Interrelations of Gender Schemas in Children and Adolescents: Attitudes, Preferences, and Self Perceptions

Interrelations 1

Interrelations of Gender Schemas in Children and Adolescents:

Attitudes, Preferences, and Self-‐‑Perceptions

Margaret L. Signorella

The Pennsylvania State University

Irene Hanson Frieze

University of Pittsburgh

Author Note

Margaret L. Signorella, Greater Allegheny Campus, The Pennsylvania State University; Irene Hanson Frieze, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh.

Portions of this research were presented at the meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Washington DC, April 1997, and of the Society for Research in Adolescence, Chicago, March 2000. We thank the principal, teachers (especially Susanne W. Hershey), and students at Winchester Thurston School for their cooperation, and Brian J. Belkowski, Christine Speer Clickner, Michelle Knight, and Jenifer Pribanic for their assistance with this research.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Margaret L. Signorella, Penn State Greater Allegheny, 4000 University Drive, McKeesport, PA, 15132-‐‑7698. Email: [email protected]. Citation for the published version of the article: Signorella, M. L., & Frieze, I. H. (2008). Interrelations of gender schemas in children and adolescents: Attitudes, preferences and self-‐‑perceptions. Social Behavior and Personality, 36, 941-‐‑954. doi: 10.2224/sbp.2008.36.7.941

Interrelations 2

Abstract

To test developmental aspects of gender schema theories, girls in grades 2 to 12 were

given measures of gender-‐‑role attitudes, self-‐‑perceptions on gender-‐‑related traits,

reported participation in gender-‐‑related activities, preferred occupation, and adult

family preferences. Both children’s and adolescents’ results showed a multifactor

structure. Children’s results differed from adolescents’ in that children had more

measures showing significant age trends, with a general pattern of decreasing

stereotyping with age. Children also had stronger associations among diverse measures

than did adolescents. Results were consistent with both multifactorial and cognitive-‐‑

developmental approaches to the development of gender schemas, and provided

limited support for adolescent gender intensification hypotheses.

Interrelations 3

Interrelations of Gender Schemas in Children and Adolescents:

Attitudes, Preferences, and Self-‐‑Perceptions

Martin, Ruble, and Szkrybalo (2002) argued that one of the distinctive aspects of

the gender schema approaches as compared to social learning approaches is that “the

relative strength or rigidity of gender-‐‑related knowledge and behavior waxes and

wanes across development” (p. 925). For example, Spence'ʹs (e.g., 1993) gender identity

theory proposed that only early in development would there be a tendency for a central

gender schema to predict diverse gender-‐‑related characteristics such as personality

traits, activity preferences, and gender-‐‑role attitudes. As children develop and are

exposed to more influences, the interconnections among various components of gender

schemas should weaken. Similarly, Martin et al. (2002) identified early childhood as a

“relatively rigid phase of ‘consolidation,’ ” which then may be followed by increasing

flexibility with age in gender schemas (cf., Signorella, Bigler, & Liben, 1993).

Support for these propositions is strongest in two areas. First, several studies in

which multiple components of gender schemas were assessed show at least two factors,

or a pattern of interrelations suggesting the presence of more than one distinct aspect of

gender schemas (e.g., Biernat, 1991a, 1991b; Katz & Boswell, 1986; Katz & Ksansnak,

1994; Katz & Walsh, 1991; Liben & Bigler, 2002; Signorella, 1999; Spence & Hall, 1996).

Second, many aspects of gender schemas show a developmental pattern from early to

late childhood of increasing flexibility, especially in the areas of attitudes for both boys

Interrelations 4

and girls and activity preferences for girls (Ruble, Martin, & Berenbaum, 2006).

The existence and nature of developmental trends in gender schemas in

adolescence is much less clear than in childhood. Various models make contradictory

predictions on developmental trends in adolescence, most notably with gender

intensification predicting increasing stereotyping and traditional responses, cognitive

level approaches predicting decreasing stereotyping, and context approaches

emphasizing variability due to environmental factors (for a summary, see Alfieri, Ruble,

& Higgins, 1996). Data on adolescent developmental patterns are not consistent,

especially in the area of activity preferences (Ruble et al., 2006). The lack of consistency

in adolescents is difficult to interpret, however, because there are relatively few studies

with adolescents and even fewer that employ multiple measures of gender schemas.

