Children's Gender Role Stereotypes

Abstract

Gender trait and gender role stereotypes of 759 U.S. and 452 South African children are compared. The effects of age, sex, socioreligious background, and mother's employment status are also examined both between and within country. South African children are found to sex-type the male role to a greater extent than their U.S. counterparts, although country does not affect children's images of the female gender role. An age/ sex interaction effect is observed both between and within country. Gender role stereotypes increase with age and children are more likely to sex-type same-sex figures. Within South Africa, children from liberal Christian and Jewish backgrounds have less rigid conceptions of the male and the female gender role than do conservative Christian children. Socioreligious background does not affect children's gender role attitudes in the United States. Mother's employment status is unrelated to children's sex-typing scores in both countries.