Sex-typed Activities Research Articles

Does Early Sex Typing Result from Children's Attempts to Match Their Behavior to Sex Role Stereotypes?

PERRY, DAVID G.; WHITE, ADAM J.; and PERRY, LOUISE C. Does Early Sex Typing Result from Children's Attempts to Match Their Behavior to Sex Role Stereotypes? CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1984, 55, 2114-2121. Most cognitive theories of sex typing-including cognitive social learning theory and cognitive-developmental theory-suggest that sex typing results, in part, from a 2-step process: children are thought to acquire stereotypes of sex-appropriate behavior, primarily through observational learning; they are then thought to adopt as their own preferences the behaviors they have encoded as appropriate for their own sex. To determine if very early sex typing occurs in this sequence, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds were tested both for knowledge of sex role stereotypes and for preferences for sex-typed activities. Contrary to the hypothesized sequence, boys' acquisition of sex role stereotypes lagged behind (by about 1 year) rather than preceded their development of sextyped preferences. Girls' data neither clearly refuted nor clearly confirmed the hypothesized sequence. A secondary finding was that boys displayed equally strong tendencies to endorse same-sex activities and to reject cross-sex activities, whereas girls unexpectedly displayed a stronger tendency to reject cross-sex behavior than to endorse same-sex behavior.

The Development of Sex Role Stereotypes in the Third Year: Relationships to Gender Labeling, Gender Identity, Sex-Types Toy Preference, and Family Characteristics

The onset and development of preschoolers' awareness of sex role stereotypes, gender labeling, gender identity, and sex-typed toy preference were explored in 26-, 31-, and 36-month-old children. Gender labeling, gender identity, sex-typed toy preferences, and awareness of adult sex role differences were observed in significantly more 26-month-old children than would have been expected by chance. Verbal gender labeling was observed in a majority of 26-month-olds, while verbal and nonverbal gender identity were observed in a majority of 31-month-olds. Nonverbal gender labeling and awareness of adult sex role differences were observed in a majority of children by 36 months. No evidence of awareness of sex differences in children's toys was found in the majority of children at any age. Awareness of sex role differences in children's toys was not related to awareness of adult sex role differences. Brighter children were more aware of adult sex role differences. Sex-typed toy preference was not related to awareness of sex role differences but was related to gender identity. Predictors of sex role development included the mothers' employment, and the father's personality traits, attitudes toward women, and sex-typed activities in the home. Implications for theories of early sex role development are discussed.

Sex-differentiated behaviors in nonsexist picture books

Charges of behavioral and sex-role stereotyping in preschool picture books have led to the publication of books that purportedly avoid or challenge traditional sex stereotypes (i.e., positive image or nonsexist picture books). This study sought to identify behaviors (as distinguished from sex-typed activities or social roles) exhibited by female and male characters in nonsexist books, and to compare these portrayals with those presented in more conventional picture books (Caldecott award-winners and contemporary best-sellers). A reliable coding system (interrater reliability exceeding 90%), permitting the identification of 15 target behaviors in the text and illustrations of picture books was developed and employed in the content analysis of 50 nonsexist and 46 conventional picture books. Stepwise discriminant function and chi-square analyses revealed highly independent females and nurturant and nonaggressive males in nonsexist books—portrayals that represent a clear departure from traditional sex stereotypes in this society. On the other hand, females in nonsexist books were more nurturant, emotional, and less physically active than males in either nonsexist or conventional books. Finally, with the single exception of aggressive behavior (males exceeding females), there was no indication of behavioral sex-typing in the conventional books. Implications are discussed.

Understanding of gender and sex-typed play in infancy

Few experimental studies investigate the mechanisms by which young children develop sex-typed activity preferences. Gender self-labeling followed by selective imitation of same-sex models currently is considered a primary socialization mechanism. Research with prenatally androgenized girls and non-human primates also suggests an innate male preference for activities that involve propulsive movement. Here we show that before children can label themselves by gender, 6- to 9-month-old male infants are more likely than female infants to imitate propulsive movements. Further, male infants’ increase in propulsive movement was linearly related to proportion of time viewing a male model’s propulsive movements. We propose that male sex-typed behavior develops from socialization mechanisms that build on a male predisposition to imitate propulsive motion.

Sex-typing of play and psychological adjustment in young children: An empirical investigation

Traditional assumptions that sex-role conformity is positively related to psychological adjustment in young children have not, to date, been examined empirically. Seventy-four preschool children, 37 boys and 37 girls aged 3 to 5, were observed over a 3-month period to determine their frequency of play in male and female sex-typed activities during the freeplay period in their classrooms. Teacher ratings on the Kohn and Rosman Symptom Checklist and Social Competence Scale were correlated with individuals' rates of play in male and female preferred activities (M and F scales, respectively). Results indicated that boys' play with male-preferred toys was related to high scores on the "aggression/defiance" dimension of the Symptom Checklist, while boys who scored highly on play in female-preferred activities received high scores on the Social Competence dimension labeled "conforming to classroom rules." For girls, play with male-preferred toys was negatively related to the "apathy/withdrawal" dimension of the Symptom Checklist. These results do not confirm the hypothesis that sex-typed behavior is positively related to adjustment, and they suggest that for both sexes, play in opposite sex-typed activities may contribute positively to children's social and academic functioning in the classroom.

Reinforcement and Punishment among Preschoolers: Characteristics, Effects, and Correlates

LAMB, MICHAEL E.; EASTERBROOKS, M. ANN; and HOLDEN, GEORGE W. Reinforcement and Punishment among Preschoolers: Characteristics, Effects, and Correlates. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 1230-1236. Observers recorded the sex-typed activities of 49 children during free-play sessions in nursery school and kindergarten. Reinforcing and punishing responses of peers and teachers were also recorded. Analyses showed that children reinforced one another primarily for gender-appropriate activities. Most reinforcements and punishments were received from same-sex peers. Punished activities were terminated more rapidly than reinforced activities. Reinforcements were more effective when they were received for sex-appropriate acts (i.e., sexappropriate acts that were reinforced continued longer than reinforced cross-sex acts), whereas punishments were more effective when they were received for sex-inappropriate acts (i.e., following punishment, sex-inappropriate acts were terminated more quickly than sex-appropriate activities). Individual susceptibility to punishing responses was significantly correlated (r = .43) with susceptibility to reinforcing responses, indicating consistent individual differences in children's responses to peer influences. Older children punished peers intentionally (rather than incidentally) proportionately more often than younger children did. Attempts to measure social competence were unsuccessful.

Participants in urban Mexican male homosexual encounters

Preliminary data are presented on 53 urban Mexican males interviewed during 1970-1971 in a study of homosexual encounters in a large Mexican city. These data are compared with data from recent studies in the United States and England of male homosexual behavior. Although preliminary and limited, the Mexican data indicate that cultural factors are important determinants of life styles and sex practices of homosexual males. Forty-eight of the 53 (90%) preferred and usually practiced anal intercourse, four preferred oral contacts, and one preferred mutual masturbation. Interviewees were also grouped according to major type of sex activity during the first sustained year of homosexual activity after puberty. One intragroup comparison indicates significant differences between anal active and anal passive interviewees. For example, as children anal passive subjects had significantly more homosexual contacts with adults; they also considered themselves more effeminate and as children were more involved with female sex-typed activities. Comparison of data from the English and United States studies with the present data suggests that preference for a particular sexual technique is not as developed in the former two countries; when there is a preference, it is not usually for anal intercourse.