Wang Michelle Z, Ng Vivian, Gleason Tracy R
Department of Psychology, Wellesley College, 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481, USA.
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2023 May;235:103879. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.103879. Epub 2023 Mar 12.
Young children tend to categorize people and objects to understand their environments, but under certain circumstances, they can also appreciate individual differences. Three studies investigated how young children use categorical and individuating information to make social judgments. In Study 1, 3- to 5-year-old children (N = 33; 18 boys, 15 girls) predicted hypothetical peers' preferences for toys along a spectrum from highly stereotyped for girls to neutral to highly stereotyped for boys. Hypothetical peers were described by gender and as enjoying activities that were stereotypical, counter-stereotypical, or unrelated to gender. Children's choices were consistent with use of the provided individuating information rather than gender alone. In Studies 2 and 3, we retested these ideas with preschool samples from the United States (N = 44) and China (N = 21) respectively and also asked children about their toy, playmate, and activity preferences. For both samples, responses followed the same pattern as Study 1 for social judgments and were characterized by preferences for same-gender peers and neutral or gender-typed toys and activities, particularly in girls. While young children express preferences consistent with gender identity, they process and use individuating information in making social judgments, a capacity that could be targeted by interventions designed to reduce the development of gender-based bias.
幼儿倾向于对人和物体进行分类以理解他们的环境，但在某些情况下，他们也能认识到个体差异。三项研究调查了幼儿如何使用分类信息和个体化信息来做出社会判断。在研究1中，3至5岁的儿童（N = 33；18名男孩，15名女孩）预测了假设的同伴对玩具的偏好，这些玩具的范围从高度刻板的女孩玩具到中性玩具再到高度刻板的男孩玩具。假设的同伴通过性别来描述，并被说成喜欢符合刻板印象、不符合刻板印象或与性别无关的活动。儿童的选择与使用所提供的个体化信息一致，而不仅仅是基于性别。在研究2和研究3中，我们分别用来自美国（N = 44）和中国（N = 21）的学龄前儿童样本对这些观点进行了重新测试，并且还询问了儿童关于他们对玩具、玩伴和活动的偏好。对于这两个样本，在社会判断方面，回答遵循与研究1相同的模式，其特点是偏好同性别的同伴以及中性或按性别分类的玩具和活动，尤其是在女孩中。虽然幼儿表达出与性别认同一致的偏好，但他们在做出社会判断时会处理和使用个体化信息，这种能力可以通过旨在减少基于性别的偏见发展的干预措施来加以引导。
