Huston A C, Carpenter C J, Atwater J B, Johnson L M
Child Dev. 1986 Oct;57(5):1200-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1986.tb00448.x.
The study was designed to test the relations among gender, adult-provided activity structure, and social behavior for children in middle childhood. Adult-provided structure was defined as verbally presented rules, guidelines, suggestions, and modeling. Children aged 7-11 years attended a 1-week summer day camp in which activities characterized by high or low adult structure were available. As predicted, girls spent more time in highly structured activities, whereas boys spent more time in low-structure activities. Once in high-structure activities, however, both genders displayed high rates of adult-directed bids for recognition, leadership attempts, and compliance and low rates of peer interaction. In low-structure activities, children directed high rates of leadership and other social behaviors to same-sex peers. Children who chose high-structure activities most often were also most likely to interact with adults in those activities. Those who chose low-structure activities showed the highest rates of interaction with male peers. Sex-typed personality attributes were not related to activity choice. The results are interpreted in a framework encompassing the interactions of "person" attributes, environmental variables, and behavior.
该研究旨在测试童年中期儿童的性别、成人提供的活动结构和社会行为之间的关系。成人提供的结构被定义为口头提出的规则、指导方针、建议和示范。7至11岁的儿童参加了为期1周的夏日日间营地，其中有成人结构化程度高或低的活动。正如预测的那样，女孩在高度结构化的活动中花费的时间更多，而男孩在低结构化的活动中花费的时间更多。然而，一旦参与高度结构化的活动，两性都表现出向成人寻求认可、尝试领导和服从的高比率，以及同伴互动的低比率。在低结构化的活动中，儿童向同性同伴表现出高比率的领导和其他社会行为。最常选择高度结构化活动的儿童也最有可能在这些活动中与成人互动。那些选择低结构化活动的儿童与男性同伴的互动率最高。性别类型的人格特质与活动选择无关。研究结果在一个包含“人”的属性、环境变量和行为相互作用的框架中得到解释。
