ABSTRACT CULTURAL OBJECTS AND APPARENT SYMBOLS AS SEX DISCERNMENT FACTORS AMONG PRESCHOOL CHILDREN by Audray L'H. Weese The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to investi- gate the relationship of age and sex and the preschool child's capacity to recognize the sex appropriateness of adult male and female task and appearance items. Specific hypotheses which involved the associ- ation of the child's age and pattern and number of errors were pro- posed. An instrument was developed in order to test the proposed hypotheses and to explore the association of sex and sibling relation- ships and the number and pattern of errors. A questionnaire was also developed in order to obtain certain background information from the parents of the children interviewed. The final instrument was adminis- tered to 120 middle class boys and girls between the ages of thirty and sixty months. The chi-square test of significance was employed to analyze the data pertaining to the association of age and sex and pattern and number of errors. The findings of this study may be summarized briefly as follows: (1) The child's age is directly related to the accuracy of his discernment of the appropriateness of male and female task and appearance items. The older the child the fewer are the number of errors he makes in judging the appropriateness of adult appearance and task sex-linked objects. Audray L'H. Weese (2) For the children of this sample sex alone was not found to be significantly associated with the number of error responses on the sex-linked items. (3) Age was not found to be significantly associated with the pattern of error responses on the four categories of sex- linked items. Although the older boys and girls made fewer errors, the errors were randomly distributed among the male and female task and appearance items. (4) A moderately significant association (P . 05) was found between sex and error responses on the four categories of male and female items. In terms of statistical prob- ability, the girls of this sample were found to be more accurate in their sex designation of male and female ap- pearance items while the boys were found to be more accurate in their sex designation of male and female task items. (5) For these age groups there was no significant association found between age and greater accuracy in the recognition of the sex appropriateness of task items. (6) An extremely significant association (P . 001) between sex and error responses on only the female task and female appearance items was in evidence. In terms of statistical probability the girls of this sample were more accurate in their sex designation of female appearance items while the boys were more accurate in their sex designation of female task items. (7) When only the error responses on the female appearance items and male appearance items were associated with sex, a highly significant association (P . 01) was found. In terms of statistical probability the boys and girls of this sample made fewer errors than expected in designating the sex appropriateness of same-sex appearance items. An analysis of the association of number and pattern of errors and sibling relationships demonstrated that for this sample population sibling relationships are not associated with the child's capacity to Audray L'H. Weese distinguish the sex appropriateness of adult male and female task and appearance items. The association of number of error responses and sibling relationships could not be'tested statistically while control- ling for age since all the theoretical frequencies were considerably under five. CULTURAL OBJECTS AND APPARENT SYMBOLS AS SEX DISCERNMENT FACTORS AMONG PRESCHOOL CHILDREN BY l Audray L'H/weese A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MAS TER OF ARTS Department of Textiles, Clothing and Related Arts 1964 r." I“! "' ’J' s x: Cu: 'f‘ w W 7/ 3 .I.‘ ‘1' . J L . I v.«‘ .I ‘5 AC KNOW LED GMENTS The writer wishes to express her sincere appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Arthur M. Vener, who in assuming the major responsibility for this research project provided invaluable en- couragement, direction, and enthusiasm; to Dr. Joanne Eicher for her aid in initiating the study and developing the instrument; to Dr. Elinor Nugent for timely suggestions and criticisms dur- ing the research; and to Dr. Jay Artis for his criticism of the manuscript. The writer also wishes to extend her appreciation to Hazel Baxter, Madeline Vener, and Isabelle Mushka for help and co- operation with the interviewing. The writer is grateful for the valuable assistance and cooperation of the Michigan State Univers- ity Laboratory Preschool, Quonset Cooperative Nursery, Lutz Day Care Nursery, and Spartan Nursery. The writer wishes to express her sincere gratitude to the parents of the children interviewed for their interest, cooperation, and enthusiasm. Finally, the writer wishes to acknowledge the children for their spontaneity, individuality, and charm. **=‘.<*>'.<**>l<**>l<>’.<** ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION . . ......... . . Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . ..... Review of Literature ..... . . . . . . . . . . Focus of the Study ............... II. METHODOLOGY. . . ..... . . . . . . . . . . III. IV. SelectionofMethod Development of the Instrument ......... . Pretest............ ........... The Community Setting . . . . . . . ..... . . Selection and Description of Sample ........ Administration of the Instrument ...... . . . Method of Analysis. . . . . . . ...... . . . . NUMBER AND PATTERN OF ERRORS . . . . . . Association of Age and Sex and Number of Error Responses ..... . . ....... . . . . Pattern of Errors . . . . . . . .......... Summary...................... NUMBER AND PATTERN OF ERRORS AND SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS. . . . . . . . . . . . . Association of Sibling Relationships and Number ofErrors..................... Association of Sibling Relationships and Pattern ofErrors............ ....... Summary . . . . . . . . ........ SUMMARY, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOM- MENDATIONS . . . . . . . ............ iii 10 18 19 21 Z8 Z8 30 33 37 46 49 49 52 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued CHAPTER Summary......... ....... .. Implications . . . . . . . . . ....... Recommendations . . ......... . . . . . BIBLIOGRAPHY o o o o o o ooooooo o o o o o o 0 APPENDIX A. APPENDIX B. APPENDIX C. TABLES REFERRED TO BUT NOT INCLUDED IN TEXT. . . . . . . . . Page 0 o o o 54 0 0 O O 58 62 BACKGROUND INFORMATION QUESTION- NAIRE................ 69 PHOTOGRAPHED MALE AND FEMALE TASK AND APPEARANCE ITEMS . . . iv 0 0 O 72 TABLE 10. 11. 12. LIST OF TABLES Near Peer Disagreement with the Adult Committee As to the Sex Appropriateness of Male and Female Task and Appearance Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Distribution of Sample Population by Father's Occupation. ...... . . . . . . . . . . ..... Age Distribution of the Parents of the Children Interviewed................. ..... Distribution of Sample by Number of Siblings of Children Interviewed . . . . . . . . . . . ..... . Total Error Responses of the Children Interviewed on the Sex Appropriateness of Male and Female Task and Appearance Items. . . . . . . . . . . Association of Age and Sex and Number of Error Responses on the Sex-Linked Items . . . . . . . . . Association of Age of Boys and Number of Error Responses on the Sex-Linked Items . . . . . . . . . Association of Age of Girls and Number of Error Responses on the Sex-Linked Items . . . . . . . . . Association of Sex and Number of Error Responses onSex-Linked Items . . . . . . . . . . . ..... Association of Age and Number of Error Responses on Sex-Linked Items . . . . . . . . . ........ Association of Age and Sex with Error Responses on Male and Female Task and Appearance Items . . . . Association of Age of Boys and Error Responses on Male and Female Task and Appearance Items . . . . Page 15 23 26 27 31 34 35 36 36 37 38 39 LIST OF TABLES - Continued TABLE 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. Association of Age of Girls and Error Responses on Male and Female Task and Appearance Items. . Association of Sex and Error Responses on Male and Female Task and Appearance Items . ..... Association of Age and Error Responses on Task Items and Appearance Items . . . . . . . . . . . . Association of Sex and Error Responses on Female Appearance and Female Task Items . . . . Association of Sex and Error Responses on Male Task and Male Appearance Items . . . . . . . . . . Association of Sex and Error Responses on Female Appearance and Male Appearance Items . . Association of Sex and Error Responses on Female Task and Male Task Items . . . . . . . . . Association of Sex and Error Responses on Male and Female Task and Male and Female Appearance Items' 0 O O 0 0 O O O I O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O 0 Association of Girls' Number of Error Responses and Sibling Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Association of Boys' Number of Error Responses and Sibling Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Association of Girls' Error Responses on Male and Female Task and Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships . . . . . . . ...... . . . . . . . Association of Boys' Error Responses on Male and Female Task and Appearance Items and Sibling RelationshipS..................... vi Page 39 4O 41 42 42 43 44 45 63 63 64 64 LIST OF TABLES - Continued TABLE 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. Association of Girls' Error Responses on Female Task and Appearance Items and Sibling Relation- Ships. I O O O O O I O I 9 O O O 0 O 0 9 O O O O 0 0 0 Association of Boys' Error Responses on Female Task and Appearance Items and Sibling Relation- ships............ ...... .. ..... Association of Girls' Error Responses on Male Task and Appearance Items and Sibling Relation- ShipSI O O O O O I O 0 O O O ..... 0 O O ..... Association of Boys' Error Responses on Male Task and Appearance Items and Sibling Relation- Ships. 0 o ooooo o o q '9 o oooooooooooo Association of Girls' Error Responses on Male and Female Task Items and Male and Female Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships . . . . Association of Boys' Error Responses on Male and Female Task Items and Male and Female Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships . . . '. Association of Girls' Error Responses on Male Appearance and Female Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Association of Boys' Error Responses on Male Appearance and Female Appearance‘ltems and Sibling Relationships . . . . . . . . ..... . vii Page 65 65 66 66 67 67 68 68 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Statement of the Problem The effective socialization of the young is a task upon which the survival of every organized society depends. Each societal member must learn the defined roles and patterns of his society. Universally every human being must know to which sex he or she belongs, and the recognition of and the distinction between these two polar types must be learned by the individual in terms of a particular cultural setting. This study centers upon the cultural factors which help the child learn appropriate sex-role behavior. The purpose of this study is to investigate the function of certain cultural objects and apparent symbols in the communication of culturally defined male and female distinctions. The term cultural objects is used to denote tools, kitchen utensils and implements associated with certain male and female tasks, while apparent symbols are those items which are associated with male and female appearance. These apparent sym-' bols include clothing, cosmetics, coiffure furnishings, and any such paraphernalia which distinguishes one's appearance as male or female. Specifically this study is designed to ascertain the Ameri- can preschool child's ability to differentiate among task oriented and appearance oriented male and female items. Review of Literatur e The development of the self is an involved and complicated process of socialization--the transmission of culture and the inte- gration of the individual into organized life. In any culture an individual's daily behavior possesses some measure of predict- ability in various defined situations. Every society establishes sanctioned means of behavior for all its members, and the emerg- ence of the socialized individual is dependent upon the standardi- zation of behavior patterns which are communicated to the new generation. In contrast to subhuman organisms, group life among homo sapiens is a matter of cooperative behavior which is brought about by more than mere physiological factors. The physiology of the human species defines certain broad survival needs, but each society defines and elaborates these needs in its own way. Consider the varied behavior associated with eating a meal. According to standards of etiquette prescribed by an individual's culture and social class, persons with similar states of hunger may demonstrate a wide range of differences in food preferences. The Chinese avoid milk and milk products although it is available, and Americans abhor snake meat which is also available and quite nourishing. Social, religious, and personal symbolism surrounds the eating of food for people all over the world. These phenomena are scarcely accountable for solely on biological grounds. Within the confines of any society there are certain broad behavior expectations connected with the fact that one is male or female. Different activities and attitudes are prescribed for men and for women. How do appropriate sex patterns of behavior become e stabli shed ? Numerous theories--psychoanalytic, interactionist and learn- ing-~deal with the child's learning of appropriate sex-role behavior. Although much insight can be gained from these theories in terms of the broad dynamics of role learning, they yield little substantive information which deals specifically with the cultural items upon which this role learning is based. An examination of the substantive literature reveals that very few studies have been done which deal directly with this area. However, those available are valuable as a basis from which further studies may be launched. The earliest of these substantive studies by Conn and Kanner1 indicates that clothing and dress are the first criteria by which the 200 children employed in their research differentiated between the sexes. At four years of age hair was the most distinctive feature, clothes were introduced at five years, strength and body configura- tion at eight years, and gait at nine years.2 Conn and Kanner also found that some of these young children declared categorically that removal of clothes made a distinction between boys and girls im- possible.3 The researchers found that older children from urban areas were generally more cognizant of genital differences between the sexes. This seems to indicate that the criteria by which children discern differences in sex may depend to a certain degree upon such factors as social class, number of siblings, age of siblings, moral philosophies of the parents, and conditions of housing. However, the typical answer by which children differentiated between male and female was that little boys wear pants or suits and little girls wear 1J. H. Conn and L. Kanner, ”Children's Awareness of Sex Differences, " Child Psychiatry, I (1947), pp. 3-57. ZIbid., p. 55. 31bid., p. 13. dresses. Overalls, underwear, shirts and neck ties were included as being appropriate for boys while petticoats, slips, blouses, skirts and ribbons were categorized as appropriate for girls.