Sex differences in 2- and 3-years-olds: Mother-child relations, peer relations, and peer play.

Abstract

This paper examines the different behavior patterns utilized by boys and girls as they form peer relationships and engage in peer play; the nature of their relations with their mothers is also reported. Girls manifested more intense involvement with their mothers, engaged in less peer play than boys, showed lower mood, lower levels of play, less direct aggression, and more controlling play with peers. Furthermore, their mothers handled their requests for contact and aggressive behavior differently than did mothers of boys. Boys were slower to become aware of separateness but once aware, they came to terms with it faster than girls. The boys took longer to pay attention to peers; once peers were focused on, the play moved more quickly to high levels than did the play of the girls. Qualitative findings were supported by quantitative findings -boys showed more contact and more involvement with their peers than did girls. The hypothesis is tentatively offered that the reaction to the awareness of psychological separateness from their mothers is more intense in girls than in boys partly because girls experience this awareness earlier, owing to their more rapid cognitive maturation. The girls' shorter practicing period, however, leaves them with fewer bolstering resources during the emergence of psychological awareness and the ensuing aggression it stimulates. The implications of early peer group experiences for children at different developmental levels are discussed. It is further suggested that certain sex-linked defensive predispositions may result in part from coping with conflicts around separation: Girls turn their aggressive impulses inward and use regression; boys, as others have noted, resort to avoidance, denial, and motor activity.A study of levels of object permanence as well as self/object differentiation in infants between 11 and 13 months of age lends support to the hypothesis of an earlier awareness of psychological separateness in girls.Requests for reprints should be sent to Wendy Olesker, Ph.D.,

Developmental continuity and stability of emotional availability in the family: Two ages and two genders in child-mother dyads from two regions in three countries

“…Specifically, the literature in gender differences tends to support the general view that females display higher levels of social interest, are better at decoding emotional expressions, and are more invested in social relationships than are males (Gilligan, 1982; Golombok & Fivush, 1994; Halpern, 2000; Lovas, 2005; Maccoby, 1990). Traditional gender role prescriptions also characterize women as more affiliative and interpersonally sensitive, and feminine stereotyped activities tend to emphasize collaborative behaviors and foster social proximity (Caldera, Huston, & O’Brien, 1989; Leaper, 2002; Maccoby, 1988; Ruble et al, 2006); development in girls is usually also associated with higher levels of emotional closeness to significant others (Chodorow, 1978; Clarke-Stewart & Hevey, 1981; Ley & Koepke, 1982; Olesker, 1984, 1990; Robinson & Biringen, 1995). …”

Mother-child emotional availability in ecological perspective: Three countries, two regions, two genders.

“…Specifically, the literature in gender differences tends to support the general view that females display higher levels of social interest, are better at understanding emotional expressions, and are more invested in interpersonal strategies that maintain and repair social relationships than are males (Gilligan, 1982;Golombok & Fivush, 1994;Halpern, 2000;Lovas, 2005;Maccoby, 1990). Traditional gender role prescriptions also characterize women as more affiliative and interpersonally sensitive, and stereotypically feminine activities tend to emphasize collaborative behaviors and foster proximity (Caldera, Huston, & O'Brien, 1989;Leaper, 2002;Maccoby, 1988;Ruble, 1988); development in girls is usually associated with lower levels of autonomy and higher levels of emotional closeness to significant others (Chodorow, 1978;Clarke-Stewart & Hevey, 1981;Ley & Koepke, 1982;Olesker, 1984Olesker, , 1990Robinson & Biringen, 1995). Perhaps more accurately reflective of fact than stereotype, the extant empirical literature on measures of EA and gender is mixed.…”

Gender and patterns of emotional availability in mother–toddler and father–toddler dyads

“…Robinson et al (1993) reported that daughters engage in more matching of affect states than sons, so daughters were predicted to be more responsive than sons. And since daughters are less comfortable with and display lower levels of autonomy and less distance from mothers than sons (Clarke-Stewart & Hevey, 1981;Ley & Koepke, 1982;Olesker, 1984Olesker, , 1990, daughters were predicted to be more involving than sons. Given the bidirectional nature of EA (Biringen et al, 1998), parents were expected to be more sensitive to and provide more optimal structuring for daughters than sons.…”