The Contents of Boys' and Girls' Rooms as an Index of Parents' Behavior

Investigating the Factors Influencing Parent Toy Purchase Decisions: Reasoning and Consequences

“…Additionally, the effects of the gender of children have on their parents upon toy selection was investigated. The contents of children's rooms as a symbol of parent behaviour was taken into consideration for both genders (Rheingold & Cook, 1975). In a study by Rheingold and Cook (1975) it was discovered that male infants were provided with more vehicles, educational and art materials, sport equipment, machines and military toys, while female infants were provided with more dolls, doll houses and domestic items.…”

“…The contents of children's rooms as a symbol of parent behaviour was taken into consideration for both genders (Rheingold & Cook, 1975). In a study by Rheingold and Cook (1975) it was discovered that male infants were provided with more vehicles, educational and art materials, sport equipment, machines and military toys, while female infants were provided with more dolls, doll houses and domestic items. Within the same stream, O'Brien and Huston (1985) noted that more domestic same-gender-type toys that had cross-gender-type toys were possessed by both girls and boys.…”

“…A study done on the contents that were found in children's rooms by Rheingold and Cook (1975), found that many of the toys in boys' rooms encouraged them to do outdoors activities, such as sports, cars, animals and the military while girls were directed more towards activities at home like housekeeping and caring for children considering the amounts of babies and dolls. They suggested that this is only due to the behavior of parents and not that of the children themselves as their reasoning was guided by what they found their children enjoyed playing with despite their gender and personality.…”

Gender, Space, and Objects in Divorced Families

“…As children interact with their environment they develop a sense of value for the tasks they perform (Bussey & Bandura, 1999), such as playing with gendered toys (Pomerleau et al, 1990) or decorating a bedroom with gender-specific artifacts Sutfin et al, 2008). Pomerleau et al (1990) and Rheingold and Cook (1975) investigated children"s bedrooms and found that boys" bedrooms contained more varieties of toys, more sports equipment and machines, and more animal décor items than girls" bedrooms, while girls" bedrooms contained more dolls and domestic toys. Additionally, the use of space differs for boys and girls, with boys having larger spaces in which to perform exploratory and physically active play, and girls having smaller spaces in which to perform play associated with the domestic realm (Jenkins, 1998).…”

Adult student perceptions of traditionally sex-typed toys

“…Children are often brought home from the hospital to gender-appropriately colored rooms (i.e., pink or yellow for girls and blue for boys) (Pomerleau, Bolduc, Malcuit, & Cossette, 1990). Rheingold and Cook (1975) and O'Brien and Huston (1985) examined the contents of childrens' rooms and found that parents provided different furnishings and toys for their sons and daughters. Boys' rooms were more often decorated with animal motifs whereas girls' rooms were more often decorated with floral designs, lace, fringe, and ruffles.…”