Children's sex-related stereotyping of colors

4 studies addressed children's sex-related stereotyping of colors. Study 1 examined preschoolers' awareness of color stereotypes. Children were presented with 6 toy animals, identical except for color, and were asked to identify the sex of each animal and to select a favorite. Both sex identifications and toy preferences were highly consistent with adult color stereotypes. Study 2 demonstrated that clothing color influences preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade children's impressions of other children whose sex is known. Studies 3 and 4 indicated that the effects of stereotyping based on color are modest in comparison to the effects of stereotyping based directly on sex. In addition, color stereotyping did not show the regular age-related increase that is characteristic of sex-role stereotyping.