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.
Are gender labeling and gender stereotyping in 24-, 30-, and 36-month-old children related to each other and to mothers' sex-role attitudes and responses to sex-typed behavior in a free-play situation with their children? The gender stereotyping measure indicated that gender schemata include information that is metaphorically rather than literally associated with each sex. Children who understood labels for boys and girls displayed more knowledge of gender stereotypes than children who did not. Mothers whose children had mastered labels for boys and girls endorsed more traditional attitudes toward women and toward sex roles within the family. The same mothers also initiated and reinforced more sex-typed toy play with their children.
and the Oregon Social Learning Center A gender-labeling task was used to test the ability of 43 children ranging in age from 21 months to 40 months to discriminate between pictures of boys and girls and male and female adults. Children who passed the gender task (mean age = 30 months) were compared with children who failed it (mean age = 26 months) on three behaviors most often categorized as sex typed (toy choice, aggression, and peer playmate selection). It was predicted that children who passed the task would choose more sex-typed toys and same-sex peers, and that there would be a drop in aggression for girls who passed, but no change for boys. The predictions for aggression and peer choice were confirmed, but that for toy choice was not. The relation between the child's understanding of gender categories and environmental influences is discussed.
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