Children's nurturant interactions with their infant siblings: An exploration of gender differences and maternal socialization

In this study, 20 families with two parents, an infant under the age of 1 year, and one or two older siblings between the ages of 4 and 7 years, were observed in their homes. Each family was observed four times at approximately monthly intervals. Only data from the last three observations were reported. Two issues were being studied: gender differences in the interactions of the older child with the infant, and maternal socialization of the older child's nurturant interactions with the infant. Older girls interacted more with their infant siblings, particularly in a nurturant manner. There was virtually no evidence of direct maternal socialization of this gender difference.The research reported here was supported by a grant from the Purdue Research Foundation. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Atlanta, 1988. I would like to thank Cathy Fruchey, Larilynn Cole, Cheryl Kesterke and Ann Mensch for their assistance. I would also like to thank Mary Jo Rogers and Julia Haseleu for their work on the pilot project.