‘ Although the researchers employed as many as 200 in the sample, the age range of the subjects, four to twelve years, was rather broad. In addition, the girls were under-represented--128 boys and only seventy-two girls. Conn and Kanner also made no attempt to control for social class. Finally, the children of the study were not actually "normal, “ for they were referred cases from the Pediatric Department of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Only those with serious retardation were excluded from the study. The Rabban5 study of 300 children, ages two-and-one-half to eight years, analyzes boys' and girls' preferences among a selection of sex-typed toys. Despite the fact that this study does not deal directly with clothing and appearance, it offers valuable data in terms of social class variables, for Rabban suggests that wide differences in social class membership are related to differences in sex-role preference and identification. Rabban found that in both working class and middle class groups boys are more clearly aware of sex- appropriate behavior than are girls. Also, in the working class group boys and girls are earlier and more clearly aware of the sex- role pattern. Rabban notes that at the age of three both boys and girls of both groups are unaware of the sex-linked appropriateness of the toy objects. During the fourth and fifth years there was a growth in clarification for working class boys, while the sixth year was found significant for middle class boys. By the age of six, 41bid., p. 12. 5Meyer Rabban, "Sex-Role Identification, " Genetic Psychology Monographs, XLII (August, 1950), pp. 89-154. working class girls accepted the sex appropriate pattern, but for middle class girls the age was eight.6 A factor which merits con- sideration in this study is the validity of the toys as a test medium. The researcher chose adult men and women as well as nine to eleven-year-olds to determine agreement of the sex-appropriateness of the toys. Since there were 317 adult men and women and only sixty-four nine to eleven-year—olds, adult opinion was considered more important than near peer opinion in the validation of the toys as a test medium. Also, social class variables were not considered in the structuring of the instrument. This may be a factor which would cause some bias in the final results. Daniel G. Br own,7 in a study of seventy-eight male and sixty- eight female middle class kindergarten children, rated the children's responses to the _I_T_S§_, It Scale for Children. The gig consisted of thirty- six picture cards, three by four inches, depicting various objects, figures and activities commonly associated with masculine or feminine roles. A drawing of a child which was referred to as "It" was used by having each child choose cards which he thought the "It” would prefer. The researcher assumed that by using this method the child would project himself into the "It, " thus revealing the child's own role preference. Included in the ITSC was an eight paired picture section consisting of paired items directly connected with masculinity-femininity in adult as well as childhood sex roles. A major shortcoming of this research is that Brown did not validate the Egg instrument. Another possible source of bias in this study was that the "It” drawing was not pretested in terms of whether it was 61bid., p. 141. 7Daniel G. Brown, “Sex-Role Preferences in Young Children, " Psychological Monographs, LXX (1956), pp. 1—19. perceived as neutral in sex traits. In conclusion Brown points out that the position of a child in the family with respect to the presence or absence of siblings of the same or opposite sex has an influence on his sex-role development. Brown notes that this area of study should receive further consideration. More recently Evelyn G. Pitcher studied ways in which parents accent sex differences in young children.8 She reports that clothing and appearance play a large part in the parental promotion of feminineness and masculineness. One mother reported her husband's delight at seeing his daughter in a dress for the first time. Pitcher's interviews with parents reveal that sex-typing by parents in terms of clothing and appearance influences and strengthens children's awareness of sex differences, and such differences exist from a very early age inthe American child. Pitcher's play interviews with children, both boys and girls reveal that girls mention clothing with more attention to detail, color and suitability of costume than do boys.9 Again, these results indi- cate that the child learns to equate certain apparent cultural symbols as appropriate for the enhancement of himself. Likewise, these apparent symbols are the means by which the child distinguishes between male and female. In summary, the studies by Conn and Kanner, Pitcher, Brown, and Rabban indicate that the sexual role is one for which the child is trained through the use of sex-appropriate language, clothing, coiffure, gait, play, recreation and work. In all of these investi- gations emphasis was placed upon cultural sex-linked objects 8Evelyn G. Pitcher, “Male and Female, " Atlantic, Vol. 211 (March, 1963), pp. 87-92. 91bid., p. 91. associated with the roles of children. None of these studies dealt directly with adult oriented male and female task and appearance items. This research Will make use of the substantive findings reviewed above, but will focus upon the child's discernment of adult sex-linked objects . Focus of the Study The basic goals of this study are twofold; first, to develop an instrument to measure the accurateness of the child's recognition of appropriate adult sex-linked objects; and second, to explore the association of age, sex and sibling relationships and the child's capacity to discern the appropriateness of sex-linked items. There were, however, certain broad hypotheses which guided this study. (1) The child's age is directly related to the accuracy of his discernment of the appropriateness of male and female task and appearance items. It is proposed that as a child matures and there is a deepening and strengthening of his socialization, his awareness of objects . associated with either male or female becomes more trenchant. . To test for this broad hypothesis, the following subhypothesis was. 3 developed. (A) The older the child the fewer will be the number of errors he will make in judging the appropriate- ness of appearance and task objects. (2) The older the child the greater will be his capacity to recognize task items in the discernment of sex. The concern here is with the child's awareness of the appro- priateness of appearance items versus task items. It is proposed that in the young child recognition between the sexes in terms of appearance precedes recognition between the sexes in terms of task items. It is believed that the young child must become more socialized before he is capable of grasping male and female dis- tinctions in terms of role oriented task items. CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY The methodology for this study will be presented as follows: (1) selection of method, (2) development of the instrument, (3) pretest, (4) the community setting, (5) selection and description of the sample, (6) administration of the instrument, and (7) method of analysis . Selection of Method Because adult appearance and task items as sex discernment factors among preschool children has never been explored, it was felt that an exploratory study would yield the most fruitful findings. Selltiz indicates that in problems where there is little knowledge available, an exploratory study will usually be the most appropriate approach. "Exploratory studies have the purpose of formulating a problem for more precise investigation or of deve10ping hypotheses. "1 In formulating the research procedure for this exploratory in— vestigation the focus was placed upon children of preschool age. Developmental factors of the preschool child such as comprehension of language, language facility, and sociability, were considered in determining the technique which would yield the best response data. Researchers have found that a verbal interview in conjunction with accessory or play material highly successful among children of more 1C. Selltiz, M. Jahoda, M. Deutsch and S. W. Cook, Research Methods in Social Relations (New York: Henry Holt “and Co. , Inc. , 1960), p. 51. 