Preferences for ‘Gender‐typed’ Toys in Boys and Girls Aged 9 to 32 Months

Abstract

This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link Preferences for gender-typed toys in boys and girls aged nine months to 32 months old ABSTRACTMany studies have found that a majority of boys and girls prefer to play with toys which are typed to their own gender, but there is still uncertainty about the age at which such sex differences first appear, and under what conditions. Applying a standardized research protocol and using a selection of gender-typed toys, we observed the toy preferences of boys and girls engaged in independent play in UK nurseries, without the presence of a parent. The 101 boys and girls fell into three age groups: nine months to 17 months, when infants can first demonstrate toy preferences in independent play (N = 40), 18 to 23 months, when critical advances in gender knowledge occur (N = 29) and 24 to 32 months, when knowledge becomes further established (N = 32). Stereotypical toy preferences were found for boys and girls in each of the age groups, demonstrating that sex differences in toy preference appear early in development . Both boys and girls showed a trend for an increasing preference with age for toys stereotyped for boys. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed with regard to biological predispositions, cognitive development and environmental influences on toy preference.

Sex differences in children's toy preferences: A systematic review, meta‐regression, and meta‐analysis

“…The funnel plots for studies with female‐typed toys (Figure b) is similar to Figure a, except that the trend in the effect size was in the opposite direction (i.e., the tail is in the lower left) as would be expected from the forest plots in Figure a,b. The three main outliers in Figure a (from right to left) are Pasterski et al (; with father present), Todd et al (; oldest group), and Pasterski et al (child alone), and the four main outliers in Figure b are Todd et al (oldest group; youngest group), Pasterski et al (child alone), Arthur (), and Doering et al (). Often, asymmetry is caused by publication bias due to small study effects, that is, a bias towards small studies finding large effects and being published.…”

“…However, what the outlying groups all have in common is that they represent either older age groups or younger groups than those represented by nonoutlying groups. The NOS scores are not implicated because Table shows that the outlying groups all had scores around the midrange, either 6 or 7 from a NOS score range of 5 to 8 (Doering et al, = 6; Pasterski et al, = 7; Todd et al, = 7).…”

“…In many individual studies, the selection of stimuli is not discussed. However, one reported solution has been to use toys that have elicited gender differences in previous studies (e.g., Lamminmäki et al, ; Zosuls et al, ) or have been classified as masculine or feminine by parents and nonparents (e.g., Todd et al, ; van de Beek et al, ). Toys typically selected as neutral include books and puzzles, but there is some overlap between categories; for example, Turner, Gervai, and Hinde () define a jigsaw puzzle as female typed.…”

Brinquedos observados no ambiente domiciliar de lactentes: uma comparação entre meninos e meninas

“…O resultado revelou que todos os grupos demonstraram preferências por brinquedos estereotipados para meninos e meninas em cada uma das faixas etárias, concluindo que as diferenças de sexo na preferên-cia por brinquedos aparecem no início do desenvolvimento. 23 De modo diferente dos autores citados, Wanderlinde et al 15 apontam que até os 18 meses as crianças não têm preferências por brinquedos de acordo com o sexo, já aos 3 anos de idade demonstram preferência por brincar com crianças do mesmo sexo e com brinquedos adotados como de meninos e de meninas.…”

“…15,22,23 Dessa forma, a idade do grupo estudado pode ser também uma possível razão para a ausência de associação.…”