Preadolescents' conceptions of children

The effect of the most important dimensions of person perception-the person performing the evaluation, the person being evaluated, and the interaction between evaluator and object of evaluation-upon person descriptions was explored. In a free-response design, preadolescents of both sexes described a "vividly imagined child." Six main evaluative dimensions, each of them subdivided according to evaluative tone, were analyzed statistically. Subjects imagined children of their own sex more often, and girls were more prone to imagine younger children. Sex of subject and of object of evaluation had relatively little impact upon the person descriptions given, while age of object of evaluation led throughout to significant differences. A considerable number of psychologically meaningful interaction effects were encountered. From the small impact of the person variables and from the generality of the basic evaluative dimensions it was concluded that even preadolescents have already accepted stereotyped criteria for person evaluation.