2.40 [1.10, 5.21]), emotional neglect (OR = 4.78 [2.40, 9.56]), and severe physical neglect (OR = 9.86 [1.99, 48.93]) were associated with clinical levels of depression and anxiety. Severe emotional abuse in men (OR = 3.86 [0.96, 15.48]) and severe physical abuse in women (OR = 5.18 [1.48, 18.12]) were associated with alcohol abuse. Concerning resilience, the majority of severely maltreated participants did not report clinically significant levels of depression or anxiety (72%), or alcohol abuse (93%) in adulthood. Although the majority of severely abused or neglected individuals did not show clinical levels of depression, anxiety or alcohol use, severe childhood maltreatment increased the risk for showing clinical levels of psychopathology in adulthood.
This research was conducted to analyze play and playmate preferences of preschool girls and boys during free play time. The study group consisted of 48-66 months old preschool children. There were ten girls, seven boys and a preschool teacher in the study group. They were all selected from a public preschool in Cukurova, a district of Adana a city in the south of Turkey in the fall semester of 2014 to 2015 academic year. For two weeks children were observed during their free play time. In addition, the children and teacher were interviewed to determine the play and playmate preferences of the children. An interview with each child took approximately 5 to 6 minutes, whereas the interview with the teacher took 20 minutes. In this research, content analysis method was applied at the data analysis phase. The outcomes of the analysis indicated that there were differences between play area, type of play and
playmate preferences between girls and boys. Research indicated that girls usually opt for dramatic (pretend) play such as playing house, role play and gets in role as doctor, mother or kid; while boys prefer to play with blocks and lego for construction and building purposes (block center). The research results show gender effects on girls and boys play behaviors.
Freud (1905/1953) anchored his theories of unconscious psychological functioning in observations and inferences about childhood sexuality. These ideas remain influential among psychoanalysts today. Much progress subsequently occurred in extra-psychoanalytic research in human sexuality. This included the discovery in 1959 of an entirely new area of psychology: the sexual differentiation of behavior (Phoenix, Goy, Gerall, & Young, 1959; Wallen, 2009). The observations that led to this new field originally concerned the effects of androgen administered prenatally to non-human animals. This early research was compatible with later studies of humans as well. Prenatal androgen influences both erotic and non-erotic behavior, including childhood rough-and-tumble play (RTP). We have previously emphasized the need to integrate this psychoneuroendocrine knowledge with psychoanalytic theory and practice (Friedman, 1988; Friedman & Downey, 2002, 2008a, 2008b). In this article, we discuss additional aspects of the relationship between sexually differentiated childhood play, particularly RTP, and gender differences in psychosexual development and functioning. These topics and other aspects of the sexual differentiation of behavior have been under-emphasized in psychoanalytic thought.
This study was designed to examine associations between preschool childrens pretend and physical play with same-sex, other-sex, and mixed sex peers and childrens social competence with peers. Sixty predominately middle-class preschoolers (33 boys, 51 European-American) were observed on the playground at their school over a period of 4 months. Childrens same-sex, other-sex, and mixed-sex peer play was observed, and teachers and peers provided assessments of childrens social competence. Analyses revealed that children who engaged in more same-sex pretend play were better liked by peers and were viewed by teachers as being socially competent. In addition, girls who engaged in same-sex exercise play and boys who engaged in same-sex rough-and-tumble play were better liked by peers, whereas boys who engaged in rough-and-tumble play with other-sex peers were less liked by peers. The results suggest that child gender and gender of playmate are important factors in the association between pretend play and rough-and-tumble play and childrens social competence with peers.
THIS RESEARCH INVESTIGATED THE rough-and-tumble play of 17 five-year-old children in two early childhood settings. The study resulted in an increased understanding of the forms of rough-and-tumble play displayed by young children. This study demonstrates that both boys and girls are engaged in a variety of rough-and-tumble play behaviours.
Twenty-seven distinct rough-and-tumble play behaviours were exhibited during the observation period. They included eight components identified as rough-and-tumble play in previous research and also 19 behaviours not previously identified as elements of such. These elements indicate pre-operational forms of rough-and-tumble play. The results of this study have implications for the understanding of child development. It suggests that rough-and-tumble play evolves as children age; that children move into more complex play behaviours as they mature.
THIS ARTICLE COMPARES AND CONTRASTS the leadership styles evident in children's spontaneous collaborative play in two early childhood settings. The first site, in 2007, was a long day care centre and involved 22 three- and four-year-old children. The second site, in 2008, was the morning session of a kindergarten and involved 47 children.
A strong factor in beginning and maintaining a play episode was the leadership role of individual children. There were clear gender differences in leadership style. Two key roles were those of dictator and director. The dictator was invariably male and more autocratic and less able or likely to resolve inter-group conflict. The director, on the other hand, was usually female and had a more democratic approach to conflict and was more ready to compromise to keep the play episode going. Mixed-gender play was more prevalent in the long day care centre and allowed boys to experience leadership roles and styles not normally available in boys-only play.
In this paper I examine children's play as a context for managing physiological arousal and learning to regulate strong emotions. I define emotion regulation as the process by which children monitor and control their emotional states and their expression to adapt to different social situations or demands. Age trends and gender differences in emotion regulation problems and competencies are described. I then review the development of play, deprivation studies, and the biological functions of different forms of play in primates before discussing children's play. Vigorous social play benefits children by promoting the development of communication, perspective-taking and emotion regulation skills. For boys especially, rough-and-tumble play in early childhood provides a scaffold for learning emotion regulation skills related to managing anger and aggression.
Rough and tumble (R&T) play is a unique set of behaviors that can be reliably distinguished from aggression and other childhood activities. Although it may be the most fundamental form of play, it has received comparatively little experimental attention in the human species. Forty children, ages three to six, were allowed to play in pairs (10 male pairs, 10 female pairs) during a 30 minute videotaped session with no toys available while music played in the background during every other five-minute time period. The incidence frequency of children's play and related behavioral activities were scored using 20 behavioral categories. The major findings show only modest gender differences in the frequency of play behaviors in such controlled social encounters; the main difference is that boys engaged in slightly more physical play solicitations than girls. Music facilitated General Motor Activities (e.g., Running and Walking behaviors), but not specific R&T play actions (e.g., Wrestling, Ventral and Dorsal contacts). Finally, most play behaviors as well as general activities declined systematically over the course of each recording session. This experiment highlights how human social play can be systematically studied in a controlled laboratory setting. Aggr. Behav. 29:539–551, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Rough-and-tumble play (RTP) is a common form of play between fathers and children. It has been suggested that RTP can contribute to the development of selfregulation. This study addressed the hypothesis that the frequency of father-child RTP is related to the frequency of physically aggressive behavior in early childhood. This relationship was expected to be moderated by the dominance relationship between father and son during play. Eighty-five children between the ages of 2 and 6 years were videotaped during a free-play session with their fathers in their homes and questionnaire data was collected about father-child RTP frequency during the past year. The play dyads were rated for the degree to which the father dominated play interactions. A significant statistical interaction revealed that RTP frequency was associated with higher levels of physical aggression in children whose fathers were less dominant. These results indicate that RTP is indeed related to physical aggression, though this relationship is moderated by the degree to which the father is a dominant playmate.
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