Addressing the questions of developmental patterns in these age groups has

both theoretical implications for gender schema theories, as well as practical

implications, such as for planning interventions to change gender schemas (e.g., Liben

& Bigler, 2002). Gender schemas’ effects include attention toward, memories for, and

interpretation of gender-‐‑related information (Martin et al., 2002). Such schemas also

may regulate behavior by providing the child with ideas about appropriate behavior for

each gender. Specific outcomes could include the adoption of traditional or sexist

attitudes toward gender roles, describing oneself using personality traits traditionally

associated with one’s own gender (most commonly, expressive traits for females and

Interrelations 5

instrumental traits for males), expressing preferences for activities traditionally

associated with one’s gender, and aspiring to traditional occupations or family roles

(e.g., see Bigler, 1997).

Therefore, in the present research, the developmental trends and interrelations of

multiple aspects of gender schemas were compared in children (second to fifth graders)

and adolescents (sixth to twelfth graders). Specific measures chosen were drawn from

the typology of gender constructs and content in Ruble et al. (2006, Table 14.1, p. 859).

Three of the four constructs (beliefs, self-‐‑perceptions, and preferences) were used. Only

behavioral enactments were not assessed, because of practical limitations with this

sample. Four of the six content areas (activities and interests, personal-‐‑social attributes,

gender-‐‑typed social relationships, and gender-‐‑related values) were used.

Biological/categorical sex was not used because the extant measures focus on infants

and preschoolers, and styles and symbols were not used because of few available

comparisons in other research. In summary, the constructs and content areas were

chosen to provide a reasonable range of both, to allow comparisons to previous

research, and because of appropriateness to the ages tested.

Developmental trends and the interrelations of the measures in the two age

groups were compared to see if there were differences in the patterns obtained. The

predictions derived from Spence’s (e.g., 1993) theory and from Martin et al.’s (2002) and

Ruble et al.’s (2006) reviews are that the children will show more consistent

Interrelations 6

developmental trends, and less diversification in the components of gender schemas

than will the adolescents. Within the adolescent group, in addition to the above

hypothesis that adolescents will show less consistency in developmental changes and in

the interrelations of the measures, we additionally predict that if any patterns emerge,

they would most likely be in the form of “gender intensification,” specifically, decreases

in flexibility or increases in traditional responses (Ruble et al., 2006).

Method

Participants

The participants were 85 elementary school girls from second (n = 31), third (n =

21), fourth (n = 17), and fifth (n = 16) grades, and 142 adolescent girls from sixth (n = 18),

seventh (n = 24), eighth (n = 19), ninth (n = 26), tenth (n = 19), eleventh (n = 20), and

twelfth (n = 16) grades.

All participants were recruited from the two campuses of an independent school

in the United States, and were part of a larger study on the school’s transition from all-‐‑

female to mixed-‐‑sex classes (see Signorella, Frieze, & Hershey, 1996). All participants

were volunteers who had first received parental permission to be in the study. The

school reported that overall 19% were students of color, but did not permit us to collect

such information from the participants. Due to small ns, boys’ data will not be reported.

Materials

The measures given to children and adolescents were similar but not identical, in

Interrelations 7

that the younger participants received simplified or shortened versions of the measures

given to the adolescents. Most of the measures were taken from the short forms of the

Children’s Occupations, Activities, and Traits Measure (COAT; Liben & Bigler, 2002) or

the Occupations, Activities, and Traits Measure (OAT; Liben & Bigler, 2002). Means,

standard deviations, and possible ranges for all measures are shown in Table 1.

Trait self-‐‑perceptions. To assess Ruble et al.’s (2006) gender typing category of self-‐‑

perceptions of personal-‐‑social attributes, self-‐‑descriptions on traits stereotyped as

masculine (M) or feminine (F) were assessed with a subset of the Trait Personal

Measure from either the COAT or the OAT (Liben & Bigler, 2002). Only those F items

that were expressive traits or M items that were instrumental traits were used to better

correspond to previous gender schema research (e.g., Spence & Hall, 1996).

For both age groups, scores were averaged, with higher scores indicating greater

endorsement of the traits. Among children, internal consistency reliabilities (coefficient

α) for the instrumental and expressive trait scales were .53 and .72, respectively.

Although these alphas are low, they are similar to those in other studies with children

(Spence & Hall, 1996). Among adolescents, internal consistency reliabilities (coefficient

α) for the instrumental and expressive trait scales were .65 and .69, respectively.

Activity participation. To tap Ruble et al.’s (2006) category of preferences for

activities and interests, self-‐‑reports of participation in activities stereotyped as M or F

were assessed with the Activity Personal Measure (short form) from either the COAT-‐‑

Interrelations 8

PM or the OAT-‐‑PM (Liben & Bigler, 2002). The children’s measure consisted of 10 M, 10

F, and 5 neutral (N) items. Scores were averaged separately for the M and F items, with

higher scores indicating greater reports of participation. We obtained internal

consistency reliabilities (coefficient α) of .76 and .85 for the M and F scales, respectively.

