Toy stories: Children's use of gender stereotypes in making social judgments

Abstract

Young children tend to categorize people and objects to understand their environments, but under certain circumstances, they can also appreciate individual differences. Three studies investigated how young children use categorical and individuating information to make social judgments. In Study 1, 3- to 5-year-old children (N = 33; 18 boys, 15 girls) predicted hypothetical peers' preferences for toys along a spectrum from highly stereotyped for girls to neutral to highly stereotyped for boys. Hypothetical peers were described by gender and as enjoying activities that were stereotypical, counter-stereotypical, or unrelated to gender. Children's choices were consistent with use of the provided individuating information rather than gender alone. In Studies 2 and 3, we retested these ideas with preschool samples from the United States (N = 44) and China (N = 21) respectively and also asked children about their toy, playmate, and activity preferences. For both samples, responses followed the same pattern as Study 1 for social judgments and were characterized by preferences for same-gender peers and neutral or gender-typed toys and activities, particularly in girls. While young children express preferences consistent with gender identity, they process and use individuating information in making social judgments, a capacity that could be targeted by interventions designed to reduce the development of gender-based bias.