The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

156 Chapter 5

mothers were more likely to reward dis-

plays of emotion and magnify emotional re-

sponses among adolescents, whereas fathers

were more likely to ignore, distract from, or

dismiss emotional displays (Klimes-Dougan

et al., 2007). To the extent children model

same-sex parent behavior, girls learn to be

more comfortable expressing emotion than

boys do. In general, females are socialized

to express their emotions, whereas males are

socialized to conceal their emotions. The one

exception is anger. Parents are more accept-

ing of boys’ than girls’ expressions of anger

(Zahn-Waxler & Polanichka, 2004).

Gender-Role Beliefs. Are parents with

nontraditional gender roles more likely to

have children with nontraditional gender-role

attitudes? A meta-analytic review of the lit-

erature showed there was a small effect of

parents’ gender-role beliefs on children’s gen-

der-related cognitions (d=+.33; Tenenbaum

& Lemper, 2002). The correspondence was

greater between parents’ beliefs and children’s

beliefs about others (i.e., stereotypes) rather

than parents’ beliefs and children’s perceptions

of their own masculine and feminine traits.

Aside from parents, siblings may influence

gender-role behavior. One study showed that

boys with older brothers and girls with older

sisters were more sex-typed than only children

(Rust et al., 2000). In addition, boys with older

sisters and girls with older brothers were the

least sex-typed and most androgynous of all.

The Influence of Other People

If parents treat boys and girls in a fairly simi-

lar way, who treats them differently? One

possibility is that it is other people, such as

relatives, teachers, friends, and neighbors.

Recall that we are more likely to stereotype

people we do not know very well. Thus

parents gain more target-based information

as children grow older; thus they are less likely

to rely on category-based (stereotypical) in-

formation. The question remains as to the

impact of these very early differences in boys’

and girls’ environments and interactions with

parents. Exposure to certain classes of toys

could lead to later preferences for those toys.

Does exposure to some kinds of toys foster

particular skills that might advantage one sex

over the other? If you think the toys that boys

and girls have today are similar, visit a nearby

toy store: The aisles of girls’ toys are notice-

able from 50 feet away because of the blinding

pink packaging. Examine girls’ and boys’ toys

by visiting a toy store with Do Gender 5.3.

Emotion. One area in which parents may

treat children differently is emotion. Two

studies showed that there are differences

between mothers’ and fathers’ responses to

emotion. One study of adolescents showed

that mothers were more emotionally expres-

sive to preadolescents than fathers when re-

calling a past family event (Bohanek, Marin, &

Fivush, 2008). Another study showed that

DO GENDER 5.3

Toy Store Visit

Visit a toy store or the children’s section of

a department store. Take notes on what you

see. Can you tell which are the girls’ toys

and which are the boys’ toys? If so, how?

Pay attention to location in the store, pack-

aging, color, and the nature of the toy. How

are the toys different? How are the toys

similar? Compare these toys to the ones you

had during your childhood. Observe the

shoppers, particularly their behavior relat-

ing to gender.

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