An observational study of race-, age-, and sex-heterogeneous interaction in preschoolers

Urberg, Kathryn A.; Kaplan, Melissa G.

doi:10.1016/0193-3973(89)90032-4

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Although plausible, this interpretation is called into question by the absence of significant correlations between age and either play style or gender segregation. A third possibility is that being in singlesex groups encourages more mature behavior (Gulko, 1991;Urberg & Kaplan, 1989), so that children who spend a great deal of time in such groups display lower levels of activity and aggression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Gender Segregation in Childhood: A Test of the Interaction Style Theory

Hoffmann

Powlishta²

2001

The Journal of Genetic Psychology

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The authors investigated the play/interaction-style theory of gender segregation with a sample of 39 children aged 2 to 5 years (primarily Caucasian). According to this theory, children prefer playmates with styles of play or interaction that are similar to their own. Because such styles are sex differentiated, same-sex playmate preference (i.e., gender segregation) results. The authors observed children during free play to determine preferred playmates and gender segregation level, and they used teacher ratings to derive play/interaction-style scores. The authors used a multiple regression approach to path analysis to analyze effects of sex of participant, participants' play/interaction-style scores, playmates' play/interaction-style scores, and degree of gender segregation to determine their effects on one another. The authors observed significant levels of gender segregation, with highly aggressive or active children displaying less segregation than their peers did. However, gender segregation was not associated with a preference for playmates with similar play or interaction styles.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Gender Segregation in Childhood: A Test of the Interaction Style Theory

Hoffmann

Powlishta²

2001

The Journal of Genetic Psychology

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“…This idea was tested and supported by Urberg & Kaplan (1989). They examined the extent to which preschool children congregated by race, gender and age in five play categories-parallel-functional, parallelcognitive, interactive-functional, interactivedramatic, and conversation (considered to be interactive).…”

Section: Boultonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Preferences for own-race over other-race peers are evident from both verbal self-reports (such as sociometry) (Boult on & Smith, 1996;Davey & Mullin, 1980;Milner, 1983) and from direct observations in naturalistic settings (Finkelstein & Haskins, 1983;Schofield & Francis , 1982;Schofield & Sagar, 1977;Urberg & Kaplan, 1989 ). Similarly, preferences for own-gender over othergender peers have been noted from self-report (Bukowski, Gauze, Hoza, & Newcombe, 1993;Hayden-Thomson, Rubin, & Hymel, 1987 ; see also Lockhead & Klein, 1985, for a review ) and observational data Acknowledgments: Th e research reported in this paper was supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council, Swindon.…”

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confidence: 97%

Partner Preferences of British Asian and White Girls and Boys on the Middle School Playground: Do They Vary As a Function of Activity?

Boulton

1996

Journal of Research in Childhood Education

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Abstra ct. A sian and Whit e girls and boys (N=54) were observed on the playground during recess in order to examine their spontaneous peer preferences. All four groups exhi bited a highly signi ficant tend ency to spend more time with own-race, own-gender peers than with any other type ofpeer. Th is result held for the three specific categories ofbehavior that were examined-"R ule Games, ""S ociable," and "Other Play "-with two exceptions (A sian boys did not spend significantly more time with other A sian boys than with Whit e boys in the categories "S ociable" and "Other Play"). Th e data were also examined to determ ine if each group ofparticipants differed in the am ount oftim e they spent with particular types ofcompanions a s a function ofthe three types ofactivity. With one exception-Whitegirls were with White boys significantly more often in "R ule Games" and "Other Play" than in "S ociable"-thi s was not found to be the case. It was argued that schools should be concerned with th e strong cleavage by race and gender during recess, and that encou ragi ng chi ld ren to spend more ti me in thos e activities in which elevated levels ofcontact with diverse peers tak es place may pro vide a useful way to reduce its occurrence.

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