Sex-typed Toy Research Articles

Fundamentals of Sexual Identity: A Study of Sex-Typed Toys Preferences in Children

Sexual differentiation is a multidimensional process influenced by various factors. It is very important to understand the processes of sexual identification. Studying gender differences in gaming is interesting and productive considering the advantages that this method of observation allows. The sample of this research is composed by 71 children, of which 39 are males and 32 females between the ages of 6 and 36 months. The materials used in this research are ten toys and a questionnaire given to parents that proved essential to investigate the personal data of the children participating in the study. The selection of toys was based on a survey involving 122 subjects, 65 men and 57 women, aged between 18 and 80. The results show significant differences in the two groups in the preference of games: the males were more entertained with the games considered masculine and the females more with the games considered feminine. This research adds proof of how sexual classification goes beyond mere social construct

Prenatal and childhood exposure to chlordecone and sex-typed toy preference of 7-year-old Guadeloupean children

Chlordecone was used intensively as an insecticide in the French West Indies. Because of its high persistence, the resulting contamination of food and water has led to chronic exposure of the general population as evidenced by its presence in the blood of people of Guadeloupe, in particular in pregnant women and newborns, and in maternal breast milk. Chlordecone is recognized as a reproductive and developmental toxicant, is neurotoxic and carcinogenic in rodents, and is considered as an endocrine-disrupting compound with well-established estrogenic and progestogenic properties both in vitro and in vivo. The question arises of its potential consequences on child neurodevelopment following prenatal and childhood exposure, in particular on behavioral sexual dimorphism in childhood. We followed 116 children from the TIMOUN mother-child cohort study in Guadeloupe, who were examined at age 7. These children were invited to participate in a 7-min structured play session in which they could choose between different toys considered as feminine, masculine, or neutral. The play session was video recorded, and the percentage of the time spent playing with feminine or masculine toys was calculated. We estimated associations between playtime and prenatal exposure to chlordecone (assessed by concentration in cord blood) or childhood exposure (determined from concentrations in child blood obtained at the 7-year follow-up), taking into account confounders and co-exposures to other environmental chemicals. We used a two-group regression model to take into account sex differences in play behavior. Our results do not indicate any modification in sex-typed toy preference among 7-year-old children in relation with either prenatal or childhood exposure to chlordecone.

EPA-0658 – Sex-typical play in children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Testosterone plays an important role in mammalian brain development; exposure during critical periods of early development produces permanent behavioural changes. Prenatal exposure to high levels of testosterone has a substantial influence on sex-typical play behaviour, including sex-typed toy preferences and playmate preference. The case group consisted of 29 CAH girls and 11 CAH boys. The typically developing group consisted of 35 girls and 25 boys. K-SADS was used to screen the children for co-morbid psychiatric diseases. Progressive Coloured Matricies was used to determine their IQs. The play activity questionnaire to study their sex-typed play. Hormonal profile (testosterones, progesterone and delta 4 androgens) was done for the cases. we hypothesized that elevated prenatal exposure to testosterones will cause masculinization of behavior and play in girls with CAH but will not affect boys. Girls exposed to high levels of androgen prenatally, because of the genetic disorder congenital adrenal hyperplasia, show increased male-typical play. They preferred to play with masculine object items (cars and trucks), rough-and-tumble play and war play. They were less interested in pretend play than the typically developing girls. No differences were seem in the active and adventurous play. CAH girls showed preference for boys as playmates. CAH boys showed the same pattern of behavior as the typically developing group but with restricted (less) interest in most of the play items. All cases were on glucocorticoid treatment so the hormonal levels were within range.

Infants’ Preferences for Toys, Colors, and Shapes: Sex Differences and Similarities

Girls and boys differ in their preferences for toys such as dolls and trucks. These sex differences are present in infants, are seen in non-human primates, and relate, in part, to prenatal androgen exposure. This evidence of inborn influences on sex-typed toy preferences has led to suggestions that object features, such as the color or the shape of toys, may be of intrinsically different interest to males and females. We used a preferential looking task to examine preferences for different toys, colors, and shapes in 120 infants, ages 12, 18, or 24 months. Girls looked at dolls significantly more than boys did and boys looked at cars significantly more than girls did, irrespective of color, particularly when brightness was controlled. These outcomes did not vary with age. There were no significant sex differences in infants' preferences for different colors or shapes. Instead, both girls and boys preferred reddish colors over blue and rounded over angular shapes. These findings augment prior evidence of sex-typed toy preferences in infants, but suggest that color and shape do not determine these sex differences. In fact, the direction of influence could be the opposite. Girls may learn to prefer pink, for instance, because the toys that they enjoy playing with are often colored pink. Regarding within sex differences, as opposed to differences between boys and girls, both boys and girls preferred dolls to cars at age 12-months. The preference of young boys for dolls over cars suggests that older boys' avoidance of dolls may be acquired. Similarly, the sex similarities in infants' preferences for colors and shapes suggest that any subsequent sex differences in these preferences may arise from socialization or cognitive gender development rather than inborn factors.

