Social dominance and play patterns among preschoolers: Gender comparisons

Gender differences in dominance and play among preschoolers were examined. Forty-eight children in girl-girl or girl-boy dyads engaged in masculine and feminine stereotyped activities. Girl-girl dyads displayed more cooperative play than girl-boy dyads. Adventure themes predominated in boys during both activities but in girls only during the masculine activity. Boys had higher functional play compared to girls while engaged in the feminine activity, and lower constructive play overall. Girls engaged in more dramatic play during the feminine activity whereas boys engaged in more dramatic play during the masculine activity. There was a trend for boys to refuse to follow the leads of girls during the masculine activity. Implications and interventions in play are discussed. The authors wish to express appreciation to the directors of the preschools that participated in this study. We would also like to thank Sheri Wilhite for her help in the coding of the data.