Enjoying Each Other’s Company: Gaining Other-Gender Friendships Promotes Positive Gender Attitudes Among Ethnically Diverse Children

Halim, May Ling; Martin, Carol Lynn; Andrews, Naomi C. Z.; Zosuls, Kristina M.; Ruble, Diane N.

doi:10.1177/0146167220984407

Cited by 17 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…They also found a large correlation ( r = .54 or r = .56, depending on scoring method) between two administrations of the same measure a year apart when tested in 97 cisgender, transgender, and gender nonconforming youth (mean age 8.7 at the start of the study). As one additional example, a study of 408 racially and ethnically diverse second and fourth graders ( M ages of 7.6 and 9.5 years) found a moderate association between the number of same-gender and other-gender friends a child had at two time points 12 months apart ( r = .33 for same-gender friends; r = .32 for other gender friends; Halim et al, 2021). These results suggested that aspects of gender identity and gender-stereotyped preferences (for same-sex peers, toys, etc.)…”

Section: Stability Of Gender Concepts In Middle Childhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consistency of gender identity and preferences across time: An exploration among cisgender and transgender children.

Häßler¹,

Glazier²,

Olson³

2022

Developmental Psychology

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While considerable research has examined gender development in middle childhood, little longitudinal work has been conducted at this time to indicate whether, for example, youth who show more or less gender conformity at one point continue to do so later. The present study investigated the consistency of gender identity and preferences for gender-stereotypical toys, clothing, and same-gender peer preferences among groups of transgender youth (n = 158), their siblings (n = 79), and an unrelated group of cisgender youth (n = 128) from a mean age of 7.0 (range 3.0-10.9) to a mean age of 9.6 (range 5.1-12.0). Furthermore, 65.5% of the youth were girls, 69.7% were White, 72.8% grew up in households with an annual household income of $75,000 or more, and 89.9% of parents had a bachelor's degree or higher. Overall, we found a small-to-medium correlation over this 2.6-year span within each group, both across the composite of measures and most measures individually. Despite the moderate stability over time, we found a decrease in the composite and individual scores over this time span for girls and for transgender participants. Together these results suggested some stability in children's gender identity and preferences in middle childhood and that this was true regardless of whether the child's gender did or did not align with their sex assignment at birth.

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Section: Stability Of Gender Concepts In Middle Childhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consistency of gender identity and preferences across time: An exploration among cisgender and transgender children.

Häßler¹,

Glazier²,

Olson³

2022

Developmental Psychology

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“…Although ICT has been widely supported (e.g., see meta-analysis by Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006), researchers have rarely applied ICT to gender as a social category, and the few times this has been done the studies have focused on early childhood. For example, a 1-year longitudinal study with five- to 11-year-old children found that, having friends of another gender in the first year predicted having more positive attitudes toward other-gender peers in the next year (Halim et al, 2021). Based on this study, we expect that friendship with the other gender would also be effective in reducing emerging adults’ gender-based prejudices given that many college campuses are more diverse and can potentially foster intergroup relations (i.e., roommate assignments, diverse classes, etc.).…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the Gender of Your Friends Matter for Sexist Attitudes About Women?

2022

Self Cite

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Building upon two complimentary theoretical frameworks related to group relations (i.e., Intergroup Contact Theory and Peer Exposure), we examined how emerging adults’ friendships with men and women were related to their hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, and sexual objectification attitudes. Participants were 212 college students ( M age = 20.20 years, SD = 2.08; 62% female; 58% White) from a large southwestern university. Results provided support for Intergroup Contact Theory and for a Peer Exposure effect, but only for men. Specifically, for men, having female friends was negatively associated with hostile sexism, and having male friends was positively related to hostile sexism; neither friendship type related to benevolent sexism. For women, no significant relations between friends and attitudes were found; this is likely due to the assessed attitudes being about women (their own group). The findings suggest a promising pathway to mitigate gender-based prejudice for men through cross-gender friendships.

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“…Prior work proposes that African American children are largely socialized to endorse gender equality (Hill, 2002) and are relatively flexible and egalitarian in their gender-typing behaviors and attitudes compared with White children (Albert & Porter, 1988). Latinx children, on the other hand, have sometimes shown heightened gender-typing behaviors and attitudes (Bailey & Nihlen, 1990; Halim et al, 2021; Zosuls et al, 2008).…”

Section: Gender Development In Early Childhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of siblings on ethnically diverse children’s gender typing across early development.

Kuchirko¹,

Bennet²,

Halim³

et al. 2021

Developmental Psychology

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Most U.S. children grow up with siblings. Theory and prior work suggest that older siblings are important sources of gender-related information and socialization. However, few studies have investigated the patterns of these associations longitudinally across early childhood. The present study examines the influence of sibling presence and gender composition on the trajectory of early gender-typed behavior and appearance in children from age 2 through 6 in a diverse sample of Dominican American (36%), African American (33%), and Mexican American (31%) mother-child dyads (N = 232; 112 girls, 120 boys) from low-income households in New York City (M = $20,459, SD = 14,632). Results found that children without older siblings spent more time playing with counterstereotypical toys and their mothers' reports indicated similar behavior over the past month (e.g., a girl playing with toy vehicles and balls; a boy playing with toy kitchen sets and dolls) than children with older siblings. Further, children with at least one other-gender sibling (e.g., a girl with an older brother) played more frequently with counterstereotypical toys compared with children with only same-gender siblings (e.g., a girl with only older sisters). Results on the relation between siblings and gender appearance were mixed. Older siblings may thus influence early trajectories of important gender domains (e.g., toy play), which can have various long-term implications for developing skills and interests.

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Enjoying Each Other’s Company: Gaining Other-Gender Friendships Promotes Positive Gender Attitudes Among Ethnically Diverse Children

Cited by 17 publications

References 85 publications

Consistency of gender identity and preferences across time: An exploration among cisgender and transgender children.

Consistency of gender identity and preferences across time: An exploration among cisgender and transgender children.

Does the Gender of Your Friends Matter for Sexist Attitudes About Women?

The influence of siblings on ethnically diverse children’s gender typing across early development.

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