Children's and adults' sex-stereotyped perceptions of infants

Sex-stereotyped perceptions of infants were examined in children (aged 5, 9, and 15 years), college students, and the children's mothers. The children and college students as a group rated labeled female infants as littler and as more beautiful, nice, and soft than labeled male infants, with no age changes in sex-stereotyped perceptions. The mothers as a group were not influenced by the labeled sex manipulation. The 5-year-olds rated the infants the least favorably and the mothers rated the infants the most favorably. Girls rated the infants as more beautiful than the boys did. Finally, the mothers with higher masculinity scores and their sons showed less sex-stereotyped perceptions of the infants than mothers with lower masculinity scores and their sons.     

Children's perceptions of relative competence in sex-typed occupations

Children ranging in age from 5 1/2 to 9 years old selected either a male or a female doll in response to questions about who would be “better” at an occupation. The occupations were selected so that half were female and half were male sex-typed occupations. The responses indicated that children have clear sex-typed expectations concerning occupational competence. While the differences between the “female” and “male” occupations were significant at each age level, the interaction revealed an increasing adherence to the stereotypes with increasing age. A sex of child main effect was produced by the tendency of female children to select the female doll more often than did male children. The results are interpreted as demonstrating that children's perceptions of these occupations reflect an evaluative bias and not simply a recognition of adult stereotypes or actual rates of employment in the positions.     

Children's perceptions of parental behaviors

Children's perceptions of positive and negative parental behaviors were assessed using a newly-developed scale, the Parent Perception Inventory (PPI). Reliability and validity were examined across a sample of 75 children aged 5 to 13 using additional measures administered to the children and measures completed by their parents. The scale showed acceptable levels of internal consistency. No effects of children's age were apparent, but effects of the child's and parent's gender were found. Boys reported more positive parental behaviors, particularly for fathers, and children reported more negative (disciplinary) behaviors by mothers. PPI scores were predictably related to child's self-concept and behavior problems (convergent validity) and generally unrelated to measures of child's achievement (discriminant validity). As predicted by family systems theory, children from nondistressed families viewed their parents as behaving more similarly on the PPI than did children from distressed families.     

Children's perceptions of babyfaced adults

Drawing on McArthur and Baron's (1983) ecological theory of social perception, the present research examined younger and older children's ability to differentiate male and female adults who varied in the babyishness of their facial appearance. Children's perceptions of the targets' dominance and warmth were also assessed. Systematic effects were found on all measures and were qualified by targets' sex and children's age group.     

Children's perceptions of dangerous substances

The aim of this research was to examine age differences in children's perceptions of dangerous substances. Children's responses to photographs of child models encountering alcohol, a syringe, medicine, glue, and household bleach were coded for recognition of substance, awareness of potential danger, and understanding of danger or harm. Responses from 59 children (28 girls and 31 boys, who were all children of the required age in an urban primary school) were compared across three age groups (6-7 years, 8-9 years, and 10-11 years). 15 to 18 of 20 children in each of three age groups recognised all the dangerous substances. Significant differences across age groups were found for awareness of the potential harm from alcohol, glue, and medicine, but not for the syringe or bleach. Children reported less serious consequences from ingesting alcohol than other substances, the consequences of sniffing glue tended to be confused with the sticking properties of glue, children's understanding of transmission of germs, disease, and AIDS through syringes was varied, and there was a tendency among the older children to underestimate the potential harm of self-administration of medicines. Findings were discussed in relation to children's concepts of danger and safety education.     

Children's perceptions of gender discrimination

Children (N = 76; ages 5-10 years) participated in a study designed to examine perceptions of gender discrimination. Children were read scenarios in which a teacher determined outcomes for 2 students (1 boy and 1 girl). Contextual information (i.e., teacher's past behavior), the gender of the target of discrimination (i.e., student), and the gender of the perpetrator (i.e., teacher) were manipulated. Results indicated that older children were more likely than younger children to make attributions to discrimination when contextual information suggested that it was likely. Girls (but not boys) were more likely to view girls than boys as victims of discrimination, and children with egalitarian gender attitudes were more likely to perceive discrimination than were their peers.     

