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Children’s reasoning about unequal gender‐based distributions
Author(s) -
ConryMurray Clare
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
social development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.078
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1467-9507
pISSN - 0961-205X
DOI - 10.1111/sode.12342
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , valence (chemistry) , age groups , demography , physics , quantum mechanics , sociology
Children ages 7 ( N = 56, M age = 7.24, SD = 0.83), 9 ( N = 55, M age = 9.25, SD = 0.52), and 11 ( N = 52, M age = 11.60, SD = 0.79), and emerging adults ( N = 50, M age = 20.76, SD = 0.87) judged distributions of different items to boys and girls, when the items distributed varied by gender valence (related or unrelated to gender norms) and equivalency (equivalent or unequal). Distributions were judged to be acceptable most when the items were consistent with gender norms, especially for participants at ages 7 and 9, indicating that in middle childhood, children judge unequal treatment as fair when it is related to gender norms. Items were judged to be more likable when they were gendered, and likability judgments predicted more positive evaluations of the distributions, even when controlling for age.