10 2 Also, with children under four years of age than two years of age. a choice technique in which the problem is defined verbally by the interviewer is valuable, for it does not make great demands upon the child's verbal ability while at the same time it maintains the child's interest.3 For these reasons it was decided to develop an instrument and a method of interviewing by which the child would have articles to handle. Likewise, the intent was to choose objects which were directly related to the interview, i. e. , objects about which the questions would be asked. In turn, it was regarded desir- able to structure the interview so as to request only one choice from the child. Another factor which was considered was the setting of the interview. Each child was interviewed in a setting with which he was familiar, i. e. , a room of the nursery school or in his own home. The physical setting was deemed an important consideration for ideally it is a factor which facilitates the reduction of anxiety and the maximization of rapport in an interview relationship.‘ Development of the Instrument Since the aim was to use a medium of investigation which would elicit responses in terms of the child's recognition of adult sex- appropriate items, actual items were chosen for the instrument rather than symbolic representations through the use of pictures. It was felt that the child would respond more readily to concrete objects zPaul H. Mussen (ed.) Handbook of Research Methods in Child Development (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1960), p. 571. 31bid., pp. 564-565. ‘Ibid., p. 571. 11 which he could manipulate, for accessory materials help to reduce self-consciousness in the child during an interview.5 The selection of the male and female task and appearance items used in this instrument was made by a committee of four--two sociologists, a co-worker, and the writer.6 The committee was organized in order to facilitate a united discussion and contemplation of possible items to be chosen. It was felt that this group procedure would add more objectivity to the evaluation of the appropriateness of the male and female articles. After much selection and rejection of possible items for the instrument, the committee purchased the following paraphernalia. The sixty-three original choices of female appearance items, female task items, male appearance items, and male task items are listed below. Appearance Items Male Female Black belt White belt Bow tie Hair bow Briefs Panties Cap Beach Hat Tan clothes hanger White clothes hanger Black comb Pink comb Handkerchief Handkerchief Necktie Scarf Razor Lipstick Shirt Blouse Shorts Shorts Socks Hosiery sMussen, (ed.), pp. 913., p. 571. 6The committee members were Dr. Joanne Eicher, Department of Textiles, Clothing and Related Arts; Dr. Arthur M. Vener, College of Social Science; Mrs. Hazel Baxter, and the writer. 12 Male Female Sunglasses Sunglasses Tennis shoes Tennis Shoes Undershirt Brassiere Wallet Purse Ring Ring Task Items Male Female Clamp Tongs Flashlight Ice cream scoop Garden gloves Garden gloves Oil can Baster Paint brush Feather duster Paint roller Rolling pin Pliers Peeler Putty knife Spatula Ruler Tape measure Screw driver Wooden spoon Tool box Pot Window cleaner Dustpan Work lamp Iron Wrench Measuring spoons Egg beater The committee originally intended to pair the male and female task and appearance items, i. e. , the female white belt with the male black belt, the male oil can with the female baster. However, after further consideration this idea was abandoned because it was felt that in requesting a child to choose which item belonged to "Mommy" the matching item would automatically be designated as belonging to "Daddy. " Such forced choices would result in biased responses, i. e. , free decision as to the appropriateness of every item would not be actualized. The decision not to pair the items also negated the pur- chase of a male task drill to complement the female task egg beater. 13 Validity The validity of an instrument depends on the degree to which a measurement procedure measures what it purports to measure.7 For the purpose of this study the concern is whether or not the choices of the committee were valid as a means by which to measure a preschool child's discernment of adult sex-linked objects. To test the validity of the items used as the instrument a population of fifty near peers, twenty-five boys and twenty-five girls, was chosen. It was felt that near peer culture opinion would present a more accurate evaluation of the appropriateness of the sex-linked objects, for "the definitions of masculine and feminine do not remain stable long enough for one generation to serve as model for the next. "8 Beyond the confines of the home there are changing models whose values are internalized in the course of the child's growing up, and a very important source of social learning and imitation is that of the peer culture.9 These near peer seven-to-eleven-year-old boys and girl judges were selected from families of middle-middle and upper-middle socio-economic levels, and from families in which both parents were present. The same constants were also specified for the selection of the sample. The near peers were interviewed to evaluate the committee's selection of the male and female items. Accompanied by a sociologist 7C. Selltiz, M. Jahoda, M. Deutsch and S. W. Cook, Research Methods in Social Relations (New York: Henry Holt and Co. , Inc. , 1960), pp. 154-155.. 8Georgene H. Seward, "Learning Theory and Identification: V. Some Cultural Aspects of Identification, " Journal of Genetic Psy- chology, LXXX (1954), p. 232. 91bid., p. 233. 14 and a co-worker, the writer interviewed each child in his home environment.10 The home environment was chosen to provide a casual and familiar setting, thus creating a relaxed atmosphere. Each subject was interciewed separately with only the researcher and the co-worker present. This procedure was deemed appropriate in order to maximize rapport and minimize any possible inhibitions of the interviewee. In the interview situation the child was presented with a suit- case containing the male and female task and appearance items. The subject was requested to remove the articles from the suitcase, one at a time, and designate whether the article belonged to "Mom" or‘ "Dad. " The child was also asked to indicate any item which he felt was appropriate for both men and women. During the interviews the co-worker recorded the responses of the child which differed from the initial categorization of the committee. Responses denot- ing that an item was appropriate for men and women were recorded as "both. " As a result of the near peer responses it was decided to eliminate those items for which more than two "mistakes" were made. The term "mistakes" refers to a disagreement of opinion be- tween the committee's categorization of the items and that of the near peers. Table 1 summarizes the near peer disagreement with the committee's sex designation of the male and female appearance and task items. Responses indicating that an item was considered appro— priate for both men and women were also classified as "mistakes. " After eliminating all items for which two or more mistake responses out of a possible fifty mistake responses were made, i. e. , m 1"Appreciation is expressed to Dr. Arthur M. Vener who directed this research, for initially contacting the parents of the judges and securing permission from them to interview. 