Children's perceptions of occupational sex stereotypes

Female and male children ranging in age from 21/2 to 8 years were asked to indicate for each of 10 occupations whether a male or a female adult would be most likely to engage in the occupation. Five traditionally male and five traditionally female occupations were presented in random orders. The results indicated that the children at each age level made a significant distinction between the two occupational groupings, with the extent of the distinction increasing with age level. There were no significant effects involving the sex of the children. The results were interpreted as indicating the learning of adult stereotypes concerning the sex appropriateness of occupations by children as young as 21/2; years old. The potential implications of this sex stereotype for actual career decisions and aspirations were discussed.The authors would like to express their appreciation to the principal, M. Brady Thomas, and the teachers at Hickory Grove Elementary School for their help during the study. The order of authorship was randomly determined.     

Adolescents' perceptions of the causes and consequences of success in sex-linked occupations

Junior and senior high school students rated the extent to which occupational success is attributable to internal versus external factors and the extent to which it results in negative versus positive outcomes; 144 seventh through twelfth graders responded to one of six success cues in which either a male or female character was depicted achieving success as a doctor, nurse, or department head. Junior high girls assigned a more positive valence to success than junior high boys (p<.001), with no sex differences among the senior high subjects. Girls of both age groups were more likely to rate success as difficult to achieve (p<.01) and requiring more effort (p<.05), while boys were more likely to indicate that success was a function of luck (p<.01). Socialization influences which may have mediated the age and sex differences are discussed.     

Children's perceptions of popular and unpopular peers: a multimethod assessment

Children's perceptions of popular and unpopular peers were examined in 2 studies. Study 1 examined the degree to which 4th-8th-grade boys and girls (N = 408) nominated the same peers for multiple criteria. Children viewed liked others as prosocial and disliked others as antisocial but associated perceived popularity with both prosocial and antisocial behavior. In Study 2, a subset of the children from Study 1 (N = 92) described what makes boys and girls popular or unpopular. Children described popular peers as attractive with frequent peer interactions, and unpopular peers as unattractive, deviant, incompetent, and socially isolated. In both studies, children's perceptions varied as a function of the gender, age, and ethnicity of the participants.     

Children's racial bias in perceptions of others' pain

Previous research indicates that American adults, both Black and White, assume a priori that Black people feel less pain than do White people (Trawalter, Hoffman, & Waytz, 2012, PLoS One, 7 [11], 1–8). The present work investigates when in development this bias emerges. Five‐, 7‐, and 10‐year‐olds first rated the amount of pain they themselves would feel in 10 situations such as biting their tongue or hitting their head. They then rated the amount of pain they believed two other children – a Black child and a White child, matched to the child's gender – would feel in response to the same events. We found that by age 7, children show a weak racial bias and that by age 10, they show a strong and reliable racial bias. Consistent with research on adults, this bias was not moderated by race‐related attitudes or interracial contact. This finding is important because knowing the age of emergence can inform the timing of interventions to prevent this bias.     

Children's perceptions of and beliefs about facial maturity

The author studied children's and young adult's perceptions of facial age and beliefs about the sociability, cognitive ability, and physical fitness of adult faces. From pairs of photographs of adult faces, participants (4-6 years old, 8-10 years old, 13-16 years old, and 19-23 years old) selected the one face that appeared younger, older, better at remembering, smarter, more caring, friendlier, healthier, or stronger. Pairings consisted of faces at different adult age levels (young adults, middle-age adults, older adults, and very old adults.) Older participants were more sensitive to age differences in older faces and to faces more proximal in age. Children and adolescents believed that very old adult faces appeared to be less cognitively able than middle-aged faces (for children) and young adult faces (for adolescents). Very old male faces were judged to be less sociable. Old and very old faces were judged to be less physically fit than young and middle-aged faces. Significant positive correlation coefficients were found between the youngest children's abilities to discriminate between the adult faces of proximal age and youthful biases when selecting faces appearing to be more sociable and cognitively able. The results are discussed with respect to the development of facial information-processing skills and how those skills may be associated with the development of and changes in beliefs about older adults.     

