Sexual stereotyping of infants: implications for social work practice

Pharis, Mary E.; Manosevitz, Martin

doi:10.1093/swra/20.1.7

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Bowlby, 1988;Sroufe, 1996) suggests that humans are evolutionarily prepared to form attachments with their newborns, and it is likely that the experience of joy and happiness about the birth of the child is a critical part of this motivational system. It is possible that the birth of a girl especially elicits attachment-related feelings because several studies have indicated that both mothers and fathers perceive their daughters as requiring more nurturance than their sons, and they describe their daughters as more expressive and warm than their sons (Pharis & Manosevitz, 1984;Rubin, Provenzano, & Luria, 1974;Siegal, 1987). This study has limitations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Parental Preference for Sex of Newborn as Reflected in Positive Affect in Birth Announcements

Gonzalez

Koestner

2005

Sex Roles

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Content analysis of birth announcements was used as a method to investigate parental preference for the sex of newborns in Canada. The expression of positive affect (happiness and pride) in birth announcements was examined to determine whether parents express these emotions differently as a function of the sex of newborn. The findings suggest that parents express relatively more pride at the birth of boys than girls, whereas the opposite results were found for happiness. Parents seem unconsciously to categorize boys and girls into two distinct motivational systems: status and attachment, which are related to pride and happiness, respectively. This distinction may influence parents' perception of their child's worth and their subsequent investment in their child's development.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Parental Preference for Sex of Newborn as Reflected in Positive Affect in Birth Announcements

Gonzalez

Koestner

2005

Sex Roles

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Studies have shown that the baby even from conception elicits stereotyped sex-related responses and treatment because of its gender (Birns, 1976). Aspects that are perceived as more masculine (e.g., big, sturdy, hungry, curious, vigorous, irritated) are more often attributed to the baby if it is believed to be a boy, whereas “feminine” attributes (e.g., pretty, cute, little, fine-featured, cuddly) are given to the baby if it is believed to be a girl (Pharis & Manosevitz, 1984; Rubin, Provenzano, & Luria, 1974; Will, Self, & Datan, 1976). An extensive literature has documented the differential physical handling and socialization practices, depending on the sex of the child, with regard to physical contact, communication style, amount and type of playing with the child, choice of toys, clothing, showing affection, and so forth (Brooks-Gunn & Matthews, 1979; Honig, 1983).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The short- and long-term implications for parent-child relations of parents' prenatal preferences for their child's gender.

Stattin¹,

Klackenberg‐Larsson²

1991

Developmental Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study investigated whether less conflicted parent-child relations would occur in families with a child whose sex was consistent with parents' prenatal preferences than in families in which both of the parents had wanted a child of the opposite sex. Data were from a sample of Swedish children (TV = 212) who were followed from birth to maturity. Results at several age periods from early childhood to late adolescence supported our hypothesis, especially for female subjects and particularly with respect to father-daughter relations. Retrospective recollections at age 25 of relations to parents during upbringing support these findings. In addition, mothers' perceptions of problems in their children and the amount of time parents played with their children were found to be associated with the stated prenatal preference for the child's sex. The results are compared with findings of previous studies of sex-stereotyped behaviors.In the past decade, developmental research has begun to explore systematically how characteristics of parents, prior to the birth of their children, affect their subsequent roles as father, mother, and caretakers and how these characteristics affect the newborn's development (

show abstract

Mothers' Perceptions of Infants Labelled ‘Depressed’

et al. 1996

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Forty‐four depressed and non‐depressed mothers participated in a videotaped interaction with their own infant and then rated the videotape using the Infant Stereotyping Scale and the Interaction Rating Scale. In addition, one half of the mothers rated a videotape of an unfamiliar infant who was labelled psychologically ‘depressed’ and the other half rated a videotape of the same infant with no label given. Both the depressed and non‐depressed mothers rated the ‘depressed’ labelled infant more negatively than the non‐labelled infant on the attributes of physical potency, cognitive competence, sociability and difficult behaviour. Physical appearance was the only rating that was not biased by the ‘depressed’ label. Mothers' ratings of their own infants were more positive than their ratings of the non‐labelled stimulus infant. Depressed mothers did not see their infants more negatively except on one rating. They rated the physical appearance of their own infant more negatively than non‐depressed mothers.

show abstract

Sexual stereotyping of infants: implications for social work practice

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Parental Preference for Sex of Newborn as Reflected in Positive Affect in Birth Announcements

Parental Preference for Sex of Newborn as Reflected in Positive Affect in Birth Announcements

The short- and long-term implications for parent-child relations of parents' prenatal preferences for their child's gender.

Mothers' Perceptions of Infants Labelled ‘Depressed’

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About