Social power and Whiting's status envy theory were compared for their effects on children's model preferences. Kindergarten children observed a show in which neuter gender puppets exhibited behaviors dictated by these theories. Statistical analyses showed that: (a) sex was not associated with model preference and (b) the status envy model was significantly preferred by Ss. It was concluded that models who dispense both positive and negative reinforcements are not likely to be preferred to models consuming positive reinforcements. These results were interpreted within a social learning framework.
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