Children's perceptions of unfair reward and punishment.

Being able to judge the fairness of a personal encounter and having an appreciation of the associated feelings are important components of prosocial development. This study explored a common feature of everyday experience: unfair reward and unfair punishment. Scenarios depicting 4 possible variants of unfairness were read to children aged 9 to 11 years, who then made judgments regarding the degree of unfairness and the nature and strength of the feelings experienced by the characters. Our hypothesis that children with classroom conduct problems would judge the non-receipt of a deserved reward as worse than the receipt of an undeserved punishment was not confirmed. This differentiation, however, did prove to be characteristic of boys in general, but not girls. Being asked to think of unfair things that had actually happened did not appear to influence the children's responses to hypothetical unfair situations, but did reveal that children experience and remember a variety of unfair events in everyday family contexts. This study provides evidence that children actively monitor the receipt of social reward and punishment according to their perception of fairness.     

Children's perceptions and experiences of care giving: A focus group study

The stress of care giving for spouses and adult children has been extensively documented in the empirical literature. More recently attention has been paid to children's involvement in family care giving. Qualitative studies in the social welfare field have highlighted the social restrictions caring places upon children. There remains a need, however, to understand what children are thinking and feeling in an effort to cope with their care-giving demands. This study used a focus group methodology and individual interviews to explore the experiences of 17 young carers aged between 10 and 16. Thematic analysis was employed to identify themes relating to the nature of stressors, their appraisal of them, and the coping strategies they use to manage the task of caring.     

Children's perceptions of male and female principals and teachers

This study examined the influence of male and female school principals on first graders' perceptions of school principals and teachers. Participants were 190 male and female first graders who were shown four videotapes depicting all combinations of male and female teachers and principals. Results showed that children were accurate in their labeling of the videotapes regardless of whether the roles presented were stereotypical or counterstereotypical, and regardless of the sex of their principal. On rating scales, children with female principals were more nonstereotypical than children with male principals. Maternal employment was unrelated to their perceptions of teachers and principals. The results suggest that first-grade children do not hold overly stereotypic views and that the presence of both sexes as models for the role of school principal can have a noticeable positive effect on children's perceptions.     

The latent structure of occupations

Triads of occupations were given to 1300 high-school pupils of both sexes in order to find the affinities of the occupations and the values they used to arrive at the affinities. The values used to perceive occupations come from the subject; nevertheless they could be categorized into a scheme of 20 different values, with the residue category containing less than 1% of the answers. In accordance with previous research in this field, an almost universal structure of occupations was found. The following variables had no influence on the choice of occupational affinities: age, trend of study, SES, father's occupation, mother's occupation, vocational maturity, and preferred occupation. Only the pupils of one school were significantly different in affiliating the occupations in the triads. Furthermore, girls perceive the world of occupations more uniformly than boys.Underlying this universal structure of occupations there exists a latent structure, specific to each individual, which explains why the world of occupations is seen in the way it is. This latent structure of occupations is influenced by the individual's specific background.     

Development of Children's perceptions of internal locus of control: A cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis

Elementary school children between the ages of eight and thirteen were administered the Children's Nowicki/Strickland Locus of Control Scale annually for three years. As predicted, children's mean locus of control scores were found to be significantly different from one age group to the next (cross-sectional analysis) as well as from one year to the next (longitudinal analysis). Older children had significantly more internal scores than did younger children, and the same 97 children demonstrated significant increases in internal perceptions over each succeeding year. No significant sex differences were observed in this generally linear developmental trend. The study supports the hypothesis that increases in internal perceptions are associated with growing older. The data are explained using a confluent theoretical perspective drawing upon cognitive as well as behavioral theory.