Prenatal Sex Hormones (Maternal and Amniotic Fluid) and Gender-related Play Behavior in 13-month-old Infants

Testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone levels were measured in the second trimester of pregnancy in maternal serum and amniotic fluid, and related to direct observations of gender-related play behavior in 63 male and 63 female offspring at age 13 months. During a structured play session, sex differences in toy preference were found: boys played more with masculine toys than girls (d = .53) and girls played more with feminine toys than boys (d = .35). Normal within-sex variation in prenatal testosterone and estradiol levels was not significantly related to preference for masculine or feminine toys. For progesterone, an unexpected significant positive relationship was found in boys between the level in amniotic fluid and masculine toy preference. The mechanism explaining this relationship is presently not clear, and the finding may be a spurious one. The results of this study may indicate that a hormonal basis for the development of sex-typed toy preferences may manifest itself only after toddlerhood. It may also be that the effect size of this relationship is so small that it should be investigated with more sensitive measures or in larger populations.

Prenatal testosterone and gender-related behaviour

Testosterone plays an important role in mammalian brain development. In neural regions with appropriate receptors testosterone, or its metabolites, influences patterns of cell death and survival, neural connectivity and neurochemical characterization. Consequently, testosterone exposure during critical periods of early development produces permanent behavioural changes. In humans, affected behaviours include childhood play behaviour, sexual orientation, core gender identity and other characteristics that show sex differences (i.e. differ on average between males and females). These influences have been demonstrated primarily in individuals who experienced marked prenatal hormone abnormalities and associated ambiguities of genital development (e.g. congenital adrenal hyperplasia). However, there is also evidence that testosterone works within the normal range to make some individuals within each sex more sex-typical than others. The size of testosterone-related influences, and perhaps even their existence, varies from one sex-typed characteristic to another. For instance: prenatal exposure to high levels of testosterone has a substantial influence on sex-typical play behaviour, including sex-typed toy preferences, whereas influences on core gender identify and sexual orientation are less dramatic. In addition: there appears to be little or no influence of prenatal testosterone on mental rotations ability, although mental rotations ability shows a marked sex difference. These findings have implications for basic understanding of the role of testosterone in normative gender development, as well as for the clinical management of individuals with disorders of sex development (formerly called intersex syndromes).

Prenatal Hormones and Postnatal Socialization by Parents as Determinants of Male‐Typical Toy Play in Girls With Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Toy choices of 3- to 10-year-old children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and of their unaffected siblings were assessed. Also assessed was parental encouragement of sex-typed toy play. Girls with CAH displayed more male-typical toy choices than did their unaffected sisters, whereas boys with and without CAH did not differ. Mothers and fathers encouraged sex-typical toy play in children with and without CAH. However, girls with CAH received more positive feedback for play with girls' toys than did unaffected girls. Data show that increased male-typical toy play by girls with CAH cannot be explained by parental encouragement of male-typical toy play. Although parents encourage sex-appropriate behavior, their encouragement appears to be insufficient to override the interest of girls with CAH in cross-sexed toys.

An evolutionary perspective of sex-typed toy preferences: pink, blue, and the brain.

Large sex differences in children's toy preferences are attributed to gender group identification and social learning. The proposal outlined in this paper is that contemporary conceptual categories of "masculine" or "feminine" toys are also influenced by evolved perceptual categories of male-preferred and female-preferred objects. Research on children exposed prenatally to atypical levels of androgens and research on typically developing infants suggest sex-dimorphic preferences exist for object features, such as movement or color/form. The evolution and neurobiology of mammalian visual processing--and recent findings on sex-dimorphic toy preferences in nonhuman primates--suggest further that an innate bias for processing object movement or color/form may contribute to behaviors with differential adaptive significance for males and females. In this way, preferences for objects such as toys may indicate a biological preparedness for a "masculine" or "feminine" gender role-one that develops more fully as early perceptual preferences are coupled with object experiences imposed by contemporary gender socialization.

