The effects of modeling on the development of sex-role behaviors in children

Abstract

THE EFFECTS OF MODELING ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEX-ROLE BEHAVIORS IN CHILDREN Candace S. Garrett, Indiana University The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of modeling on sex-role development in first-grade children. It was hypothesized that when male-female pairs of children observe a male-female pair of models each child would shift his sex-role behavior toward that of the like-sex model. Sixty children served as subjects. The results did not support this hypothesis. Instead, the data supported the opposite effect: each child imitated the actions of the opposite-sex model. These results are explained in terms of identification, rather than modeling, theory. By the time a child is three years old, he (or she) usually can distinguish between the sexes; he also knows which sex he is (Brown, 1958). Soon after this, he begins to exhibit appropriate sex-typed behaviors and attitudes (Sears, Maccoby, and Levin, 1957). The learning of these behaviors and attitudes is an important and pervasive aspect of development which has consequences not only in childhood but also in the adult years. For example, in the last few years a great deal of concern abairthFlfireTrwattretrliimodeii society has arisen, concern revolving around the aspirations, occupations, careers, and behavior patterns of women and the conflicts that choices in these areas may produce. The basis for these. conflicts is formed during childhood, as children acquire their concepts of what are appropriate sex-role behaviors. There are several theories concerning sex-role development in children, including the psychoanalytic theory of identification, Brown's theory of identification, and social learning theory. This study is primarily concerned with the latter. According to Mischel (1966), observational learning from models, live or symbolic, is the first step in the acquisition of sex-typed behaviors. Bandura ard Walters (1959) reinforce this point of view by stating that most of the values that will influence a child's behavior are acquired through imitation of the important adults in his life. Research on the effects of imitation or modeling has shown that children will model aggression (Bandura, Ross, and Ross, 1965a; Hicks, 1965; Kuhn, Madsen, and Becker, 1967; Madsen, 1968), self-reward criteria (Bandura and Kupers, 1964; Mischel and Liebert, 1966), self-imposed delay of reward (Bandura and Mischel, 1965), and moral judgments (Bandura and McDonald, 1963). Modeling takes place even when the children are not