Flexibility and traditionality in children's gender roles

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Gender Studies

Background:

• Children's gender-role preferences develop through socialization.
• Understanding influences on these preferences is key to developmental psychology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine factors influencing children's gender-role preferences.
• To test a theoretical developmental model of gender-role orientation.

Main Methods:

• Assessed gender-role preferences in 376 children (kindergarten and third grade).
• Gathered data on socialization agents: parents, peers, and media.
• Interviewed parents (N=358) on attitudes and socialization practices.

Main Results:

• Boys showed stronger sex-typed preferences than girls.
• Older girls were more flexible; older boys less flexible.
• Peer perceptions best predicted current preferences; media best predicted future expectations.

Conclusions:

• A multidimensional approach is effective for understanding children's gender-role orientations.
• Socialization agents like peers and media significantly impact gender preferences.