Children's Reasoning about Unequal Gender-Based Distributions

Abstract

Children ages 7 (N = 51, Mage = 7.14, SD = .54), 9 (N = 53, Mage = 8.98, SD = .62), and 11 (N = 56, Mage = 11.50, SD = .93), and adults (N = 50, Mage = 20.76, SD = .87) judged distributions of different items to boys and girls, when the items distributed varied by type (related or unrelated to gender norms) and equivalency (equivalent or unequal). Distributions were judged to be acceptable most when the items were consistent with gender norms, especially for participants at ages 7 and 9. Items were judged to be more likable when they were gendered, and this judgment predicted more positive evaluations of the distributions, even when controlling for age.

Science resource inequalities viewed as less wrong when girls are disadvantaged

“…In one study, young adults negatively evaluated a third party's decision to allocate resources based on gender when the resources were related to gender stereotypes (e.g., robotics kits for boys and card games for girls) (Conry‐Murray, 2015). In another study, young adults negatively evaluated unequal allocations both of gender‐stereotyped toys and of neutral items to boys and girls, whereas younger children (e.g., 7‐ and 9‐year‐olds) were more accepting of gendered allocations (Conry‐Murray, 2019). These findings suggest that young adults may hold a more egalitarian orientation than children when it comes to resource allocation decisions in gender stereotypic contexts.…”

“…Additionally, children become less rigid in their gender stereotype enforcement with age (Ruble et al., 2006). We chose to also investigate young adults’ resource allocation decisions because little research has investigated how resource allocation evaluations and decisions continue to change with age past adolescence (for exceptions, see Conry‐Murray, 2015, 2019). We, therefore, aimed to assess the extent to which gender biases emerge in childhood and persist into adulthood in a science resource allocation task.…”