Faculty Publications

Who Cares About Being Gentle? The Impact Of Social Identity And The Gender Of One's Friends On Children's Display Of Same-Gender Favoritism

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Gender norms, In-group, Masculinity, Social identity

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Sex Roles

Volume

63

Issue

11

First Page

820

Last Page

832

Abstract

This research assessed children's same-gender favoritism by examining whether children value traits descriptive of their own gender more than traits descriptive of the other gender. We also investigated whether children's proportion of same-gender friends relates to their same-gender favoritism. Eighty-one third and fourth grade children from the Midwest and West Coast of the U. S. rated how well 19 personality traits describe boys and girls, and how important each trait is for their gender to possess. Results replicate and extend past trait assignment research by demonstrating that both genders valued same-gender traits significantly more than other-gender traits. Results also indicated that boys with many same-gender friends derogated feminine-stereotyped traits, which has implications for research on masculinity norms within male-dominated peer groups. © 2010 The Author(s).

Department

Department of Psychology

Original Publication Date

12-1-2010

DOI of published version

10.1007/s11199-010-9843-x

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