(Bio)Logics of The Family: Gender, Biological Relatedness, and Attitudes Toward Children’s Gender Nonconformity in a Vignette Experiment1

Abstract

Family is one of the most influential institutions when it comes to the production and reproduction of gender. Yet despite the prevalence of families in which children are not biologically related to parents in the U.S. today, little research has explored the role of the biological connection in parents’ beliefs about children’s gender nonconformity. Using original data collected through an online survey experiment (N = 712), I examine the extent to which parents’ beliefs toward a biological child or stepchild’s, and son or daughter’s, gender nonconformity differ. After reading a short vignette about a child acting in a gender non‐normative way, respondents were asked a series of questions, ranging from whether they would be upset, supportive, and most importantly, feel accountable to others, that gauged beliefs about the child’s gender nonconformity. Results showed greater upset and heightened accountability for biological children (vs. stepchildren). Results revealed that parents overwhelmingly indicated greater upset, less support, and heightened accountability for sons (vs. daughters). These findings illustrate the mutability of accountability structures in the face of the biological connection and gender between parents and children.