15 Table 1. Near Peer Disagreement with the Adult Committee as to the Sex Appropriateness of Male and Female Task and Appearance Items 3:: m: Near Peer Disagreementwith Adult Committee Sex Appropriate Items Boys (N-25) Girls (N-25) No. of Disagreements No. of Disagreements Female Appearance Item 3 White belt 0 0 Hair bow 4 0 Panties 0 0 Beach hat 0 0 White clothes hanger 7 4 Pink comb O O Handerchief l O Scarf 0 0 Lipstick 0 0 Blouse O 0 Shorts 11 10 Hosiery 0 0 Sun glasses 0 0 Tennis shoes 0 O Brassiere O 0 Purse 1 O Ring 0 1 Female Task Items ' Tongs O 3 Ice cream scoop l 2 Garden gloves 2 3 Easter 0 2 Feather duster 0 1 Rolling pin 0 0 Peeler 0 l Spatula O 0 Tape measure 3 7 Wooden spoon O 0 Pot 0 0 Dustpan O 0 Iron 0 0 Measuring spoons 0 0 Egg beater 0 0 Continued 16 Table 1 - Continued Near Peer Disagreement with Adult Committee Sex Appropriate Items Boys (N-25) Girls (N-25) No. of Disaggements No. of Disagreements Male Appearance Items Belt 1 0 Bow tie O O Briefs 1 1 Cap 1 0 Tan clothes hanger 9 9 Comb 3 l Handkerchief O 2 Necktie 0 0 Razor 0 O Shirt 1 0 Shorts 0 1 Socks 1 0 Sun glasses 4 1 Tennis shoes 1 0 Under shirt 11 4 Wallet 4 1 Ring 3 1 Male Task Items Clamp O 0 Flashlight l 0 Garden gloves 0 0 Oil can 1 0 Paint brush 0 0 Paint roller 0 0 Pliers 0 0 Putty knife 3 5 Ruler 1 0 Screw driver 0 0 Tool box 1 0 Window cleaner 6 1 Work lamp 2 2 Wrench 0 0 l7 ninety-six per cent level of agreement, the following items remained in the instrument: Appearance Items Male Black belt Bow tie Briefs Cap Handkerchief Necktie Razor Shirt Shorts Socks Tennis shoes Task Items Male Clamp Flashligh‘t Garden gloves Oil can Paint roller Paint brush Pliers Ruler Screw driver Tool box Wrench Female Beach hat White blouse Belt Brassiere Pink comb Hosiery Lipstick Panties Scarf Sun glasses Tennis shoes Handkerchief* Purse* Ring):< Female Baster Dustpan Egg beater Feather duster Iron Measuring spoon Peeler Pot Rolling pin Spatula Wooden spoon A review of the items remaining in the instrument indicates that there are fourteen female appearance items while each of the other categories has eleven items. It was decided that equalization >,‘< These items were eliminated from the instrument for the pur— poses of exposition and analysis. 18 of the number of items in each category would facilitate cross data comparisons and other data analysis. Hence, the female ring, purse, and handkerchief were eliminated from the instrument, since there was one mistake response on each of these items. ‘Revliability The term reliability refers to the obtaining of the same re- sponse data when a test has been administered repeatedly to the same population. For the purposes of this study a test-retest for reliability was not feasible. The reasons for this are twofold. First, the items chosen for this instrument were novel in form and content, and a reasonable time would have to elapse before a re- peated administration of the instrument could occur. Otherwise, the subject might remember what he saw and did. Secondly, it would be expected that with an elapse of time further socialization would have taken place in the child, hence, it would be unusual to obtain the exact same response data, especially for the younger child. Pretest Six preschool children from East Lansing were interviewed for the pretest to provide a base of experience for the researchers, to test the interview technique for comprehension at this age level, and to see whether or not the length of the interview was within the attention span of the preschool child. The pretest interviews were done at the Michigan State University Laboratory Preschool during July, 1963. In the nursery school setting the researcher approached the child to be interviewed and became acquainted by talking with him and becoming involved in his activity. When the appropriate moment 19 arose the child was asked if he would like to play a game that was in the other room. When the subject consented to playing the game, he and the researcher went to another room where the interview was to take place. The child was presented with a suitcase, and the researcher said: "We're going to play a game. I have a whole suitcase full of Mommy's and Daddy's things. I want you to take the things out of the suitcase one at a time and tell me who each thing belongs to." A co-worker recorded the incorrect responses of the child. The length of the interview in the pretest ranged from ten to fifteen minutes. As a result of the pretest the instrument and the interview technique proved to be quite amenable to the research r equirements . The Community Setting The community from which the sample for this study was chosen was East Lansing, Michigan. Information from the 1960 United States Census reports was used to obtain a demographic des- l The predominance of middle-middle and upper- cription of the city.1 middle class families was the main reason for the selection of East Lansing for this research. East Lansing, a suburb of Lansing, is located in south central Michigan, in the northwest corner of Ingham county, and it is the home of Michigan State University. Since more than twenty per cent of the population of East Lansing is enrolled in college, it can be functionally classified as an "education" city.12 In 1960 there 11All of the statistical data discussed in this section was ab- stracted from U. 5. Bureau of Census, Michifigan General Population Characteristics, 1960 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1960). 12Grace Kneedler, "Functional Types of Cities, " p. 4 (mimeo- graphed). 20 were 30, 198 residents in East Lansing, inclusive of the college students. The population of East Lansing is highly educated. Persons of twenty-five years and older have a median of fifteen and eight- tenths years of formal education, and eighty-nine per cent of this population has completed four years of high school. The residents of East Lansing are young and mobile. The percentage of residents who moved into their present house in East Lansing since 1958 is fifty and seven-tenths per cent. The median age is twenty-two and two-tenths years in comparison to a median of twenty-eight and three-tenths years for the State of Michigan. The college element may have some effect upon this figure. Economically the incomes in East Lansing are higher than those of the state as a whole. The median East Lansing income is $7, 152 while the median for the state is $6, 256. Thirty-one and seven-tenths of the population of East Lansing have incomes of $10, 000 and over. The industrial composition of East Lansing includes seven per cent in manufacturing industries and seventy-one and nine—tenths per cent in white collar occupations. Working women also play a significant part in the labor force. Of the married women with husbands present, thirty-nine and nine-tenths per cent are employed. Of this percentage twenty-six and three-tenths per cent have children under six years of age. This figure may be a factor which influences the large nursery school enrollment in East Lansing. It also may be a figure which is influenced by the predominance of an educated population. 21 Selection and Description of Sample Three factors were considered in the selection of the sample-- social class, age, and family composition. Social Class Since many students of stratification hold that occupational status is a major, if not the prime element in social class status, this variable was employed in this study as an indicator of social class status. The relative importance of occupational position in the general stratification of American society has been vividly expressed by Anderson and Davidson: . The occupation one follows . . . assigns the individual to a particular place in society, which can be changed only by most exceptional circumstances. It has much to do with determining the location and kind of residence of the family, and thereby the schooling, playmates, social contact and leisure-time activities of its various members. . . . It forms the range of his conversation and intellectual interest, fastens him upon habits of dress and conduct, and defines the circle of his friends and acquaintances, who in turn have a powerful effect on his thoughts and activities. 13 For this study occupational status of the father was used as a criterion for evaluating whether or not the child's social class status was at least middle class. The father's occupation was obtained from a background information questionnaire (see Appendix B). It was decided not to scale the occupations of the fathers by using such measurement devices as Warner's seven point occupational status index, 1‘ North-Hatt occupational categories, 15 or Alba Edwards 13D. Anderson and P. B. Davidson, Ballots and the Democratic Class Struggle (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1943), p. 82. 