The study was designed to examine 4and 6-year-old girls 'physical and verbal assertiveness in the presence of varying numbers of boys. Two girls from each of 12 classes were asked to play in three types ofplay groups: all girls, majority girls, and minority girls. Thefrequencies of physical and verbal assertion of the two target girls were compared across the three play groups. Girls' levels of physical and verbal assertiveness were unrelated to the percentage of boys in their play groups. Results suggest that girls'expression of assertiveness is highly dependent on the social context.
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