The adolescents’ measure consisted of 13 M, 12 F, and 10 N items. Scores were

averaged separately for the M and F items, with higher scores indicating greater reports

of participation. We obtained internal consistency reliabilities (coefficient α) for the M

and F scales of .79 and .69, respectively.

Adult occupational and family roles. To assess Ruble et al.’s (2006) category of

preferences for gender-‐‑related social relations and role models, both children and

adolescents were asked a series of questions about what they planned to do in their

lives as adults. For occupational roles, they were first asked, “When you are an adult,

would you like to have a paid job?” In both age groups, 95% answered “yes,” and thus

this question was not analyzed further. The next question asked what job they would

like to have if they had a paid job. Two undergraduate students (interrater kappa = .87,

p < .001) coded the specific job according to whether it had been judged traditionally

masculine (2), neutral (1), or feminine (0) in prior research (e.g., Liben & Bigler, 2002).

For family roles, both age groups were asked if they thought they would get

married and if they thought they would have children. Possible answers were “yes”

(coded 0), “maybe” (coded 0.5), or “no” (coded 1). The two measures were averaged,

Interrelations 9

with scores that range from 0 (yes to both questions) to 1 (no to both questions). Thus,

higher scores indicate “no” answers to marriage and family.

Activity and gender-‐‑role attitudes. To assess Ruble et al.’s (2006) category of beliefs

about gender-‐‑related values, two different types of measures were used. First,

willingness to associate stereotyped activities with both sexes was assessed by the

Activity Attitudes Measure from either the COAT-‐‑AM or the OAT-‐‑AM (Liben & Bigler,

2002). The children’s measure consisted of 10 M, 10 F, and 5 N activities for which

respondents were asked to indicate who should do each of the activities (boys, girls, or

both boys and girls). We obtained internal consistency reliabilities (Kuder-‐‑Richardson

20) of .88 and .85, for the M and F scales, respectively. N items were not used. Because

of the high correlation between M and F items in the present study, also obtained by

Liben and Bigler (2002), the two scales were combined. The score was expressed as the

percentage of times the "ʺboth boys and girls"ʺ response is given to the stereotyped (M or

F) items, and thus higher scores indicate less stereotyped responses (i.e., a greater

willingness to see stereotyped activities as appropriate for both sexes).

The adolescents’ measure consisted of 10 M, 10 F, and 5 N activities for which

respondents were asked to indicate who should do each of the activities (only men;

mostly men, a few women; both men and women; mostly women, some men; only

women). We obtained internal consistency reliabilities (Kuder-‐‑Richardson 20) of .88 and

.85 for the M and F scales, respectively. N items were not used. As with the children, the

Interrelations 10

high correlation between the M and F scales led to combining the two. The score was

expressed as the percentage of times the "ʺboth boys and girls"ʺ response is given to the

stereotyped (M or F) items and thus, higher scores indicate less stereotyping.

The second measure was a traditional measure of attitudes towards gender roles

(Galambos, Petersen, Richards, & Gitelson, 1985). The AWSA has 12 items. Respondents

were asked if they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed, or strongly disagreed with each

item. Scores were the average rating across items, with higher scores indicating more

liberal attitudes toward gender roles. We obtained an internal consistency reliability

(coefficient α) of .71, consistent with previous research.

For the children, the AWSA had to be adapted, with some of the items altered or

eliminated. Specifically, items 1, 5, 8, 10, and 12 from the original scale were kept and

two new items added (“It would be a good idea to have a woman as President of the

United States” [Villemez & Touhey, 1977] and “People should treat boys and girls

equally”). We will refer to the adapted scale as the Attitudes Toward Women Scale for

Children (AWSC). Respondents were asked to agree or disagree with each item. Scores

were averaged across items, with higher scores indicating more liberal attitudes toward

gender roles. Internal consistency reliability (Kuder Richardson 20) in the present

sample was .78.

Girls in mixed-‐‑sex classes had lower AWSC scores than did girls in single sex

classes. Because classroom type did not affect or interact with any other measure (see

Interrelations 11

also Signorella et al., 1996), it appears that this difference is due to factors other than

classroom sex composition.

Procedure

University review board approval was obtained, and then as noted earlier,

parental permission was obtained prior to requesting student volunteers.

Questionnaires were administered in school by the teachers at the beginning of the

school year. Teachers debriefed students at the end of the study.

