New morbidity-problems and peer relations in a sample of Swedish primary school children: A follow-up from the first to third grade

The stability in the new morbidity-problem domains motor skills, reading/writing ability, behavioral–psychological–social function and concentration ability in school, and the stability of peer status and peer preferences as well as relationships between peer status and problems among boys and girls was studied in a sample of 81 Swedish primary school children. The children were rated by teachers and made peer nominations six months after school start, and in the third grade.
There was considerable stability in problems, while the stability in peer status was modest. There were marked gender differences. Boys in contrast to girls improved in motor skills from the first to the third grade, and boys had more concentration problems and multiple problems than girls in both grade 1 and 3. In the first grade, low peer acceptance in boys was accompanied by low motor skill. In the third grade, low peer acceptance in boys was accompanied by deficient concentration ability and externalizing problems. For girls, few relationships between low peer acceptance and problems emerged. Various explanations for these findings are discussed.     

Children's stereotypes of overweight children

The aim of the present study was to assess the content, favourability and generality of perceptions held about overweight children. The research also addressed whether anti‐fat biases change with age and whether they result from a strong association between overweight and bad behaviour, a weak association between overweight and good behaviour or both. Seventy‐three 5‐ to 10‐year‐olds were read aloud a number of short stories containing characters demonstrating high and low athletic, academic, artistic and social abilities. They were then shown eight different pairs of cards; each pair comprised a drawing of an average‐weight and an overweight version of the same child. Participants were then asked to point to the pictures that looked most like the good and bad characters in the stories. The results demonstrated that 5‐ to 8‐year‐olds were significantly less likely to choose an overweight picture to represent the characters with high athletic, academic, artistic and social ability. In contrast, 9‐ to 10‐year‐olds were significantly less likely to choose an overweight figure to represent the characters with high athletic ability, did not differentiate on the basis of weight for the academic and artistic stories, and were significantly more likely to choose an overweight picture as having high social ability.     

Sex trait stereotypes in Malaysian children

To examine the development of sex trait stereotypes in Malaysia, 40 5-year-old and 40 8-year-old children were tested with the Sex Stereotype Measurement II. Data were subjected to an item-level analysis, a 2×2×2 mixed design analysis of variance, and cross-cultural comparisons. Results revealed that (1) stereotyping increases with age (p.005), (2) male traits are identified more correctly than female traits (p.005), and (3) boys are more familiar with the male stereotype than are girls (p.025). Cross-cultural comparisons indicate that, relative to 23 other countries, Malaysian 5 year olds produce high stereotype scores but that data from 8 year olds fall more within the median range. The results are interpreted in terms of cognitive development and socialization patterns in Malaysia's multiracial developing society.This research is adapted from a paper presented at the Asian Regional Workshop on Child and Adolescent Development, Bangkok, February 1982.     

Challenging gender stereotypes: Theory of mind and peer group dynamics

To investigate the social cognitive skills related to challenging gender stereotypes, children (N = 61, 3–6 years) evaluated a peer who challenged gender stereotypic norms held by the peer's group. Participants with false belief theory of mind (FB ToM) competence were more likely than participants who did not have FB ToM to expect a peer to challenge the group's stereotypes and propose that the group engage in a non‐stereotypic activity. Further, participants with FB ToM rated challenging the peer group more positively. Participants without FB ToM did not differentiate between their own and the group's evaluation of challenges to the group's stereotypic norms, but those with ToM competence asserted that they would be more supportive of challenging the group norm than would the peer group. Results reveal the importance of social‐cognitive competencies for recognizing the legitimacy of challenging stereotypes, and for understanding one's own and other group perspectives.     

Social interaction,observation, and stereotypes as determinants of differentiation in peer ratings

The goal of this investigation was to discover the relationships among peer rating items under three rating information conditions. One hundred British managers made peer ratings based on social interaction, observation, and sterotype information. These data were factor analyzed (using both simultaneous and independent factor solutions) to assess differentiation in each condition. By several criteria, ratings based on interaction were different from ratings based on observation or ratings based on stereotypes. A second set of data was submitted to an independent factor analysis to validate the reported findings. The results of initial and validation data are similar, though not, of course, identical. Implications for future research and behavior-based ratings are discussed.     

