Challenging gender essentialism with animal examples: Reducing children's prejudice toward voice-based gender...

Grounded in developmental intergroup theory, which highlights the role of essentialist thinking in the emergence of prejudice, this study examined whether reducing children's gender essentialism could decrease prejudice against speakers with gender-nonconforming (GN) voices. A total of 162 children aged 8-12 years participated in the study. The intervention group (N = 81) received three lessons illustrating diversity in sex-related traits and behaviors in the animal kingdom to challenge essentialist beliefs about gender roles, expression, and biological sex, whereas the control group received comparable lessons without gender-related content. Gender essentialism was measured via a structured questionnaire, and prejudice was assessed through children's affective preferences, perceived normative acceptance, and sharing behavior toward gender-conforming (GC) and GN speakers. Results showed that the intervention effectively reduced gender essentialism, leading to decreased prejudice in affective and normative measures, but not in sharing behavior. Effects were stronger for GN speakers than for GC speakers, with particularly larger effects for GN female voices. These findings provide causal evidence linking gender essentialism to prejudice and suggest that targeting essentialist beliefs may be a promising strategy for fostering more inclusive social attitudes in childhood.