Results

Table 1 displays the means and standard deviations by grade for all measures,

group by age group (children, adolescents). To test for age changes, a MANOVA was

done for each age group with grade as the independent variable and the eight measures

as the dependent variables. Only those children (n = 70) and adolescents (n = 115) with

complete data on all measures were included in these analyses. Using the Wilks criteria,

the multivariate effect for grade was significant for both children, F(24, 172) = 2.49, p <

.001, and adolescents, F(48, 501) = 1.85, p = .001.

For children, univariate F tests showed significant grade effects among children

on instumental traits (F(3,66) = 6.0, p = .001), AWSC (F(3,66) = 5.2, p = .003), percentage of

activities assigned to both sexes (F(3,66) = 3.9, p = .013), and ideal job choice (F(3,66) =

3.7, p = .015). Three of the four significant effects in children (AWSC, “both” responses,

and ideal job) revealed similar patterns, in that older children had less stereotyped

Interrelations 12

scores than did younger children. Specifically, fourth and fifth graders had significantly

higher AWSC scores than did second and third graders; fifth graders had a significantly

higher percentage of “both” responses than did second, third, and fourth graders; and

fifth graders had significantly more masculine ideal job choices than did second

graders. The instrumental trait effect, in contrast, occurred not because of a consistent

change across grades but because second and fourth graders had significantly lower

scores than did third or fifth graders.

For adolescents, there were significant univariate grade effects on two measures,

expressive traits (F(6, 108) = 3.7, p = .002) and ideal job (F(6, 108) = 2.2, p = .049). Younger

adolescents had less traditional self-‐‑descriptions than did most of the older adolescents

on the expressive trait measure. Specifically, eighth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth graders

had significantly higher expressive trait scores than did seventh graders. On the ideal

job choice, sixth graders had significantly less traditional (more F) scores than did

eleventh graders.

The next analyses explored the interrelations of the variables and possible age

differences in those interrelations. Table 2 presents the intercorrelations of the measures

for each age group, and Table 3 summarizes the results of the principal components

analyses.

As shown in Table 2, the highest correlations were between the AWSA or AWSC

and the percentage of “both” responses to the question of which sex should perform an

Interrelations 13

activity. Also substantial, but in children only, were the associations between higher

grade and less stereotyped responses to the AWSC, whether both sexes should perform

an activity, and ideal job. In both age groups, those high in instrumental traits also rated

themselves high in M activity participation. Instrumental trait scores were associated

with more masculine job choices in children but not adolescents. Expressive trait scores

were significantly associated with F activity participation in both age groups and with

more traditional family role preferences in adolescents.

Separate analyses were then done for both age groups using principal

components with varimax rotation (see Table 3). The children’s results showed three

factors accounting for 57% of the variance, compared to four factors accounting for 63%

of the variance in adolescents. There are both similarities and differences in the

obtained patterns. The similarities are, first, that both age groups have a factor with

positive loadings for expressive traits and activities and negative loadings for family

roles, indicating an association among higher self-‐‑reports of expressive traits, higher

reported participation in F activities, and anticipation of marriage and children. Second,

both age groups have a factor with positive loadings on instrumental traits and M

activities, indicating an association of higher self-‐‑reports of instrumental traits with

higher reported participation in M activities.

The differences occur on the attitude and occupation measures. For children, the

first factor included positive loadings for AWSC, percentage of “both” responses, ideal

Interrelations 14

job, and grade, and a negative loading for F activities, indicating an association of less

stereotyped or traditional responses with increasing grade level. Note further that this

factor includes both measures of attitudes towards others (“both” responses, AWSC)

and self-‐‑related measures (ideal job, F activities). For adolescents, in contrast, the first

factor included only AWSA and “both” responses, indicating an association only

between liberal scores on the AWSA and a higher percentage of activities assigned to

both sexes. The adolescents also had a factor that included a positive loading on grade

and a negative loading on ideal job, indicating fewer masculine job choices with

increasing grade level.

Discussion

The interrelations of girls’ gender-‐‑related attitudes, self-‐‑perceptions, activity

participation, and projected adult occupational and family roles were examined within

and between two age levels. The purpose was to test several developmental aspects of

gender schema theories. The present data are consistent with Spence’s (e.g., 1993)

gender identity theory, support the consolidation phase hypothesized by Martin et al.

(2002), and provide some limited support for gender intensification hypotheses.

First, the obtained factor structure is consistent with Spence’s theory. Although

Spence (e.g., 1993) in her multifactorial approach did not specify the numbers of factors,

but rather emphasized that there was not one overarching gender schema, other theory

(e.g., Martin & Halverson, 1981) and research (e.g., Liben & Bigler, 2002; Katz & Walsh,

Interrelations 15

1991) suggest three factors as the most likely minimum structure. In the present results,

children’s responses formed three factors and adolescents’ four.