14'W. Lloyd Warner, Marchia Meeker and Kenneth Eells, Social Class in America (New York: Harper and Row, 1960), pp. 140-141. 150. C. North and P. H. Hatt, "Jobs and Occupations: A Popular“ Evaluation" in R. Bendix and S. M. Lipsit (Eds.) Class Status and Power (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1953), pp. 411-426. 22 social-economic groups. 16 This decision was based upon the fact that there was no wide range in the father s' occupational statuses. Rather, the entire population fell within the 1-3 ratings of Warner's Revised Scale for Rating Occupation. In light of these findings the fathers' occupations were categorized and summarized according to types of professions listed in Table 2. Initially the researcher did not use any children of university students. However, this consideration was relaxed due to the difficulty in obtaining subjects in the thirty to forty month age range. The selected student families were ones in which the father was doing graduate or advanced study. £82 For the purposes of this investigation the aim was to obtain an adequate number of representatives of certain preschool age groups in order that statistical comparisons might be made. Specifically, in the selection of the sample, the goal was to obtain adequate repre- sentation by age and sex. Hence a sample of 120 children, sixty boys and sixty girls, between the ages of two-and-one-half and five years was chosen. This age range was chosen for two reasons; first, by the age of two- and-one-half years the child has a sufficient verbal capacity for making choices in an interview situation. Secondly, by the time the child enters elementary school, five years of age, he is able to designate the sex appropriateness of male and female task and appearance items. In order to make comparisons as to the child's age and sex in terms of his awareness of the appropriateness of sex-linked items, the age range of thirty to sixty months was sub-divided into three categories: (1) thirty to forty months, (2) forty-one to fifty months, 16Alba M. Edwards, Alphabetical Index of Occupations (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1937). 23 Table 2. Distribution of Sample Population by Father's Occupation Father's Occupation Number of Fathers University faculty: Full professors, associate professors, assistant professors, instructors 66 Graduate. students: Graduate fellow, full time graduate student 7 Other professionals: Doctors, lawyers, dentists, engineers, high school teachers 10 Business: Regional managers of business firms, salesman of real estate and insurance, accountants, technicians, contractors 27 No response 3 TOTAL 113 24 (3) fifty-one to sixty months. Within each of these subdivisions there were twenty boys and twenty girls. Family C ompo sition For this study it was decided to select children from complete families only, i. e. , intact families in which both parents were present in the home. Originally the researcher planned to select children with no siblings. However, this criterion could not be maintained for it presented too great a limitation in terms of obtain- ing the desired sample size. The Sample The subjects for this investigation were selected from nursery schools in East Lansing, Michigan. An important factor which guided the selection of the sample from East Lansing nursery schools was the attempt to obtain children of middle-middle and upper—middle social class families. Of the 120 children in the sample, fifty-two were interviewed at the Michigan State University Laboratory Preschool, forty-two at Quonset Cooperative Nursery, four at Lutz Day Care Nursery, and seven at Spartan Nursery. Each of these nursery schools catered to the professionals and acamedicians of the community. There was a very small enrollment for the thirty to forty month age groups in the nursery schools. In order to obtain the desired number of children for this category it was necessary to contact individual homes in East Lansing. Hence, fifteen of the 120 inter- views were done in the homes of the subjects. From the records at the nursery schools addresses and telephone numbers of the interviewee's parents were obtained. Questionnaires were originally sent to some of the parents to secure further 25 information pertaining to age and education of the parents, age and sex of siblings, father's occupation, and others living in the home (see Appendix B). Since only thirty-three out of sixty-eight question- naires were returned, it was decided to telephone the remaining parents to secure the desired background information. For the inter- views which were completed in the home, the background informatiOn was obtained by having the mother complete the questionnaire while her child was being interviewed. This also served the purpose of keeping the mother occupied and thus avoided her becoming directly involved with the interview. It was felt that this eliminated a possible source of distraction and inhibition. An analysis of the background information questionnaire shows that the total number of families in the sample was 113. Two of these families had moved to other areas before the questionnaire was sent so no background information was obtained. Seven families were included from which two children were interviewed. Thus there were a total of 111 families from which background information was secured. In considering the age distribution of the parents (see Table 3) it is noted that at least half of the fathers and half of the mothers were between the ages of thirty-one and forty years. This finding seems quite plausible since these were parents of preschool children. None of the parents were younger than twenty years of age. . In terms of family composition, it is nbted in Table 4 that seventy-one and two-tenths per cent of the subjects had no more than two siblings. Also, for this sample population one—child families were as rare as families in which there were four or more children, i. e. , fourteen and four-tenths per cent of the families had an only child and fourteen and four-tenths per cent of the families had four or more children. 26 Table 3. Age Distribution of the Parents of the Children Inter- viewed Number of Number of Age Category Fathers Mothers Totals 20 - 30 years 20 38 58 31 - 40 years 72 66 138 41 - 50 years 18 7 25 51 - 60 years 1 0 1 Totals 111 111 222 27 Table 4. Distribution of Sample by Number of Siblings of Children Interviewed Number of Number of Percent of Siblings Interviewees Interviewees Only child 17 14.4% One sibling 43 36.45% Two siblings 41 34. 75% Three or more siblings 17 14.4% Totals 118 ' . 100. 0% 28 Administration of the Instrument The instrument was administered to 120 two-and-one-half to five year-old boys and girls at the Michigan State University Labora- tory Preschool, Quonset Cooperative Nursery, Lutz Day Care Nursery, Spartan Nursery, and at the homes of the subjects. A co- worker accompanied the writer to record the responses of the children. The interviews ranged in length from ten to fifteen minutes. The length of the interview was dependent upon the age and temperment of the child. As expected, older children were found to be more readily responsive than younger children. Some of the thirty to forty month-old subjects were very shy and it was necessary to spend more time becoming acquainted with them. However, for all of the age groups, once the interview was initiated the attention of the child was maintained. Rapport with the children was generally high. Upon return visits to the nursery schools some of the children expressed a desire to "play the game again. " Method of Analysis For the analysis of the data a prime aim of this study is to test for the statistical significance of specific hypothesized associations, as well as exploratory associations. The goal is to employ a tech- nique to determine whether or not an association could have conceiv- ably occurred through chance. In order to avoid unnecessary complexities in the analysis of the data, the chi-square test of sig- nificance will be used in this investigation. Likewise, the coefficient of contingency (C) will be employed to measure the degree of associ; ation. 