Testing an intergroup relations intervention strategy to improve children’s appraisals of gender-nonconforming peers

Abstract

Past research has linked poor psychosocial adjustment among children who express gender nonconformity (GNC) to poor peer relations (e.g., facing ridicule and rejection); however, very little research has explored whether it is possible to improve children’s appraisals of GNC. The present study attempted to replicate a previous intervention that was conducted among 8- to 9-year-old children from Hong Kong that successfully improved children’s appraisals of gender-nonconforming peers. Specifically, it tested whether the same intervention was successful at improving appraisals of gender-nonconforming peers in a sample of children from Canada and among both 4- to 5-year-old and 8- to 9-year-old children. To do so, we employed an experimental vignette design among 4- to 5-year-old ( n = 176; 48% girls) and 8- to 9-year-old ( n = 182; 49% girls) children. In the intervention condition, targets were presented who displayed mostly gender-nonconforming preferences, some gender-conforming preferences, and positive attributes. Following the intervention, participants’ appraisals of gender-nonconforming and gender-conforming targets were assessed through verbal reports, a sharing task, and a rank-order task. Overall, the intervention did not improve appraisals of GNC, and there were no differences based on age or gender of the participants, or gender of the targets. We discuss possible reasons why there was a cultural difference in the effectiveness of the intervention and how future intervention work in this area might be strengthened.

The Socio-Educational Adaptation of Secondary School Migrant Students in Sicily: Migrant Generation, School Linguistic Mediation and Teacher Proactivity Factors

“…The tests carried out show that there are no statistically significant relationships regarding the sex of the participants or with the level of education of both parents. This is in line with the studies by Alivernini et al (2019) and Vitoroulis and Vaillancourt (2015), showing that although non-acceptance within the group is related to immigration, its relation to gender is unclear (MacMullin et al 2020). Cavicchiolo et al (2020) found that the group, individual, or family characteristics are not as relevant as language proficiency for promoting immigrant children's inclusion in school.…”

“He did girls’ things!” Hong Kong and Canadian children’s reasoning about moral judgments of peers’ gendered behaviors.

“…Chen et al, 2003). Consistent with these cultural differences, Hong Kong children were less positive toward gender nonconformity than Canadian children (Kwan et al, 2020; MacMullin et al, 2020; Nabbijohn et al, 2020). The parallel difference in gender stereotype-related reasoning reported here suggests that such reasoning might contribute to Hong Kong children’s lesser positivity toward GN peers.…”

“…Chen et al, 2009;Lii & Wong, 1982;Zhang & Cartwright, 2009). Also, participants in this study from Hong Kong were found to be less positive toward gender nonconformity than Canadian children (Kwan et al, 2020;MacMullin et al, 2020;Nabbijohn et al, 2020). Thus, it was hypothesized that Hong Kong children would reason based on gender stereotypes more than Canadian children (H4a).…”

“…This study was based on data from our larger project examining gender-related peer appraisals in Hong Kong and Canadian children (Kwan et al, 2020; MacMullin et al, 2020; Nabbijohn et al, 2020). Hong Kong Chinese children were recruited through kindergartens, primary schools, and education centers, and through advertisements online and on campus.…”

“…We did not have enough participants to form a group of nonbinary children for analysis and, thus, this participant was excluded. Our sample was part of a larger project and the sample size was determined to provide conventional levels of statistical power in relation to comparisons performed in our earlier papers (Kwan et al, 2020; MacMullin et al, 2020; Nabbijohn et al, 2020). The Hong Kong sample consisted of 320 participants, of which 109 children (55 boys and 54 girls) were in the younger age group (4–5 years old; M age = 4.51, SD = 0.50) and 211 children (105 boys and 106 girls) were in the older age group (8–9 years old; M age = 8.50, SD = 0.50).…”