Second, the patterns of intercorrelations and the obtained factors showed that

children had factors in which more diverse measures loaded together. Specifically,

the first factor for the children included both self-schemas (F activities and ideal

job) and gender-role attitudes (AWSC and both responses). In contrast, the

adolescents had factors in which there were typically only two topically similar

measures with high loadings (e.g., the first factor with AWSA and “both” responses,

the two measures of gender role attitudes). These patterns support Spence and

Hall’s (1996) suggestion that children’s tendencies toward greater rigidity in gender

stereotyping might result in greater coherence among gender schemas of varying

types than would be found in adolescents or adults. Similarly, Martin et al. (2002)

hypothesized a consolidation phase in early childhood in which more stereotyped and

rigid gender schemas would dominate, followed by increasing flexibility through

childhood. Not only do the children’s factors show a stereotypical theme across diverse

measures, but on those measures with significant age differences, younger girls gave

more stereotyped responses that did older girls on three out of four measures.

Third, the results from adolescents could be viewed as providing some support

for gender intensification hypotheses (e.g., see Ruble et al., 2006). Although only two

measures showed significant age trends among adolescents, both were in the direction

of more stereotypic responses with age. Some of the older adolescents had higher

Interrelations 16

expressive trait scores and more traditional job choices than did some of the younger

adolescents. Ruble et al. (2006) concluded that girls may be less likely than boys to show

the gender intensification pattern and thus the all-‐‑female nature of the present sample

may be one reason why only two measures showed increased traditionality with age.

The patterns in children and adolescents, however, suggest that there may be a

different basis for nontraditional responses in the two age groups. The tendency for

children to give less stereotyped responses with age is consistent with research

demonstrating underlying cognitive factors that facilitate the development of flexible

gender schemas in children (Bigler & Liben, 1992). The adolescents, on the other hand,

had few significant age trends in responses to the measures. Although older adolescent

girls were less interested in traditionally masculine jobs than were younger adolescent

girls, these job choices were largely independent of the other gender schema measures.

The increases in traditional job choices observed among adolescents in the present data

may reflect such factors as girls’ increasing awareness as they near high school

graduation of the strong segregation of jobs by gender in our society (e.g., Frieze &

Olson, 1994) and possible conflicts between work and family roles (e.g., Eccles, 1994).

The lack of consistent developmental patterns in adolescence may, therefore,

provide some support for the social environmental or contextual models (Alfieri et al.,

1996; Crouter, Whiteman, McHale, & Osgood, 2007) of gender development. Crouter et

al. (2007) reported longitudinal data on gender role attitudes showing that overall there

Interrelations 17

were changes from ages 7-‐‑19 suggesting gender intensification in adolescence.

Specifically, there was a decline in traditional responses through early adolescence,

stability in midadolescence, then an increase in traditional responses in later

adolescence. When the patterns were examined as a function of gender and family

context variables, differences emerged. Most relevant to the present study was the

comparison of boys’ and girls’ patterns as a function of the traditionality of their

parents. The independent school our participants attended espoused nontraditional

values and thus the parents may have shared those values. Crouter et al. (2007) found

that the pattern for girls with nontraditional parents did not show gender

intensification in adolescence, but rather was similar to what we observed overall in our

data, with decreasing traditionality from childhood to early adolescence then no change

through adolescence.

Two limitations of the present research are noted. First, as there were insufficient

numbers of boys in the sample to analyze, it remains for future research to determine if

the same age patterns exist in boys. Previous research using similar or the same

measures, however, has not shown gender differences in the patterns of interrelations

(e.g., Liben & Bigler, 2002; Spence & Hall, 1996), but has shown that boys tend to have

more traditional responses than girls overall and may be more likely to exhibit gender

intensification in adolescence than are girls (e.g., Galambos, Almeida, & Petersen, 1990).

Second, these data are subject to the limitations of any cross-‐‑sectional research.

Interrelations 18

The available longitudinal data show the same age-‐‑related changes in boys and girls

from childhood through early adolescence as do the present cross-‐‑sectional data;

namely, increasing stereotype flexibility with age during childhood (Liben & Bigler,

2002; Signorella et al., 1993; Signorella et al., 1996). Adolescent longitudinal

comparisons are less informative, as there are less consistent patterns, but there is some

tendency for girls and younger adolescents to be more likely to show longitudinal

increases in nontraditional responses than are boys and older adolescents (e.g., Crouter

et al., 2007; Galambos et al., 1990). Finally, historical data (e.g., Twenge, 1997) show

more liberal attitudes towards gender roles over time, which further suggests that

neither the children’s consistent nor the adolescents’ inconsistent patterns are

attributable to historical changes.

