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Enhancing same‐gender imitation by highlighting gender norms in Chinese pre‐school children
Author(s) -
Wang Zhidan,
Fong Frankie T. K.,
Meltzoff Andrew N.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
british journal of developmental psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 2044-835X
pISSN - 0261-510X
DOI - 10.1111/bjdp.12356
Subject(s) - imitation , psychology , developmental psychology , girl , gender identity , social identity theory , social psychology , social group
Children selectively imitate in‐group over outgroup individuals under certain experimental conditions. We investigated whether this bias applies to gender in‐groups in China. Three‐ and five‐year‐olds were shown how to operate novel objects by same‐gender and opposite‐gender models. Results indicate that the combination of verbally highlighting the gender identity of the model (e.g., ‘I am a girl’) and making gender norms explicit (e.g., ‘girls play this way’) significantly enhances high‐fidelity imitation. This ‘double social effect’ was more robust in 5‐year‐olds than 3‐year‐olds. Our results underscore how language about gender and the norms for gender‐based groups influence behavioural imitation. The pattern of findings enhances our knowledge about pre‐schoolers’ social learning and imitation as well as the powerful influence of language and group norms on children’s voluntary actions and learning.