Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland.
Dev Psychol. 2018 Mar;54(3):510-520. doi: 10.1037/dev0000439. Epub 2017 Oct 30.
The present study investigated the relations between 4- to 6-year-old children's (N = 67) gender stereotypes, resource allocations, and mental state knowledge in gender-stereotypic contexts. Participants were told vignettes about female and male characters completing gender-stereotyped activities (making dolls or trucks). Children held stereotypic expectations regarding doll- and truck-making abilities, and these expectations predicted the degree of bias in their allocations of resources to the characters. Critically, children's performance on a Theory of Mind (ToM) Scale (Diverse Desires [DD], Contents False-Belief [FB], Belief-Emotion [BE]) was significantly related to their allocations of resources to individuals whose effort did not fit existing gender stereotypes (e.g., a boy who was good at making dolls). With increasing ToM competence, children allocated resources based on merit (even when the character's effort did not fit existing gender stereotypes) rather than based on stereotypes. The present results provide novel information regarding the emergence of gender stereotypes about abilities, the influence of stereotypes on children's resource allocations, and the role of ToM in children's ability to challenge gender stereotypes when allocating resources. (PsycINFO Database Record
本研究调查了 4 至 6 岁儿童（N=67）的性别刻板印象、资源分配以及在性别刻板情境中的心理状态知识之间的关系。参与者被讲述了关于女性和男性角色完成性别刻板活动（制作娃娃或卡车）的小插曲。孩子们对娃娃制作和卡车制作能力持有刻板印象的期望，这些期望预测了他们对角色分配资源的偏见程度。至关重要的是，儿童在心理理论（ToM）量表（多样愿望[DD]、内容错误信念[FB]、信念-情感[BE]）上的表现与他们对努力不符合现有性别刻板印象的个人的资源分配显著相关（例如，擅长制作娃娃的男孩）。随着 ToM 能力的提高，儿童会根据能力（即使角色的努力不符合现有性别刻板印象）分配资源，而不是基于刻板印象。本研究结果为关于能力的性别刻板印象的出现、刻板印象对儿童资源分配的影响以及心理理论在儿童在分配资源时挑战性别刻板印象的能力方面提供了新的信息。
