Sex Role Stereotypes: Developmental Aspects and Early Intervention

Abstract

A total of 122 children participated in 2 experiments that examined the utility of sumbolic modeling stimuli in modifying sex role stereotypes. Results disclosed that, while some aspects of sex role stereotypes are present at age 3, other aspects are acquired between the third and fourth year of life. Additionally, males were found to exhibit more stereotyped responses than females. As predicted, brief presentations of illustrated stories involving egalitarian sex role models reduced stereotypic thinking. Interaction effects revealed that an egalitarian literature presentation was more effective at age 5 than age 4 and more effective for females than males. Finally, egalitarian symbolic models in films p-oduced more enduring attitude change on several measures than similar models in picture books.