An experimental design was used to investigate the effect of sex-typed clothing, sex of child, and sex-role stereotype of subject on impressions of a preschool child's competencies and likelihood of engaging in sex-typed behaviors. Sex type of clothing and sex of child were manipulated using four black-and white photographs. Subjects were 100 females enrolled in an introductory early childhood education course. Data were analyzed using analyses of variance and the Neuman-Keul's test. The preschool girl was rated as more socially competent than the preschool boy. None of the independent variables influenced ratings of nonsocial competencies. For impressions of likelihood of engaging in sex-typed behaviors, subjects indicated that a female child was more likely to engage in feminine sex-typed activities than a male child and that a male child was more likely to engage in masculine sex-typed activities than a female child.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adams, G. (1978). Racial membership and physical attractiveness effects on preschool teachers' expectations. Child Study Journal , 8, 29-41.
2.
Brooks, J., & Lewis, M. (1974). Attachment behaviors in thirteen-month-old opposite sex twins. Child Development, 45, 243-247.
3.
Broverman, I., Vogel, S., Broverman, D., Clarkson, F., & Rosenkrantz, P. (1972). Sex role stereotypes: A current appraisal. Journal of Social Issues, 28, 59-78.
4.
Cahill, S. (1989). Fashioning males and females: Appearance management and the social reproduction of gender. Symbolic Interaction , 12, 281-298.
5.
Dion, K. (1977). The inventive value of physical attractiveness for young children. Psychology Dissertation Abstracts, 3, 67-70.
6.
Ebbeck, M. (1986). Equity for boys and girls: Some important issues . Early Child Development and Care, 18, 119-131.
7.
Eisenberg-Berg, N., Boothby, R., & Matson, T. (1979). Correlates of preschool girls' feminine and masculine toy preference. Developmental Psychology, 15, 354-355.
8.
Fagot, B. (1981). Male and female teachers: Do they treat boys and girls differently? Sex Roles, 7, 263-271.
9.
Fagot, B., & Patterson, G. (1969). An in vivo analysis of reinforcing contingencies for sex-role behaviors in the preschool child. Developmental Psychology,1,563-568.
10.
Gibbons, K. (1969). Communicative aspects of women's clothes and their relation to fashionability. British Journal of Social Clinical Psychology, 8, 301-312.
11.
Guttentag, M., & Bray, H. (1977). Teachers as mediators of sex role standards. In A. Sargent (Ed.), Beyond sex roles (pp. 395-411). St. Paul, MN: West.
12.
Hamid, P. (1968). Style of dress as a perceptual cue in impression formation. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 26, 904-906.
13.
Joffe, C. (1971). Sex-role socialization and the nursery school: As the twig is bent. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 3, 467-475.
14.
Johnson, B., Peters, K., & Nagasawa, R. (1975). Clothing style differences: Their effect on impressions of sociability. Home Economics Research Journal, 6, 58-63.
15.
Kaiser, S. (1989). Clothing and social organization of gender perception: A developmental approach. Clothing and Textile Research Journal , 7(2), 46-56.
16.
Kaiser, S., & Phinney, J. (1983). Sex typing of play activities by girls' clothing style: Pants versus skirts. Child Study Journal, 13, 115-132.
17.
Kaiser, S., Rudy, M., & Byfield, P. (1985). The role of clothing in sex-role socialization: Person perceptions versus overt behavior. Child Study Journal , 15, 83-97.
18.
Lein, L. (1986). The child day care crisis in Texas: An introduction to the problem. Dallas: United Way of Texas, Child Care Working Group.
19.
Leinhardt, G., Seewald, A., & Engel, M. (1979). Learning what's taught: Sex differences in instruction . Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 432-439.
20.
Lennon, S., & Miller, F. (1984). Salience of physical appearance in impression formation. Home Economics Research Journal, 13, 95-104.
21.
Leone, C., & Robertson, K. (1989). Some effects of sex-linked clothing and gender schema on the stereotyping of infants. Journal of Social Psychology , 129, 609-619.
22.
Livesley, W., & Bromley, D. (1973). Person perception in childhood and adolescence . New York: John Wiley.
23.
Mayer, R., & Belk, R. (1985). Fashion and impression formation among children . In M. Solomon (Ed.), The psychology of fashion (pp. 293-308). Lexington: D. C. Heath.
24.
Paek, S. (1986). Effects of garment style on the perception of personal traits. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 5(1), 10-16.
25.
Reed, J., & Taylor-Blunk, E. (1988). Young girls' clothing choices for sex-typed play activities. Texas Home Economist , 55(2), 5-6.
26.
Reed, J., Williams, S., Blunk, E., & Manford, L. (1989). Preschool girls' sex-typed clothing preferences according to race, socioeconomic indicators, and age. In C. Peck (Ed.), Research Abstracts, 1989 Annual Meeting of American Home Economics Association (p. 4). Bloomington, IN: Meridian Education.
27.
Sadker, M., & Sadker, D. (1972). Sexual discrimination in the elementary school . National Elementary Principal, 52(2), 41-45.
28.
Serbin, L. (1978). Teachers, peers and play preferences: An environmental approach to sex typing in the school. In B. Sprung (Ed.), Perspectives on non-sexist early childhood education (pp. 79-93). New York. Teachers College Press.
29.
Serbin, L., O'Leary, K., Kent, R., & Tonick, I. (1973). A comparison of teacher response to the pre-academic and problem behavior of boys and girls. Child Development , 44, 796-804.
30.
Shakin, M., Shakin, D., & Stemglanz, S. (1985). Infant clothing: Sex labeling for strangers. Sex Roles, 12, 955-964.
31.
Sheldon, G., & Stanley, M. (1989). Children's clothing as it relates to behavioral expectations. Association of College Professors of Textiles and Clothing proceedings, p. 95.
32.
Simpson, A., & Erickson, M. (1983). Teachers' verbal and nonverbal communication patterns as a function of teacher race, student gender, and student race. American Educational Research Journal, 20(2), 183-198.
33.
A vision for America's future. (1989). Washington, DC: Children's Defense Fund.
34.
White, B., Kaban, B., Marmor, J., & Shapiro, B. (1973). An instrument for the quantitative analysis of the stream of experience of one to six-year-old children. In B. White, & J. Watts (Eds.), Experience and environment. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
