Age patterns in the development of children's gender-role stereotypes

This study examined the effect of the positive/negative quality of a gender-role stereotype on the age at which very young children are willing to associate the behavior with a member of a particular sex. The results indicate that, in comparison to 5- and 6-year olds, 4-year-old children are reluctant (1) to associate positive gender-role stereotypes with opposite-sex figures as well as (2) to accept negative stereotypes as characteristic of their own sex. In addition, a majority of the children in the sample associated with their own sex the gender-role stereotypes that are highly valued in the preschool and the school environment.