Sex Similarities in Behavior in a Seventh Grade Classroom

Abstract

Seventy hours were spent observing four sections of a seventh grade class over a period of 13 weeks. The general classroom behavior is decribed, focusing on differences and similarities between males and females. Generally, no set of rules could be found which clearly differentiated males and females. The major difference was that males performed a greater percentage of the total classroom behavior (68%) than females did (32%). When this factor was controlled for the gross activities recorded for females and males results were strikingly similar. There was an indication, however, that subtle differences did sometimes occur between the behavior patterns of males and those of females. This was particularly apparent in the "politeness" of their interactions and in their use of space. In these areas rules existed which were followed more often by one sex than the other, but these rules could be broken, within limits, without causing much disturbance. These findings have major implications for teachers who, based on the subtleness and flexibility of the rules for behaving found in the present research, may be more influential in developing sex-rules among adolescents than generally thought.