MALE ADULTS AND CHILD GENDER-STEREOTYPED BEHAVIOR

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The need for broadening children's gender-role options has been highlighted by a number of recent findings demonstrating the negative effects of traditional, inflexible sex-role socialization on boys and girls. In a recent series of studies attempting to modify gender-stereotypical behavior in children, the present investigators found, unexpectedly, that male testers are considerably more effective than females in eliciting gender- atraditional behavior from children. The purpose of the proposed research program is to explore the parameters influencing this effect in a more direct and systematic fashion. A conceptual model delineating these parameters and their relationships provides the rationale for the studies to be conducted. A series of five studies is proposed, using children in middle grade school. These studies will permit us to assess the generality o the "male examiner effect" as well as to specify the conditions under which it occurs, and variables which may be related to it. The first two studies are concerned with how male and female adults interacting with children are viewed, and what kinds of gender- role ascriptions are attributed to them. These studies will obtain data pertinent to the issues of whether males are perceived as more reinforcing and/or powerful, and whether such perceptions interact with variations in the examiner's behavior, such as degree of warmth and level of gender-role traditionality. The third study will explore whether the effectiveness of males is limited to the reinforcement of opposite-sex associated objects, or whether it affects same-sex and gender-neutral associations as well. The fourth study will look at the role of novelty as a factor that has been found to increase both attention and recall in adults. If novelty is a factor, children with male teachers may be less susceptible to a male examiner than those with female teachers. The final study will explore a child's susceptibility to gender- atraditional communication as a function of both examiner and subject characteristics. The child's pre-existing gender-role preferences will be assessed in this study, together with their perceptions about their parents as gender-role socializers. Additionally, whether male and female examiners express either gender-traditional or atraditional interests will be varied. The cumulative data to be obtained in these studies will contribute both theoretical knowledge about socialization processes, and practical information about how to plan more effective intervention efforts.