Children’s Appraisals of Gender Variance: Understanding the Emergence of Negative Attitudes
Year: 2018
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Among children ages 4-to-5- and 8-to-9-years-old (N = 142; 47.2% boys), multiple measures of social preference were employed to gauge appraisals of target boys and girls depicted as gender-typical or gender-variant. Children’s gender-typed behaviour and implicit attitudes as well as parental endorsement of gender stereotypes were also assessed. Social preferences did not precisely align across measures—although some consistent patterns were observed. Among boys, gender-typed preferences increased with age; older boys preferred the gender-typical boy and rated gender-typical peers more favourably. Girls showed a same-sex preference; but older girls also showed interest in being friends with the gender-variant boy. Older children rated the gender-variant boy as less preferred by others; and all children rated gender-variant children as less happy. Boys and girls expressed preferences for boy-typed and girl-typed activities, respectively. Parental endorsement of femininity was particularly associated with more positive appraisals of feminine peers. Implications for future research are discussed.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: A. Natisha Nabbijohn
Language: English
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Gender equality
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3033328137