The popular culture continues to embrace the image of children as either typical

or not typical of their gender. Yet even with elementary school aged children, and more

markedly in adolescence, the evidence is accumulating that being gender-‐‑typical

or -‐‑atypical in one area is not highly predictive of behavior in another. Bigler (1999)

argued for the application of the multifactorial approach to gender schemas to the

design of intervention programs, and the same case should be made in the area of

child-‐‑rearing. Further, as Alfieri et al. (1996) proposed, the potentially greater impact of

the social context during adolescence than childhood provides different opportunities

for intervention in this age group. These types of questions point to potential practical

Interrelations 19

applications of the cognitive-‐‑based gender schema approaches.

Interrelations 20

References

Alfieri, T., Ruble, D. N., & Higgins, E. T. (1996). Gender stereotypes during adolescence:

Developmental changes and the transition to junior high school. Developmental

Psychology, 32, 1129 1137.

Biernat, M. (1991). A multicomponent, developmental analysis of sex typing. Sex Roles,

24, 567-‐‑586. (a)

Biernat, M. (1991). Gender stereotypes and the relationship between masculinity and

femininity: A developmental analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,

6, 351-‐‑365. (b)

Bigler, R. S. (1997). Conceptual and methodological issues in the measurement of

children'ʹs sex typing. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 53-‐‑69.

Bigler, R. S. (1999). Psychological interventions designed to counter sexism in children:

Empirical limitations and theoretical foundations. In W. B. Swann, Jr., J. H.

Langlois, & L. A. Gilbert (Eds.), Sexism and stereotypes in modern society: The gender

science of Janet Taylor Spence (pp. 129-‐‑151). Washington, DC: American

Psychological Association.

Bigler, R. S., & Liben, L. S. (1992). Cognitive mechanisms in children’s gender

stereotyping: Theoretical and educational implications of a cognitive based

intervention. Child Development, 63, 1351 1363.

Eccles, J. S. (1994). Understanding women’s educational and occupational choices.

Interrelations 21

Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 585 609.

Frieze, I. H., & Olson, J. E. (1994). Understanding the characteristics and experiences of

women in male-‐‑ and female-‐‑dominated fields. In M. R. Stevenson (Ed.), Gender

roles through the life span (pp. 151-‐‑178). Muncie, IN: Ball State University Press.

Galambos, N. L., Petersen, A. C., Richards, M., & Gitelson, I. B. (1985). The Attitudes

Toward Women Scale for Adolescents: A study of reliability and validity. Sex

Roles, 13, 343-‐‑356.

Katz, P. A, & Boswell, S. (1986). Flexibility and traditionality in children'ʹs gender roles

[Monograph]. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 112, 103-‐‑147.

Katz, P. A., & Ksansnak, K. R. (1994). Developmental aspects of gender role flexibility

and traditionality in middle childhood and adolescence. Developmental

Psychology, 30, 272-‐‑282.

Katz, P. A, & Walsh, P. V. (1991). Modification of children'ʹs gender-‐‑stereotyped

behavior. Child Development, 62, 338-‐‑351.

Liben, L. S., & Bigler, R. S. (2002). The developmental course of gender differentiation.

Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 67 (2, Serial no. 269).

Martin, C. L., & Halverson, C. F. (1981). A schematic processing model of sex typing

and stereotyping in children. Child Development, 52, 1119-‐‑1134.

Martin, C. L., Ruble, D. N., & Szkrybalo, J. (2002). Cognitive theories of early gender

development. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 903-‐‑933.

Interrelations 22

Ruble, D. N., Martin, C. L., & Berenbaum, S. A. (2006). Gender development. In W.

Damon, R. M. Lerner, & N. Eisenberg (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Social,

emotional, and personality development (6th ed., Vol. 3, pp. 858 – 931). New York:

John Wiley.

Signorella, M. L. (1999). Multidimensionality of gender schemas: Implications for the

development of gender-‐‑related characteristics. In W. B. Swann, Jr., J. H. Langlois,

& L. A. Gilbert (Eds.), Sexism and stereotypes in modern society: The gender science of

Janet Taylor Spence (pp. 107-‐‑126). Washington, DC: American Psychological

Association.

Signorella, M. L., Bigler, R. S., & Liben, L. S. (1993). Developmental differences in

children'ʹs gender schemata about others: A meta-‐‑analytic review. Developmental

Review, 13, 147-‐‑183.

