Development of Sex Differences in Preschool Children: Social Behavior during an Academic Year

Abstract

Sex differences in activities of preschoolers were assessed during free-play time from observation of the behavior of 31 children (23 girls, 8 boys; M = 5 yr.). These differences were noted for the time girls and boys spent in the activities considered, boys spending more time in rough-and-tumble play and in agonistic activities and girls in organised games such as games with rules and role-play in addition to affiliative activities. Sex differences could be detected also in the distribution of time among various activities of the children during free-play in the three terms of the school year under consideration. From a developmental perspective, gender plays a fundamental role in the formation of play-networks in the first peer encounters. These peer groups, sexually segregated, are structuring and organizing during the academic year so “distinctive cultures” for boys and girls, besides consolidating this segregation facilitate the acquisition of advantageous social skill for later life.