Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR-IRPPS), 00185 Rome, Italy.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 14;19(6):3408. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19063408.
The internalisation of gender stereotypes has long-term impacts on the aspirations, opportunities and psychosocial well-being of people. The main objective of this study is to measure the adherence to gender roles among children, analysing the link between their roles' internalisation, the family context and the socioeconomic environment.
During the Spring 2021, a survey was carried in Rome on children aged 8-11 through a structured questionnaire. The explanatory dimensions of the analysed topics were identified and a survey questionnaire with an ad hoc administration method were developed.
The results show a widespread internalisation of traditional gender roles among the respondents and differences by sex were found, since their acceptance is higher among boys for male roles and among girls for female roles. As the age increases, the adherence to male roles decreases for both boys and girls, while high levels of prosociality resulted in a lower adherence to female roles among boys. No significant relations were found with family and environmental variables.
These findings show how the internalisation of gender stereotypes is already traceable at this age, and due to a different path of primary socialisation, boys and girls develop their gender identity consistent with social expectations. The lack of significant relations with environmental variables could be related to the age of the respondents, as the process of primary socialisation imbued with gender stereotypes still does not overlap secondary socialisation. These trends should be monitored during late childhood since at this age children are cognitively plastic, but also vulnerable and influenceable by surrounding stimuli. This research approach, especially if extended to a wider geographical scale, can provide important knowledge to support the relational well-being of children and equal opportunities of society as a whole.
性别刻板印象的内化对个人的志向、机会和心理社会幸福感有着长期影响。本研究的主要目的是衡量儿童对性别角色的认同程度，分析其角色内化、家庭背景和社会经济环境之间的联系。
2021 年春季，在罗马对 8-11 岁的儿童进行了一项调查，采用了结构化问卷。确定了分析主题的解释维度，并开发了具有特定管理方法的调查问卷。
研究结果表明，被调查者普遍内化了传统的性别角色，且存在性别差异，因为男孩对男性角色的接受程度更高，女孩对女性角色的接受程度更高。随着年龄的增长，男孩和女孩对男性角色的认同度都有所下降，而高水平的亲社会行为则导致男孩对女性角色的认同度降低。与家庭和环境变量之间没有发现显著的关系。
这些发现表明，性别刻板印象的内化在这个年龄段已经很明显，由于初级社会化的不同路径，男孩和女孩形成了符合社会期望的性别认同。与环境变量之间没有显著关系可能与被调查者的年龄有关，因为性别刻板印象的初级社会化过程还没有与二次社会化重叠。这些趋势应在儿童晚期进行监测，因为此时儿童具有认知可塑性，但也容易受到周围刺激的影响。这种研究方法，特别是如果扩展到更广泛的地理范围，可以提供重要的知识，以支持儿童的关系幸福感和整个社会的平等机会。
