How Children Perceive the Origin of Babies and the Roles of Mother and Fathers in Procreation: A Cross-national Study

Abstract

GOLDMAN, RONALD J., and GOLDMAN, JULIETTE D. G. How Children Perceive the Origin of Babies and the Roles of Mothers and Fathers in Procreation: A Cross-national Study. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1982, 53, 491-504. A sample of 838 children aged 5-15 in Australia, England, North America, and Sweden were interviewed about physical and sexual development. 1 section dealt with children perceived human reproduction. On a Piagetian scale, sequences of operational thinking were found with increasing age, confirming earlier findings on how people get by Bernstein and Cowan; age-level disparities were accounted for by sampling differences. On the how babies are made question, Swedish children between 5 and 9 years gained higher scores, achieving concrete operations at 9, compared with the Englishspeaking group's achievement at 11. The North American sample was the slowest to develop operational levels, catching up at 13 and 15. On a biological-realism scale similar findings occurred regarding mother's and father's role in procreation was perceived. 3 levels of presexual, nonsexual, and overtly sexual answers were identified, with only nonsexual roles in procreation being perceived up to 11 years; Swedish children achieved overtly sexual answers earlier and North American children later. While mothers appeared to be seen as active in the presexual and nonsexual stages of thinking, they tended to be regarded as passive recipients in the sex act compared with father's active role. Cross-national differences were postulated as due to the relative provision or lack of provision of sex education in schools, and several problems for sex educators, such as sexual myths and the misuse of analogies, were identified.