Sex role concepts in eight- and twelve-year olds

Abstract.— Children's perception of sex roles was sought, taking Piaget's cognitive developmental theory and the role theory of Sarbin as points of departure. It was proposed that sex role perception could be described on two levels. The first level entailed a sex role enactment based upon superficial understanding, whereas the second level involved a sex role taking based upon a deeper understanding.
The measuring device consisted of a standardized interview of 20 narratives, 10 covering the first level 10 the second level. Each narrative described the objectively observable behavior (level 1) or the supposedly constant personality characteristics (level 2) of a typical boy or girl. The subjects, 8- and 12-year olds, listened to each story and then were asked whether a typical boy, girl, or both would have performed the behavior or expressed the personality quality. The results suggest that both 8-and 12-year-old children understand the superficial as well as the deep aspects of sex roles. However, the younger children accept the sex role differences, whereas the older children are starting to question them. There was also evidence of a developmental difference in experiencing sex roles between boys and girls. The 8-year-old girls in the study most strongly recognized the sex role differences and therefore were the most rigid in their sex role conceptions. The 12-year-old girls were the most liberal group in their approach to sex roles. The boys fell in-between, with small developmental differences.