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Rigidity and flexibility of gender stereotypes in childhood: developmental or differential?
Author(s) -
Trautner Hanns M.,
Ruble Diane N.,
Cyphers Lisa,
Kirsten Barbara,
Behrendt Regina,
Hartmann Petra
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
infant and child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.87
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1522-7219
pISSN - 1522-7227
DOI - 10.1002/icd.399
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , normative , rigidity (electromagnetism) , longitudinal study , longitudinal data , early childhood , demography , sociology , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , structural engineering , epistemology , engineering
Previous research has shown that the early learning of male–female categories is characterized by rigid beliefs about stereotypic differences, but that once gender knowledge is well established, the beliefs become more flexible. Because most studies are cross‐sectional, it is not known if the early rigidity represents a normative transitional developmental stage that passes, or if early individual differences in rigidity continue into later childhood. To answer that question, analyses were performed on longitudinal data of 64 children who had been questioned about their gender concepts yearly from ages 5 to 10 years. Supporting a cognitive‐developmental approach, the findings showed that the period of rigidity was short‐lived whether rigidity began early or late or whether the level of peak rigidity was high or low. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.