The Influence of Sibling Gender Configuration on Maternal Attitudes about Gender Socialization and Children's Gender Development

Mothers of 3to 11-year-olds were less accepting of daughters' play and more accepting of sons' play with feminine toys and activities when the family had children of both genders. In turn, children with siblings of the other gender had less stereotyped interests and traits than children who did not. Introduction 1. Mothers’ own interests and adult gender-related attitudes were not different in different family types. 2. Mothers’ attitudes about masculine play were not different in families with different child gender configurations, and neither were children’s masculine characteristics. 3. BUT, when families contained children of both genders, girls had less feminine and boys had more feminine interests and traits, and mothers’ attitudes reflected a similar pattern. Results Method Participants The sample consisted of mothers (M age = 31.59; SD = 5.13) of 3to 11-year-old children (51 M; 68 F; M age = 6.92 years; SD = 2.74), reporting on one or more target children. Measures Pre-School Activities Inventory (PSAI; Golombok & Rust, 1993), a measure of children’s masculine and feminine interests and traits. We also examined masculine and feminine interests separately (PSAI-M & PSAI-F). The Child Gender Socialization Scale (CGSS; Blakemore & Hill, 2008): Measures parents’ attitudes about gender-related behaviors in their children. Occupations, Activities & Traits Scales (OAT; Liben & Bigler, 2002): Measures parents’ gender-related attitudes and preferences for activities and occupations. Procedure Parents completed the PSAI followed by the CGSS, and finally the OAT. Measures were completed online. Many theories, especially social cognitive theory (Bussey & Bandura, 1999), propose that experiences in the family contribute to the development of children’s gender-related interests and characteristics. And research (Fagot & Leinbach, 1995; Freeman, 2007; Tenenbaum & Leaper, 2002) shows that parents do have an impact. Siblings are also part of the family, and there is evidence that having siblings of the other gender (Rust et al., 2000) is related to less strongly gender stereotyped interests in both boys and girls. It has also been found (McHale, Crouter, & Whiteman, 2003) that having children of both genders interacts with parental attitudes in parents’ socialization behaviors. But much remains to be known about this process. We examined whether mothers’ interests and attitudes, especially attitudes about their children’s genderrelated traits, as well as if those traits themselves differed in families with children of both genders as compared to families with children of only one gender. Child Gender X Family Type (PSAI-F) F (1, 110) = 6.19 p < .02, η2 = .02 Conclusions Overall Gender-Typical Behavior (PSAI) Child Gender: F (1, 110) = 51.64, p < .001, η2 = .30 (Girls’ M = 44.92, SD = 13.91 ; Boys’ M = 59.94, SD = 11.05) Child Gender X Family Type: F (1, 110) = 14.39 p <.001, η2 = .08 Mothers’ Gender Socialization Attitudes Attitudes about their Children Playing with Traditional “Girls’” Toys (CGSS-Girls’ Toys) Child Gender: F (1, 112) = 73.96, p < .001, η2 = .40 (Girls’ M = 5.72, SD = .99; Boys’ M = 3.97, SD = 1.29) Child Gender X Family Type: F (1, 112) = 4,00 p < .05, η2 = .02 The Influence of Sibling Gender configuration on Maternal Attitudes about Gender Socialization and Children’s Gender Development Judith E. Owen Blakemore, Elizabeth L. Phillips, Manaal M. Sajid, Hina Batool, & Ashlin M. Long Indiana University – Purdue University, Fort Wayne Mothers' own masculine and feminine interests and attitudes (OAT scales) were not different in the various family types. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, May 2014 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 No other gender siblings Other gender siblings Ve ry n eg at iv e (1 ) t o ve ry p os iti ve ( 7 Maternal Evaluation of the Desirability of Child Playing with Traditional Feminine Toys and Activities (CGSS subscale) Boys Girls Attitudes about their Children Playing with Traditional “Boys'” Toys (CGSS-Boys’ Toys) Child Gender: F (1, 112) = 53.71, p < .001, η2 = .31 (Girls' M = 3.82, SD = 1.40; Boys' M = 5.58, SD = .94) Children's Gender-Related Interests and Traits Masculine Interests and Traits (PSAI-M) Child Gender: F (1, 110) = 101.61, p < .001, η2 = .48 (Girls' M = 31.58, SD = 6.80; Boys' M = 44.24, SD = 6.48) Feminine Interests and Traits (PSAI-F) Child Gender: F (1, 110) = 246.86, p < .001, η2 = .69 (Girls' M = 44.40, SD = 7.58; Boys' M = 24.96, SD = 5.57) 0 10 20 30 40 50 No other gender siblings Other gender siblings Sc or es o n Fe m in in e Ite m s on P SA I Children's Feminine Traits and Interests on the PSAI