Adult reactions to children's cross-gender verbal behavior

Reactions of teachers and college students were obtained to a child, labeled male or female, exhibiting stereotypically masculine or feminine verbal behavior. The findings were: (1) adults did not redirect or discourage cross-gender compared with gender-appropriate behavior; (2) adults rated same-sex children higher on a subset of masculine traits, regardless of the child's behavior; (3) adult females rated the child more positively and responded to the child in a more reinforcing manner than did males; (4) male teachers responded to the child more positively than nonteachers, but the reverse was true for females; (5) all adults reinforced feminine more than masculine behaviors; and (6) nonteachers were more attracted to the female child and the child exhibiting feminine behaviors, while teachers were more attracted to the male child and the child exhibiting masculine behaviors.