Preschool Children's Conceptions of Sex-Role Transgressions

Abstract

SMETANA, JUDITH G. Preschool Children's Conceptions of Sex-Role Transgressions. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1986, 57, 862-871. The purpose of this research was to examine the conceptual basis of preschoolers' judgments regarding cross-gender behavior, taking into consideration the type of sexrole regularity and whether it is male or female sex-role stereotyped. 48 preschool children, 24 boys and 24 girls, reasoned and made judgments about counterstereotypical sex-role behaviors and appearances in comparison to judgments regarding moral and conventional transgressions. Sex-role transgressions were judged to be more flexible, permissible, and subject to subordinate jurisdiction than moral or conventional transgressions. Children were more strongly committed to the maintenance of male than female sex-role expectations and to female sex-typed appearances than activities. Boys also considered male cross-gender appearances more serious than male cross-gender activities. Children reasoned about sex-role violations as personal or conventional issues; male sex-role deviations were more likely to be seen as violations of social norms than were female sex-role deviations. Personal reasoning about sex roles was significantly correlated with greater flexibility and less commitment to sex-role expectations. Thus, young children were flexible but committed to sex-role expectations, and sex-role concepts were multifaceted, entailing different types of social concepts.