1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« Specifically, the present studies explored the emergence of gender stereotypes during the second year, when gender-typed behaviors and preferences have been first documented to appear. » (p. 169)

Questions/Hypothèses :
« It was hypothesized that by 24 months of age, children would demonstrate knowledge of gender-stereotyped adult activities that they had opportunities to observe in their homes. In both the first and second experiments, with the generalized imitation paradigm, adult activities were modeled using a gender-neutral toy (a stuffed monkey). » (p. 169)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
Experiment 1
Participants were 43 24-month-old children (21 boys, 22 girls), recruited from hospital birth lists. Their mean age was 24.5 months and ranged from 23.2 to 25.5 months. Children were from French-speaking and English-speaking families homes living in the greater Montreal area.
Experiment 2
Participants were 20 31-month-old boys, recruited in the same manner as in Experiment 1. Their mean age was 31.3 months (range 28.2 to 32.5 months).

Instruments :
Experiment 1 and experiment 2
- Nine activities: three masculine-stereotyped, three feminine-stereotyped, and three gender-neutral
- Two small, gendered dolls, one male and one female
- Questionnaire inquiring about the child’s exposure to the activities that were to be modeled in the study
- A coding scheme (developed for the present study)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« Toddlers’knowledge of the stereotyping of traditionally feminine and masculine household activities was examined in two experiments. The experiments used a generalized imitation paradigm which required toddlers (total N = 63) to select a male or female doll to imitate nine masculine, feminine and neutral activities (e.g., shaving, vacuuming, sleeping). In the first experiment, 24-month-old girls, but not boys, demonstrated knowledge of both feminine and masculine activities. Results from study 2 indicated that boys possess some knowledge of these stereotyped activities by the age of 31 months. The results of the two experiments suggested that knowledge about the gender stereotyping of familiar activities can be demonstrated in children as young as 24 months. » (p. 167)