17 17The computation of the chi—square and the coefficient of con- tingency will follow the procedure presented by M. J. Hagood and Price, Statistics for Sociologists (New York: Henry Holt and Com- pany, 1952), pp. 356-378. 29 For the purposes of this study, a probability of .05 or less is accepted as indicating a significant association or one that is not likely to occur by chance. Listed below are the probability values and qualifying adjectives which will be used throughout this thesis. (1) (2) (3) (4) 18 When probability is greater than .05 . . . . . "notsignificant". .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . .NS When probability is .05 or less but greater than .01 . . . "moderately significant" . . . . . . . P .05 When probability is .01 or less but greater than .001 . g . 'rhighly Significant" o o o o o o o o o P 001 When probability is .001 or less . . . . . . "extremely significant" . . . . . . . . . . . . . P .001 18The last three of these qualifying adjectives were originally used by George W. Snedecor, Statistical Methods: Applied to Experi- ments in Agriculture and Biology (Ames, Iowa State College Press, 4th edition, 1946), reproduced in M. Hagood and Price, Statistics for Sociologists (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1952), p. 325. CHAPTER III NUMBER AND PATTERN OF ERRORS The major goal of this study is the exploration of the pre- school child's capacity to recognize the sex appropriateness of adult appearance and task items. In order to obtain an overall perspective, the general pattern of errors will be examined first. For present purposes, the term error response denotes the in- correct sex designation of an item in terms of the final categori- zation of appropriateness as originally discussed in the develop- ment of the instrument.1 Table 5 shows the total number of error responses for each of the four categories--female appearance items, female task items, male appearance items, and male task items. It can be seen that the most error responses were made on the male task and appearance items--263 and 256 errors respectively. In sharp con- trast, 197 errors were made on the female task items, and as few as 103 errors were made on the female appearance items. Like- wise, as many as sixty- six children made no errors on the female appearance items, and forty-two made no errors on the female task items. Contrary to this, only twenty children made no errors on the male appearance items, and thirty made no errors on the male task items. This finding seems to indicate that the preschool child is more able to recognize the sex appropriateness of female items. 1See Chapter II for a discussion of the development of the instrument. 3O 31 mom 0mm hm; moH 35308 o m nozsm mm conconoxcssm em £33m S 0380 um noflou uafimnm mas mmofium mm Hoummm NH “Hem mm are SO om .8an mm Hofioonm MA mommmfiwgm Mm woe/3w somehow hm firm hm noemdp uoaumoh MA awn somom em sop Hook 2 ace 2 season mmm S onooam MN .2820 2 38cm 3 sea mshuom o onsom EN ufiwfifimmfim 5H mxuom n: Goomm wcfludmmog o moflcmnm m; Sedan. “Edna S nsfim NH «.8qu Cocooa o .060sz mficcoh 2 screw 3 or Bom 2 com m anchor Z noses? o noose nsssoe m 5.8th N xosnafi 0H uofiup Begum o oflxooz H no.3 N ouofimmmum wuouum Mosh. opossum ousmHMonaq. mHoHHm xmmfi muouum oocmumommaq. mo .02 mo .02 Go .02 mo .02. mono”: 0.232 was”: ofimgoh memo”: oocmumomano. Use Mmoh. oflmaeh new 332 mo mmocofimfiumoummsq. snow 0:» so poBofiCoosH sonpan one. mo momcommom Houum 130M. .m 9.3mm. 32 Apparently for this sample of children the female task and appear- ance items are more readily perceived as to their sex appropriate- ness. In terms of error responses on individual task and appearance items, only one error response was made on the female iron, two error responses on the brassiere and lipstick, and three error responses on the hosiery. In contrast, there were no male task or appearance items on which there were made as correspondingly few errors. Furthermore, of all the items in the instrument, the highest number of errors were made on the male handkerchief and briefs--fifty-three and forty-five errors respectively. This finding indicates that for this sample of children the male items are not perceived as being as distinctly male as the female items are perceived as being distinctly female. There appears to be a minimizing of sexual differences in terms of the appropriate- ness of the male items, whereas the female items such as the brassiere , lipstick and hosiery are strictly considered feminine. Perhaps a factor to consider is that there are no male items which are as distinctly masculine as the female items are distinctly feminine. A father would never use a lipstick, a brassiere or hosiery, but mother might use underwear which looks similar to men's briefs, or she might use a razor, a handkerchief, or wear a shirt. This may indicate that there is a tendency in modern day American society toward the minimizing of apparent sexual differ- encies. As evidenced by what is on the market in women's clothing and what is being featured in fashion magazines, women are becoming more casual and tailored in their appearance. We no longer adhere to the Victorian image of an ultra-feminine woman, ostentatiously ‘displaying wealth, status, and uselessness. Hence, there is some "blurring" in terms of what is considered feminine and what is 33 considered masculine. The dichotomy between the sexes in terms of appearance and task is becoming less pronounced. Association of Age and Sex and Number of Error Responses What effect does age and sex have on the number of error responses ? As stated in the first broad hypothesisz this study aims to test the association of age and the child's recognition of the appropriateness of adult sex-linked items. Furthermore, one of the goals of this study is to explore the association of error re- sponses and other variables. Hence, this section will be devoted to the association of age and sex and number of error responses. In the description of the sample it was established that for this investigation the two-and-one-half to five-year-old age group would be subdivided into three groups--thirty to forty-month olds, forty-one to fifty-month-olds, and fifty-one to sixty-month—olds. Within each of these groups there were twenty boys and twenty girls. This facilitated the investigation of the association of age and sex and the number of error responses. In order to test for the association of age and sex and number of error responses on the sex-linked items, categories of high, medium, and low number of error responses were established. The criterion for establishing these categories was the equalization of the number of children into three divisions of error responses. The categories and their corresponding number of errors are listed below. Low number of error responses . . . . . 0-4 error responses Median number of error responses . . . 5-8 error responses High number of error responses. . . . . 9-28 error responses 2For a discussion of the hypothesis see Chapter I. 34 The association of age and sex with high, medium, and low number of error responses is contained in Table 6 below. Table 6. Association of Age and Sex and Number of Error Responses on the Sex-Linked Items Boys Girls Number of 30-40 41-50 51-60 30-40 41-50 51-60 Error mo. mo. mo. mo. mo. mo. Responses n=20 n=20 n=20 . n=20 n=20 n=20 Totals High Error Responses 15 4 0 l3 4 0 36 Medium Error Responses 3 ll 7 6 8 2 37 Low Error Responses 2 5 13 1 8 18 47 Totals 20 20 20 20 20 20 120 x2 68.845 P .001 c .603 An extremely significant association (P . 001) exists between age and sex and number of error responses; Also, the data show that there is a considerable degree of association (C . 