Observing gender roles among 2-year olds

Abstract

There are many different environmental factors at work that, together with young children functioning as active agents themselves, help to shape, establish and develop a child's gender identity and stereotypes about others. A daycare environment is an important catalyst in these effects, since children are exposed to their similarly developing peers for long periods of time in a structured atmosphere. To examine these effects in an empirical setting there was cooperation with a private international daycare in the greater Helsinki region, to observe eight children with an average age of 35 months during a 30-minute free playing session. For the participant contrived observation existing stereotypical traits related to femininity and masculinity were sought, combined with toy selection and playing partner selection preferences. This was followed up by a contrived situation in which the children were given a drinking cup during snack time of a color conflicting with their presumed stereotypical preference, to see if the degree of gender socialization would be a factor in the children's response. Due to preference for independent play or non-participation in the free playing session some children did not display many personality traits or playing partner preferences. The overall observation result indicated no strong gender socialization in terms of personality traits, but a clear preference for selecting same-sex playing partners. The contrived situation elicited no noteworthy response from the children in the group. From the results could be concluded that the age group has possibly not experienced socialization factors for a long enough time to show strict gender roles. Overall high well-being of the children in a private daycare could also form a buffer for mild negative events. The methodology of the observation and limited manipulation of the children's normal routine may also have played a role in the results. Furthermore, due to lack of cross-cultural similarities between gender stereotypes, personality traits from the Bem Sex Role Inventory are not the most valid determinant to tell how feminine or masculine a person is.