Signorella, M. L., Frieze, I. H., & Hershey, S. W. (1996). Single-‐‑sex versus mixed-‐‑sex

classes and gender schemata in children and adolescents. Psychology of Women

Quarterly, 20, 599-‐‑607.

Spence, J. T. (1993). Gender-‐‑related traits and gender ideology: Evidence for a

multifactorial theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 624-‐‑635.

Spence, J. T., & Hall, S. K. (1996). Children’s gender-‐‑related self-‐‑perceptions, activity

preferences, and occupational stereotypes: A test of three models of gender

constructs. Sex Roles, 35, 659-‐‑692.

Interrelations 23

Twenge, J. M. (1997). Attitudes toward women, 1970-‐‑1995: A meta-‐‑analysis. Psychology

of Women Quarterly, 21, 35-‐‑51.

Interrelations 24

(table continues)

Table 1

Means and Standard Deviations on all Measures by Grade for Children and Adolescents

Children’s Measures

Grade TRAIT I TRAIT E ACT M ACT F AWSC BOTH IDEAL JOB FAMILY

Possible Range 1-‐‑3 1-‐‑3 1-‐‑3 1-‐‑3 0-‐‑1 0-‐‑100 0-‐‑2 0-‐‑1

2nd 2.1 2.4 1.6 1.8 0.75 51.3 0.9 0.13

n = 25 (0.3) (0.4) (0.3) (0.5) (0.23) (23.9) (0.9) (0.29)

3rd 2.4 2.5 1.6 2.0 0.86 53.0 1.1 0.17

n = 18 (0.4) (0.3) (0.4) (0.4) (0.18) (26.3) (1.0) (.33)

Interrelations 25

(table continues)

Children’s Measures

Grade TRAIT I TRAIT E ACT M ACT F AWSC BOTH IDEAL JOB FAMILY

Possible Range 1-‐‑3 1-‐‑3 1-‐‑3 1-‐‑3 0-‐‑1 0-‐‑100 0-‐‑2 0-‐‑1

4th 2.0 2.4 1.5 1.8 0.94 62.8 1.4 0.09

n = 14 (0.3) (0.4) (0.4) (0.3) (0.12) (32.9) (0.8) (0.20)

5th 2.4 2.6 1.7 1.7 0.98 80.9 1.7 0.03

n = 13 (0.2) (0.3) (0.4) (0.3) (0.09) (22.2) (0.6) (0.13)

Interrelations 26

(table continues)

Adolescents’ Measures

Grade TRAIT I TRAIT E ACT M ACT F AWSA BOTH IDEAL JOB FAMILY

Possible Range 1-‐‑4 1-‐‑4 1-‐‑5 1-‐‑5 1-‐‑4 0-‐‑100 0-‐‑2 0-‐‑1

6th 2.7 2.7 2.1 2.7 3.5 73.3 1.9 0.11

n = 11 (0.7) (0.4) (0.6) (0.6) (0.4) (28.7) (0.3) (0.21)

7th 2.9 2.7 2.1 2.7 3.5 63.7 1.4 0.06

n = 19 (0.5) (0.5) (0.5) (0.6) (0.2) (24.6) (0.8) (0.22)

8th 2.7 3.2 2.0 2.6 3.5 65.7 1.8 0.08

n = 17 (0.6) (0.4) (0.7) (0.5) (0.3) (23.1) (0.4) (0.17)

Interrelations 27

(table continues)



Possible Range 1-‐‑4 1-‐‑4 1-‐‑5 1-‐‑5 1-‐‑4 0-‐‑100 0-‐‑2 0-‐‑1

9th 3.0 3.1 1.9 2.9 3.5 77.0 1.5 0.13

n = 23 (0.5) (0.4) (0.5) (0.5) (0.4) (26.5) (0.7) (0.30)

10th 3.0 3.2 1.8 2.9 3.6 72.5 1.8 0.16

n = 15 (0.5) (0.5) (0.3) (0.5) (0.2) (24.5) (0.6) (0.34)

11th 3.0 2.8 1.8 2.6 3.5 79.7 1.2 0.20

n = 17 (0.4) (0.8) (0.5) (0.5) (0.3) (22.3) (0.9) (0.34)

Interrelations 28



Possible Range 1-‐‑4 1-‐‑4 1-‐‑5 1-‐‑5 1-‐‑4 0-‐‑100 0-‐‑2 0-‐‑1

12th 3.3 3.1 1.9 2.9 3.7 81.2 1.4 0.06

n = 13 (0.5) (0.5) (0.4) (0.5) (0.2) (19.9) (0.9) (0.17)

Note. Standard deviations are in parentheses. The following abbreviations were used: I = instrumental, E = expressive, M

= masculine, F = feminine, ACT = activity. Higher scores on the AWSC/AWSA and BOTH measures indicate less

stereotyped responding. Higher scores on the family roles measure indicate “no” answers to the questions about marriage

and children; lower scores indicate “yes” answers. Higher scores on the ideal job measure indicate the choice of

stereotypically masculine occupations; lower scores indicate the choice of stereotypically feminine occupations.

