Parental Socialization of Young Children's Play: A Short-Term Longitudinal Study

Abstract

EISENBERG, NANCY; WOLCHIK, SHARLENE A; HERNANDEZ, ROBERT; and PASTERNACK, JEANNETTE F. Parental Socialization of Young Children's Play: A Short-Term Longitudinal Study. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1985, 56, 1506-1513. In the present study, mothers' and fathers' socialization of 1-2-yearolds' sex-typed play behaviors was examined. For each parent, dyadic interactions were videotaped in the home on 2 occasions that were separated by about 6 months. Mothers and fathers did not differentially reinforce boys and girls for masculine or neutral play (feminine toys frequently were absent from the play sessions). However, sex of child did affect parents' choice of toys to use during the interactions. Parents of boys chose more neutral and masculine toys than feminine toys; parents of girls chose more neutral toys than masculine or feminine toys. Regardless of toy type, parental reinforcement decreased from Session 1 to Session 2. Parental toy choice but not parental positive reinforcement was related to children's play choices. Boys' play was more sex stereotypic than was that of girls, and both boys and girls played with more toys during mother-child sessions than fatherchild sessions. There was considerable consistency in children's choices of activities over time and in parental reinforcement for neutral toy play. Parental, especially maternal, differential reinforcement of sex-typed play was positively related to level of gender constancy at 2 to 2-6 years of age. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for the social learning account of sex-role development.