Sex-typed toy play behavior correlates with the degree of prenatal androgen exposure assessed by CYP21 genotype in girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Previous studies have shown that girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a syndrome resulting in overproduction of adrenal androgens from early fetal life, are behaviorally masculinized. We studied play with toys in a structured play situation and correlated the results with disease severity, assessed by CYP21 genotyping, and age at diagnosis. Girls with CAH played more with masculine toys than controls when playing alone. In addition, we could demonstrate a dose-response relationship between disease severity (i.e. degree of fetal androgen exposure) and degree of masculinization of behavior. The presence of a parent did not influence the CAH girls to play in a more masculine fashion. Four CAH girls with late diagnosis are also described. Three of the four girls played exclusively with one of the masculine toys, a constructional toy. Our results support the view that prenatal androgen exposure has a direct organizational effect on the human brain to determine certain aspects of sex-typed behavior.

Sex-typed play in opposite-sex twins

To examine possible prenatal hormonal influences on sex-typed play, we compared girls with a boy co-twin to girls with a girl co-twin and girls with an older brother. In opposite-sex dizygotic twin pairs, the uterine environment may allow transfer of testosterone from the male to the female fetus. Singletons with an older brother provide a control for shared social environment. Girls aged 3 to 8 years (N = 91) were observed playing with sex-typed toys, and mothers completed questionnaires about the child's activities. Contrary to expectation, girls with a boy co-twin did not spend more time playing with boys' toys than girls with a girl co-twin or girls with an older brother. Although these results might suggest that normal variations in hormones do not contribute to within-sex variations in childhood activities, they combine with other work to suggest factors to consider in evaluating hormonal influences on human behavior, including level and timing of exposure.

Adult toy purchases for children: Factors affecting sex-typed toy selection

This research was designed to determine whether adults encourage sex-typed play among children by assessing the type of toys they purchase. Adults exiting a toy store were interviewed in two studies. The customer's sex, the type of toy purchased, the age and sex of the child for whom the toy was intended, and whether the child requested the toy were recorded in both studies. The parental status and the composition of boys and girls in the customer's family were also obtained in the second study. The majority of the customers purchased toys according to traditional toy categories. More sex-typed than sex-neutral or sex-inappropriate toys were purchased. Many of the sex-typed toys were requested by the children. More sex-typed toys were purchased for boys than for girls. Although the sex-typed toys customers purchased for their own children were frequently requested, many of the nonsex-typed toys were not. Customers were also more likely to purchase nonsex-typed toys for their own children than for other children. These data support previous research suggesting that adults encourage sex-appropriate play in young children by purchasing toys according to traditional masculine or feminine toy categories and by purchasing for children the sex-typed toys that they request. Children's ability to influence the extent to which their environment is sex-typed and the implications of these data are discussed.

Early Androgens Are Related to Childhood Sex-Typed Toy Preferences

Girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) who were exposed to high levels of androgen in the prenatal and early postnatal periods showed increased play with boys” toys and reduced play with girls' toys compared with their unexposed female relatives at ages 3 to 8. Boys with CAH did not differ from their male relatives in play with boys' or girls' toys. These results suggest that early hormone exposure in females has a masculinizing effect on sex-typed toy preferences.

Gender constancy and the "cost" of sex-typed behavior: A test of the conflict hypothesis.

Ninety-five children between 5- and 10-years-old watched televised boys and girls who differentially endorsed toys of varying attractiveness. The study was designed to test the hypothesis that behavioral expression of gender norms that arouse conflict would be delayed relative to norms that are conflict-free. Predictions were supported for boys. Gender-constant boys spent more time playing with an uninteresting sex-typed toy than did preconstant boys. When the sex-typed toy was relatively interesting, preconstant boys played with it as much as gender constant boys. Toy play among girls was related to toy attractiveness and the girl's agreement with televised stereotypes

The Relation of Gender Understanding to Children's Sex-typed Preferences and Gender Stereotypes

Our goal was to explore how children's understanding of gender as a social category relates to their acquisition of sex-typed knowledge and preferences. Children's gender concepts, sex-typed preferences, and stereotyped knowledge were measured in 61 boys and girls (3-5 years). Gender concept measures included ability to identify and to discriminate the sexes, understanding gender group membership, temporal stability of gender, and gender consistency over situational changes. Children improved with age on most of the measures except gender consistency. With the exception of consistency, measures of gender concept understanding were found to be related to children's stereotyped toy and clothing knowledge and/or to their sex-typed toy preferences (with age controlled). It was shown that only rudimentary gender understanding is needed prior to children learning about sex stereotypes and prior to showing strong sex-typed preferences for peers or toys. The roles of gender identity, stability, consistency, and group membership in the sex-typing process are discussed.

