Toy story: Why do monkey and human males prefer trucks?

Williams, Christina L.; Pleil, Kristen E.

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2008.05.003

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Both findings argue against suggestions that boys' strong preference for masculine toys or avoidance of feminine toys, such as dolls, is inborn (Hassett et al, 2008; Williams & Pleil, 2008), and argue instead for the importance of social learning or cognitive developmental processes in the development of this particular aspect of sex-typed toy preferences. Consistent with this argument, boys avoidance of feminine toys has been found to increase with age, and to be stronger when an observer is present (Hartup, Moore, & Sager, 1963).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

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

2010

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

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

2010

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“…This may occur due to different selective pressures on males and females because of their different behavioral roles, with females more often being the primary caretakers of offspring (Alexander and Hines, 2002), helping to practice relevant skills for survival and reproduction (Smith, 2010). However the proximate mechanisms underlying these different preferences remain largely unknown (for a review, see Williams and Pleil, 2008). In Old World monkeys, females demonstrate more interest in infants, engage in more play parenting throughout their juvenile years, and spend more time handling infants than males (Geary, 1998; Maestripieri, 1994; Pryce, 1995).…”

Section: Evolutionary Precursors Of Empathymentioning

confidence: 99%

Empathy: Gender effects in brain and behavior

Christov-Moore

Simpson

Coudé

et al. 2014

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

699

449

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Evidence suggests that there are differences in the capacity for empathy between males and females. However, how deep do these differences go? Stereotypically, females are portrayed as more nurturing and empathetic, while males are portrayed as less emotional and more cognitive. Some authors suggest that observed gender differences might be largely due to cultural expectations about gender roles. However, empathy has both evolutionary and developmental precursors, and can be studied using implicit measures, aspects that can help elucidate the respective roles of culture and biology. This article reviews evidence from ethology, social psychology, economics, and neuroscience to show that there are fundamental differences in implicit measures of empathy, with parallels in development and evolution. Studies in nonhuman animals and younger human populations (infants/children) offer converging evidence that sex differences in empathy have phylogenetic and ontogenetic roots in biology and are not merely cultural byproducts driven by socialization. We review how these differences may have arisen in response to males’ and females’ different roles throughout evolution. Examinations of the neurobiological underpinnings of empathy reveal important quantitative gender differences in the basic networks involved in affective and cognitive forms of empathy, as well as a qualitative divergence between the sexes in how emotional information is integrated to support decision making processes. Finally, the study of gender differences in empathy can be improved by designing studies with greater statistical power and considering variables implicit in gender (e.g., sexual preference, prenatal hormone exposure). These improvements may also help uncover the nature of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in which one sex is more vulnerable to compromised social competence associated with impaired empathy.

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“…Speculations about the affective and cognitive processes that underlie children’s sextyped toy preferences have been stimulated by evidence that those preferences are paralleled in rhesus monkeys (male monkeys, like boys, strongly preferred wheeled toys, whereas female monkeys, like girls, had variable preferences, leading to sex differences in preference for wheeled versus plush toys) [12, 13]. Recent work has documented early sex differences in propulsive movement (hitting versus cradling an object), with sex-typed activities suggested to develop “from socialization mechanisms that build on a male predisposition to imitate propulsive motion” [14, p. 262].…”

Section: Nature and Psychological Mechanisms Of Prenatal Androgen Effmentioning

confidence: 99%

How early hormones shape gender development

Berenbaum

Beltz

2016

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences

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Many important psychological characteristics show sex differences, and are influenced by sex hormones at different developmental periods. We focus on the role of sex hormones in early development, particularly the differential effects of prenatal androgens on aspects of gender development. Increasing evidence confirms that prenatal androgens have facilitative effects on male-typed activity interests and engagement (including child toy preferences and adult careers), and spatial abilities, but relatively minimal effects on gender identity. Recent emphasis has been directed to the psychological mechanisms underlying these effects (including sex differences in propulsive movement, and androgen effects on interest in people versus things), and neural substrates of androgen effects (including regional brain volumes, and neural responses to mental rotation, sexually arousing stimuli, emotion, and reward). Ongoing and planned work is focused on understanding the ways in which hormones act jointly with the social environment across time to produce varying trajectories of gender development, and clarifying mechanisms by which androgens affect behaviors. Such work will be facilitated by applying lessons from other species, and by expanding methodology. Understanding hormonal influences on gender development enhances knowledge of psychological development generally, and has important implications for basic and applied questions, including sex differences in psychopathology, women’s underrepresentation in science and math, and clinical care of individuals with variations in gender expression.

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Toy story: Why do monkey and human males prefer trucks?

Cited by 9 publications

References 46 publications

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

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

Empathy: Gender effects in brain and behavior

How early hormones shape gender development

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