The effect of within-pair variation and instructions on the transposition behavior of kindergarten and third grade children

The reported studies examined the test choices of kindergarten and third-grade children in the two-stimulus size transposition problem in response to variations in (a) the magnitude of the size difference between two objects (the within-pair difference), (b) the distance between training and test pairs (“near” and “far” tests), and (c) verbal instructions. It was hypothesized that third graders would be sensitive to variations in the degree of the difference between two objects and to instructions which identify specific aspects of the stimulus array. In contrast, kindergarteners were expected to base their choices upon the direction of the difference, and thus transpose regardless of within-pair variations and instructions. Results generally confirmed these expectations, supporting the notion that children at these ages differ in their organization of the stimulus field and in the scale of measurement they apply to objects differing in size.     

Pre-event stereotypes and misinformation effects in young children

This study examined the effects of pre-event stereotypes on 5-year-old children's memories for the visit of an adult male to their school. Children were read three stories in which this man was described in positive, negative, or neutral terms. Following the visit, children were read post-event narratives which contained positive and negative misinformation that was consistent and inconsistent with the pre-event stereotype. Children were then given a recognition test under inclusion and exclusion instructions. Negative misinformation was correctly rejected more often than positive misinformation. Children given a positive pre-event stereotype were more likely to accept positive misinformation than those in the other stereotype conditions. Process dissociation analyses revealed that recollection for negative misinformation was larger than for positive misinformation; the opposite was the case for familiarity.     

Illusory correlation and the maintenance of sex role stereotypes in children

The present work tested the hypothesis that children would perceive illusory correlations leading to greater recall of events that confirm rather than disconfirm sex-stereotypic beliefs. In the study, 33 second graders and 34 fourth graders were shown slides of adult males and females engaged in traditional sex role activities, nontraditional activities, and gender-neutral activities. Frequency judgments of the occurrence of each Stimulus Type x Stimulus Sex category served as the dependent measure. In actuality there was no correlation between gender and activity type in the stimulus set. As expected, both age groups perceived illusory correlations, giving the highest frequency estimates to traditional stimuli and the lowest frequency estimates to nontraditional stimuli. Individual differences in level of stereotyped attitudes had no effect on this cognitive bias. Results are discussed in terms of gender schema theory and the maintenance of sex role stereotypes.This research was supported by grants to the first author from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. We wish to express our appreciation to Lynn Liben and Margaret Signorella for the use of their stimuli. We would also like to thank the administrators, teachers, and students whose cooperation made the project possible. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 59th annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Buffalo, NY, April 1988.     

The development of classificatory skills and sex-trait stereotypes in children

The development of knowledge of sex-trait stereotypes was related to changes in classification skills during childhood. Children of 4, 6, and 8 years of age were tested for knowledge of sex-trait stereotypes on the Williams, Bennett, and Best measure; ability to reclassify sex-traits; and on measures of consistent sorting and reclassification. Knowledge of sex-trait stereotypes improved with age and with performance on the consistent sorting task. Subjects who were able to recognize that sex traits are manifested by persons of both genders were older and more likely to pass measures of nonsocial reclassification. Claims that some males manifest feminine behavior did not change with age. The findings suggest that at first, traits are classified as stereotypical of a gender category; but with increasing cognitive level, these traits become less stereotypical of gender.This study was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH 29863 to Robert Leahy. The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Jill Bresler in the collection and scoring of data.     

Knowledge of sex-role stereotypes in children aged 3 to 5

When do children begin acquiring adult sex-role stereotypes? This study examined the sex-stereotypic knowledge of four groups of young children: 3.0–3.5, 3.5–4.0, 4.0–4.5, and 4.5–5.0 years old. To assess the development of their knowledge, the same children were retested six months later. Evidence of sex-stereotyping appeared at 3.5 years and increased both across the different age groups and within the same children as they aged. The children's knowledge encompassed both feminine and masculine traits, and was related to general intellectual development. These results are interpreted as supporting cognitive-developmental theories that children learn sex-role stereotypes as structural rules for organizing and understanding behaviors present in their social environment.Thanks are due to Diane Bulow, Grace Horsman, Barbara Kutner, Joan Strutts, and the other teachers for aiding our access to children enrolled in their centers. Moira Davidson, Beth Kaplan, Keith Miller, Suzanna Nam, Dan Birecree, Sara Corse, Jim Gilbert, Jean Merenda, Anna Steiner, and Steve Tannenbaum served graciously as testers.     