Adult sex typing of children's toys

A primary focus of this study was to determine whether adults use traditional sex-type standards when choosing toys for boys or girls. I also investigated whether an adult's sex or gender role influences this decision. College students were shown pictures of 74 toys, and were asked to indicate whether they would buy each toy for a boy or girl. Traditional sex-type ratings were found. In addition, male subjects sex-typed toys to a greater extent than female subjects. Subjects' gender role was unrelated to sex-type ratings. Subjects also judged whether each toy provided educational value, required activity, and encouraged cooperation. Toys rated as requiring activity were not considered educational, but many toys considered educational were also rated as encouraging cooperation. In addition, toys considered masculine were rated as requiring more activity than feminine toys.

The Young Child's Gender Schema: Environmental Input, Internal Organization

The relation among children's ability to apply gender labels, their tendency to emit sex-typed behavior, and their parents' attitudes and reactions toward sex-typed behaviors was studied. The children were observed at home with their parents when the children were 18 months old, before any of them had passed the gender-labeling task, and at 27 months, when half had passed (early labelers) and half had not (late labelers). At 18 months, there were no differences in the children's sex-typed behavior, but parents of future early labelers gave more positive and negative responses to sex-typed toy play. By 27 months, early labelers showed more traditional sex-typed behavior than late labelers; parents of early and late labelers no longer differed in their responses. At age 4, when given an inventory of sex stereotyping, early labelers scored higher on Sex Role Discrimination; there were no differeces on Sex Role Preference scores.

Cognitive Aspects of Early Sex-Role Development: The Influence of Gender Schemas on Preschoolers' Memories and Preferences for Sex-typed Toys and Activities

Cognitive Aspects of Early Sex-Role Development: The Influence of Gender Schemas on Preschoolers' Memories and Preferences for Sex-typed Toys and Activities

Cognitive Aspects of Early Sex-Role Development: The Influence of Gender Schemas on Preschoolers' Memories and Preferences for Sex-Typed Toys and Activities

CARTER, D. BRUCE, and LEVY, GARY D. Cognitive Aspects of Early Sex-Role Development: The Influence of Gender Schemas on Preschoolers' Memories and Preferences for Sex-typed Toys and Activities. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1988, 59, 782-792. 60 33-68-month-old children were interviewed to assess relations among sex-stereotype knowledge, stereotype flexibility, gender constancy, sex-typed toy preferences, gender schematization, and recognition memory for genderrelevant illustrations. Age was positively associated with recognition memory for stereotypeconsistent and inconsistent activities and negatively associated with simple recognition errors. Gender schematization was negatively associated with memory for stereotype-inconsistent activities and positively associated with gender transformational memory errors. Boys' toy preferences were more stereotype consistent and, for all children, preferences for sex-appropriate toys were positively associated with age and gender schematization. Sex-inappropriate preferences were negatively associated with gender schematization. Neither stereotype knowledge, stereotype flexibility, nor gender constancy reliably predicted memories or preferences.

Qualitative differences among gender-stereotyped toys: Implications for cognitive and social development in girls and boys

Although it has been suggested that the early play experiences of girls and boys may contribute to gender differences in cognitive and social development, empirical support for this hypothesis is limited. This paper reports the development of a system of toy classification and may permit a more programmatic investigation of this problem. One hundred adult subjects rated 50 children's toys on 12 “functional” dimensions. Results showed that these toys could be reliably described according to multidimensional similarities and that toys considered appropriate for girls differed in many ways from those considered appropriate for boys. Thus this system may allow us to test more systematically the hypothetical relationship between sex-typed toy play and the development of differential cognitive and/or social skills in girls and boys.

Gay and lesbian parents.

An anonymous survey of 23 gay and lesbian parents and 16 heterosexual single parents was conducted in order to see whether the parents' homosexuality created special problems or benefits or both, for their children. Both sets of parents reported relatively few serious problems and generally positive relationships with their children, with only a minority encouraging sex-typed toys, activities, and playmates. Heterosexual parents made a greater effort to provide an opposite-sex role model for their children, but no other differences in their parenting behaviors were found. Gay and lesbian parents saw a number of benefits and relatively few problems for their children as a result of their homosexuality, with lesbians perceiving greater benefits than gay men. Conversely, the gay males reported greater satisfaction with their first child, fewer disagreements with their partners over discipline, and a greater tendency to encourage play with sex-typed toys than did the lesbians. The findings suggest that being homosexual is clearly compatible with effective parenting and is not a major issue in parents' relationships with their children.