A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Sex Differences in the Behavior of Children Aged Three Through 11

cultural pressure on sex differences

“…Such a pattern of being interrupted and redirected frequently by others may well reinforce a pattern of staying close to adults. Whiting and Edwards (1973) discuss similar findings and suggest that it may be related to higher female compliance. At any rate, it appeared to me while observing !Kung boys and girls that the bush girls gravitated more to the adults but that the adults did not deliberately select female targets from among the children; the adults simply interacted more frequently with those children who were closest.…”

“…The studies by Barry, Bacon, and Child (1957), Whiting and Whiting (1971), Whiting and Edwards (1973), and Ember (1973) all provide support for this kind of assertion since in one way or another they indicate how experiences such as herding, or particular types of task assignment, can considerably minimize sex differences in the behavior of children. Such research is, of course, crucial for our ability to quantify environmental input, though a limitation of these synchronic studies of the interaction of child behavior and cultural setting is that they do not answer the question about whether or not long-term changes have been made which will continue to minimize sex differences in the behavior of the individuals whose behavior was shown to be modified initially.…”

“…The ethnographic literature contains a wealth of material on sex roles, and, while certain sources report apparent "reversals" of transhuman sex role stereotypes (Mead 1935) or instances in which particular behavioral dimensions typically associated with the opposite sex have been transposed (Barry, et al 1957;Ember 1973;Whiting and Edwards 1973), the majority of reports indicate that males are more intractable, egoistic, spatially more explorative, rougher, less prosocial, and more peer-oriented, whereas females are typically more compliant, prosocial, less spatially explorative, less rough, and more involved in interaction with adults than are boys.…”

Child-Rearing Practices and Temperament of Children: Are They Really Determinants of Children's Aggression?

“…These prior studies also found that boys and men are not only more physically ag gressive than girls and women, but also more verbally aggressive. However, the result of the current study is similar to other cross-cultural studies by Whiting & Edwards (1973) which found no sex differ ences in retaliatory aggression among coulu lead tc differences in their treatment t SIKOL::lGIK� Nomor 2 Tanun U Jan•.iari 1997…”

The Early Development of Gender Differences

“…Bornstein et al (2008) found that mothers from metropolitan regions were more emotionally available than were those from rural regions, and sons, but not daughters, from metropolitan regions were more responsive than were those from rural regions. These findings suggest that key developmental systems are highly sensitive to sociocultural and/or economic factors, which as Beatrice Whiting (1976) suggested are complex "packaged variables" that need to be broken down and analyzed in terms of components that really matter. Developmental studies about how biological sex differences in children operate in varied social contexts will continue to be informative, particularly as societies are radically transformed by globalization.…”