Interrelations 29

Table 2

Intercorrelations Among All Measures by Age Group (Children, Adolescents)

Measure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1. TRAIT I -‐‑-‐‑ .15 .24** .15 .22** .16 .08 .01 .27**

2. TRAIT E .07 -‐‑-‐‑ -‐‑.12 .27** .02 .05 .06 -‐‑.17* .21*

3. ACT M .27* -‐‑.14 -‐‑-‐‑ .09 .12 .12 .13 .01 -‐‑.19*

4. ACT F -‐‑.00 .29** .13 -‐‑-‐‑ .09 .03 .14 -‐‑.17* .10

5. AWSC/A .00 -‐‑.15 .07 -‐‑.26* -‐‑-‐‑ .48** .08 .07 .15

6. BOTH .08 -‐‑.07 .21 -‐‑.26* .48** -‐‑-‐‑ .12 .05 .17*

7. IDEAL JOB .24* -‐‑.10 .18 -‐‑.20 .37** .26* -‐‑-‐‑ -‐‑.05 -‐‑.19*

8. FAMILY .00 -‐‑.19 -‐‑.07 -‐‑.21 .03 -‐‑.05 -‐‑.03 -‐‑-‐‑ .07

9. GRADE .13 .13 .06 -‐‑.17 .46** .37** .33** -‐‑.15 -‐‑-‐‑

Note. Correlations, means, and standard deviations for adolescents are above the

diagonal; children are below the diagonal. The following abbreviations were used: I =

instrumental, E = expressive, M = masculine, F = feminine, ACT = activity. Children

were given the AWSC, adolescents the AWSA. Higher scores on the AWSC/AWSA and

BOTH measures indicate less stereotyped responding. Higher scores on the family roles

measure indicate “no” answers to the questions about future marriage and children;

Interrelations 30

lower scores indicate “yes” answers. Higher scores on the ideal job measure indicate the

choice of stereotypically masculine occupations; lower scores indicate the choice of

stereotypically feminine occupations. The modal ns for each age level (with ranges in

parentheses) were as follows: children = 84 (71-‐‑85); adolescents = 136 (120-‐‑140).

Significance levels are two-‐‑tailed.

*p < .05. **p < .01.

Interrelations 31

Table 3

Principal Components Analyses of All Measures and Grade by Age Group

Factors

Children Adolescents

Measure 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

TRAIT I .09 .07 .72 .18 .18 .33 .73

TRAIT E -‐‑.04 .77 -‐‑.14 .06 .72 .26 -‐‑.06

ACT M .06 -‐‑.04 .82 .04 -‐‑.12 -‐‑.35 .79

ACT F -‐‑.45 .58 .21 .03 .67 -‐‑.02 .27

AWSC/A .79 -‐‑.13 -‐‑.03 .82 -‐‑.02 .05 .13

BOTH .71 -‐‑.06 .14 .86 -‐‑.01 -‐‑.00 .03

IDEAL JOB .58 -‐‑.08 .36 .27 .28 -‐‑.61 .10

FAMILY -‐‑.11 -‐‑.66 -‐‑.07 .12 -‐‑.60 .24 .14

GRADE .76 .29 .01 .23 .17 .80 .04

Eigenvalue 2.4 1.5 1.2 1.9 1.4 1.4 1.0

Variance 26.7 16.7 13.9 21.1 16.1 15.2 11.1

Note. Tabled values for measures are factor loadings. The following abbreviations were

used: I = instrumental, E = expressive, M = masculine, F = feminine, ACT = activity.

Interrelations 32

Children were given the AWSC, adolescents the AWSA. Higher scores on the

AWSC/AWSA and BOTH measures indicate less stereotyped responding. Higher scores

on the family roles measure indicate “no” answers to the questions about future

marriage and children; lower scores indicate “yes” answers. Higher scores on the ideal

job measure indicate the choice of stereotypically masculine occupations; lower scores

indicate the choice of stereotypically feminine occupations. Variance indicates the

percent accounted for by the factor.

Interrelations of Gender Schemas in Children and Adolescents: Attitudes, Preferences, and Self Perceptions

Documents