Psychometric characteristics and norms for disadvantaged third and fourth grade children on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children

The STAIC was administered to 1,522 third and fourth grade Black disadvantaged children from a large metropolitan school district. Although A-State scores were equivalent to the original normative sample, A-Trait levels for boys and girls were found to be higher. Similar alpha coefficients were observed for the A-State scale; the A-Trait scale yielded slightly lower alpha coefficients than the original sample. Norms for the STAIC scales were extended to the third grade level. The small differences between the present study and the original normative study were attributed to differences in population. The STAIC provides a valid and reliable means to measure trait and state anxiety in children of elementary school age.Portions of these data were presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, August 1974. The authors wish to express their appreciation to Charles D. Spielberger for substantial contributions to earlier versions of this paper.     

The relationship between self-complexity and depressive symptoms in third and seventh grade children: a short-term longitudinal study

The goal of this study was to test the diathesis–stress component of Linville's and Morgan and Janoff-Bulman's models of the relationship between self-complexity and depressive symptoms in a sample of third and seventh grade children (P. W. Linville, 1985, 1987; H. J. Morgan & Janoff-Bulman, 1994). The procedure involved an initial assessment of self-complexity and depressive symptoms. The procedure also involved a follow-up assessment, 10 weeks later, in which depressive symptoms and the occurrence of negative events were assessed. Contrary to hypotheses, neither high levels of total nor positive self-complexity served as a buffer against the onset of depressive symptoms following the occurrence of negative events. In line with hypotheses, however, high levels of negative self-complexity interacted with the occurrence of negative events to predict increases in depressive symptoms in seventh but not third grade children.     

The effects of verbal approval and disapproval upon the performance of third and fourth grade children on four subtests of the Wechsler intelligence scale for children

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of three modes of test administration upon the performance of third and fourth grade boys and girls on four subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Ninety Ss were randomly assigned to three groups, two experimental and one control. Each of the three groups was subdivided to enable two examiners to administer the same treatment. The Approval group was given verbal approval after the first response in each subtest and between subtests. Verbal disapproval was given in the same sequence for the Disapproval group. The Neutral group received the standard test administration without any intended approval or disapproval. For both examiners the Approval group performed significantly higher (p < .05) than the Disapproval group; the Neutral group performed higher than the Disapproval group and lower than the Approval group, although the differences were slightly less than significant at the .05 level.     

Teacher-student interactions in fifth grade classrooms: Relations with children's peer behavior

This study investigates the extent to which teacher-student interactions in fifth grade classrooms are associated with peer behavior in fifth grade, accounting for prior peer functioning. Participants included 894 fifth grade students from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. The quality of teacher-student interactions (emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support) was assessed through classroom observations in fifth grade; peer behavior was assessed via teacher report (prosocial behavior, aggression, relational aggression, and asocial behavior) in fourth and fifth grades and classroom observations (sociable/cooperative peer behavior) in third and fifth grades. Multiple regression analyses revealed that children in fifth grade classrooms with higher quality organization interactions had more positive observed interactions with their peers and lower teacher ratings of aggression and relational aggression. In addition, emotional support interactions were related to higher teacher ratings of prosocial behavior. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.     

Facial expression stereotypes of rich and poor adults and children

Cognitive Processing - Facial expression stereotypes can affect the perception of other people’s facial expressions. This study examined facial expression stereotypes of poor and rich adults...     

Defensiveness predicts peer rejection of depressed children

The present study examined the ironic possibility that defensiveness, far from suppressing depression and staving off negative interpersonal consequences, is actually associated with interpersonal difficulties (e.g. peer rejection). Participants were 72 youth psychiatric inpatients (aged 7-17 years, mean+/-SD 13.18+/-2.59 years), who completed self-report measures of defensiveness and depression. Chart diagnoses were available, and peer rejection ratings were collected. Results indicated that depressed children with a defensive style obtained the highest peer rejection ratings, other children, including depressed but non-defensive children, were not as negatively rated by peers. Implications regarding self-presentation and depression, as well as regarding clinical work with depressed people, were discussed.     

When stereotypes get in the way: stereotypes obstruct stereotype-inconsistent trait inferences

There is a growing body of evidence indicating that people spontaneously make trait inferences while observing the behavior of others. The present article reports a series of 5 experiments that examined the influence of stereotypes on the spontaneous inference of traits. Results consistently showed weaker spontaneous trait inferences for stereotype-inconsistent behavioral information than for stereotype-consistent and stereotype-neutral information. Taken together, the current results suggest that specific spontaneous trait inferences become obstructed by inhibitory processes when behavior is inconsistent with an already activated stereotype. These findings are discussed in relation to stereotype maintenance processes and recent models of attribution in social judgment.