ERIC Number: EJ1175120
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Apr
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
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Developmental Stability in Gender-Typed Preferences between Infancy and Preschool Age
Lauer, Jillian E.; Ilksoy, Sibel D.; Lourenco, Stella F.
Developmental Psychology, v54 n4 p613-620 Apr 2018
Infants exhibit visual preferences for gender-typed objects (e.g., dolls, toy vehicles) that parallel the gender-typed play preferences of preschool-aged children, but the developmental stability of individual differences in early emerging gender-typed preferences has not yet been characterized. In the present study, we examined the longitudinal association between infants' (N = 51) performance on an object-preference task, administered between 6 and 13 months of age, and their play preferences at 4 years of age. Greater visual interest in a toy truck relative to a doll in infancy predicted significantly greater male-typical toy and activity preferences (e.g., play with vehicles, videogames) at age 4. These findings suggest that gender-typed object preferences present during the 1st year of life may represent the developmental precursors of gender-typed play preferences observed later in childhood.
Descriptors: Infants, Toddlers, Young Children, Gender Differences, Preferences, Longitudinal Studies, Toys, Predictor Variables, Child Development, Questionnaires, Visual Stimuli, Likert Scales, Play, Preschool Children, Statistical Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
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Language: English
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