The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

378 Chapter 10

and were more likely to intervene and to do

so quickly. Parents are less likely to supervise

boys than girls (Morrongiello, Klemencic, &

Corbett, 2008), and report being more will-

ing to leave boys alone for a few minutes at a

younger age compared to girls (Morrongiello,

Walpole, & McArthur, 2009). When mothers

were presented with hypothetical scenarios in

which their children misbehaved in a way that

could pose a risk for injury (e.g., climbing on

the counters), mothers focused on discipline

more than safety for boys and safety more

than discipline for girls (Morrongiello &

Hogg, 2004). These results are shown in

Figure 10.9. Mothers also reacted to boys’ be-

havior with anger and to girls’ behavior with

disappointment, believing that there was little

that they could do to change boys’ behavior.

For all of these reasons, it is not a sur-

prise that boys sustain more injuries than girls.

Boys are more likely than girls to suffer nonfa-

tal and fatal injuries during childhood (Borse

et al., 2008). The sex difference is similar

across Whites, Blacks, Asians, and American

parent report, or observation (Morrongiello &

Lasenby-Lessard, 2007). There are a num-

ber of reasons for this difference. Some rea-

sons have to do with characteristics of girls

and boys. Girls perceive situations as riskier

than boys (Hillier & Morrongiello, 1998).

When facing a risky situation, girls are more

likely to ask themselves “Will I get hurt?”

and boys are more likely to ask themselves

“How hurt will I get?” Emotions also play a

role in these sex differences. Boys are more

likely than girls to associate risk-taking be-

havior with excitement (Morrongiello &

Mattheis, 2007). When girls and boys were

asked to select the highest height at which

they would cross a balance beam, boys not

only selected a higher height but expressed

more excitement, whereas girls expressed

more fear. And, excitement predicted greater

risk-taking behavior, whereas fear predicted

less risk-taking behavior. When asked to

choose which path they would take to a des-

tination, with paths varying in the risky ac-

tivity required, boys chose riskier paths than

girls because they found the paths more

fun and more convenient (Morrongiello &

Dawber, 2004). Girls were more likely to

choose paths that they viewed as safe. Boys are

also more likely than girls to attribute an in-

jury to bad luck rather than their own behav-

ior (Morrongiello & Lasenby-Lessard, 2007),

which means that injuries will not necessarily

deter them from repeating the behavior. Inter-

estingly, parents make those same sex-specific

attributions (Morrongiello & Hogg, 2004).

Parents—both mothers and fathers—

also are more likely to encourage risk-taking

behavior in boys than girls (Morrongiello &

Lasenby-Lessard, 2007). In one study, par-

ents were shown a video of children on a

playground and asked what they would say

(Morrongiello & Dawber, 2000). Mothers of

girls were more likely to warn of injury risk

FIGURE 10.9 Parents were more likely to em-

phasize concerns with safety than discipline for girls’

risky behavior but more likely to emphasize discipline

than concerns with safety for boys’ risky behavior.

Source: Adapted from Morrongiello and Hogg

(2004).

Male Female

Safety Discipline Safety Discipline

Emphasis

0.1

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.5

0.7

0.3

0.8

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