| Abstract: | From 1969 to 1974, Developmental Psychology, but not Child Development , specified that authors analyze for sex differences. The authors examined 503 studies published in Child Development and Developmental Psychology in 1971 and 1975. Sex of senior author, subjects and experimenter(s) were recorded for each study. If subjects of both sexes were used, the presence or absence of the following were noted: (a) analysis of sex differences; (b) hypotheses regarding sex differences; (c) mention of subjects' sex in the abstract. For single-sex-subject studies, mention of subjects' sex in the discussion or conclusion was noted. Using these data as dependent variables, chi-square analyses were performed comparing: (a) the two journals; (b) 1971 and 1975 authors; and (c) male and female authors. The findings were: (a) More attention was paid to sex in Developmental Psychology when the journal had a written editorial policy regarding this factor; (b) Evidence was mixed for increasing awareness of sex as a variable between 1971 and 1975; (c) Female authors were more aware of sex than were male authors in 1971 but not in 1975; (d) In both years, authors used own-sex subjects and experimenters more than those of the opposite sex; (e) Developmental psychologists, as compared to psychologists in other areas previously examined, were more sensitive to sex as a variable. |