603), with the fifty-one to sixty-month-old boys and girls making fewer errors than the forty-one to fifty-month-olds, and the latter making fewer errors than the thirty to forty-month-olds. The association of age of boys and number of error responses is contained in Table 7 below. 35‘ Table 7. Association of Age of Boys and Number of Error Responses on the Sex-Linked Items m Boys Number of 30-40 41-50 51-60 Error mo. mo. mo. Responses n=20 n=20 n=20 Totals High Error _ Responses 15 4 0 19 Medium Error Responses 3 ll 7 21 Low Error Responses 2 5 13 2 Totals 20 20 20 60 :x:2 33.388 P .001 C .599 An extremely significant association (P .001) is in evidence between age and the number of error responses of the boys. Like- wise, Table 8 below shows that there is an extremely significant association (P . 001) between the age of the girls and the number of error responses. Hence, when the boys and girls are considered separately, there still exists an extremely significant association between age and high, medium, and low number of error responses. It can be seen from Table 9 below that there is no significant association (NS) between sex and number of error responses on the sex-linked items. When the boys and girls are associated with number of error responses without controlling for age, there is no significant finding. In contrast, Table 10 below shows that there is an extremely significant association (P . 001) between age and number of error responses without controlling for sex. 36 Table 8. Association of Age of Girls and Number of Error Responses on the Sex-Linked Items Girls Number of 30-40 41-50 51-60 Error mo. mo. mo. Responses n=20 n=20 n=20 Totals High Error Responses 13 4 0 36 Medium Error Responses 6 8 2 37 Low Error Responses 1 8 18 47 Totals 20 20 20 60 x3 37.201 P .001 c .62 Table 9. Association of Sex and Number of Error Responses on Sex-Linked Items — Number of Error Boys Girls Responses n=60 n=60 Totals High Error Responses 19 p 17 36 Medium Error Responses 21 16 37 '- Low Error Responses 20 27 47 Totals 60 60 120 NS 37 Table 10. Association of Age and Number of Error Responses on Sex-Linked Items m m Number of 30-40 41-50 51-60 Error mo. mo. mo. Responses _ n=40 ' n=40 n=40 Totals High Error Responses 28 8 0 36 Medium Error I Responses 9 l9 9 37 Low Error Responses 3 13 31 47 Totals 40 40 40 120 x2 65.73 P .001 ' c .595 These findings indicate that age is the crucial variable in terms of the child's capacity to discern the appropriateness of the sex- linked items. In all cases where age was associated with high, medium, and' low number of error responses there was a highly sig- nificant association. Hence, the hypothesis that the child's age is directly related to the accuracy of his discernment of the appropriate- ness of male and female task and appearance items can be accepted. Also, subhypothesis A can be substantiated, for the older the child the fewer will be the number of errors he will make in judging the appropriateness of appearance and task sex—linked objects. Pattern of Errors What effect does age and sex have on the pattern of errors? Tables 11 through 13 below show that there is no significant as soci- ation (NS) between age and sex and error responses on each of the 38 four categories of male and female task and appearance items. It can be seen from Table 11 that the distribution of error responses among the three age groups of both boys and girls on the four separate categories of items was randomly scattered. Table 11. Association of Age and Sex with Error Responses on Male and Female Task and Appearance Items No. of Error Responses No. of Error Responses Boys Y Girls 30-40 41-50 51-60 30-40 41-50 51-60 Sex-Linked mo. mo. mo. mo. mo. mo. Items n=20 n=20 n=20 n=20 n=20 n=20 Totals Female Appearance 44 19 7 23 7 3 103 Female Task 51 32 22 51 30 11 197 Male Appearance 66 44 24 60 39 23 256 Male Task 83 31 20 68 42 19 263 Totals 244 126 73 202 118 56 819 NS Likewise, Tables 12 and 13 show that even when the three age groups of boys and girls were considered separately there was still a randomly scattered distribution of error responses. 39 Table 12. Association of Age of Boys and Error Responses on Male and Female Task and Appearance Items Number of Boys' Error Responses 30-40 41-50 51-60 . mo. mo. mo. Sex-Linked Items n=20 n=20 n=20 Totals Female Appearance 44 19 7 70 Female Task 51 32 22 105 Male Appearance 66 44 24 134 Male Task 83 31 20 134 Totals 244 126 73 443 NS Table 13. Association of Age or Girls and Error Responses on Male and Female Task and Appearance Items Number of Girls' Error Responses 30-40 41-50 51-60 mo. mo. m0. . Sex-Linked Items n=20 n=20 n=20 Totals Female Appearance 23 7 3 33 Female Task 51 3O 11 92 Male Appearance 60 39 23 122 Male Task 68 42 19 129 Totals 202 118 56 376 NS 40 In contrast Table 14 below shows that a moderately significant association (P . 05) exists between the sex of the child and the number of error responses on the categories of male and female task and appearance items. It was found that the boys made fewer errors than were expected by chance alone on the female task, male appearance, and male task items, while the girls made more errors than expected on these items. The degree of association between sex and error responses on the four categories of items was fairly low (C .27). Table 14. Association of Sex and Error Responses on Male and Female Task and Appearance Items fl Number of Error Responses . Boys Girls Sex-Linked Items n=60 n=60 Totals Female Appearance 70 33 103 Female Task 105 92 197 Male Appearance 134 122 256 Male Task 134 129 263 Totals 443 376 819 X2 9. 419 P . 05 C o 27 These findings indicate that for this sample population sex is a significant variable in terms of the error responses on the categories 0f male and female task and appearance items. Age was not found to be significantly associated with error responses on the four cate- gories of male and female items. Table 15 below shows that there was no significant association (NS) between age and greater recognition of the sex appropriateness of task items. The hypothesis that the older the child the greater 41 will be his capacity to recognize task items in the discernment of sex was not substantiated. Table 15. Association of Age and Error Responses on Task Items and Appearance Items Number of Error Responses 30-40 '41-50 51-60 mo. mo. mo. " Sex-Linked Items r5140 - n=40 i=40 pTotals Male and Female Task Items 253 136 ' 71 460 Male and Female Appearance Items 193 109 57 359 Totals 446 245 128 819 NS An analysis of the association of sex and pattern of errors shows that there is an extremely significant association (P . 001) between sex and error responses on the female appearance and female task items, as shown in Table 16 below. For this sample the boys made fewer errors than expected in terms of statistical prob- ability on the female task items, while the girls made more errors than expected on these items. Also, the girls made fewer errors than expected on the female appearance items. These findings indicate that the boys of this sample are more accurate in their evalu- ation of the sex appropriateness of the female task items as opposed to the female appearance items. Conversely, the girls are more accurate in evaluating the sex appropriateness of female appearance items rather than female task items. 42 Table 16. Association of Sex and Error Responses on Female Appearance and Female Task Items Number of Error Responses Boys Girls Sex-Linked Items n=60 n=60 Totals Female Appearance Items 70 33 103 Female Task Items I 105 92 197 Totals 175 125 300 x2 15.898 P .001 c .34 In contrast, as shown in Table 17 below, there was no signifi- cant association (NS) found between sex and error responses on the male appearance and male task items. For this sample population, the errors by the boys and girls on the male items were randomly scattered in such a way that there was no significant association. Table 17. Association of Sex and Error Responses on Male Appearance and Male Task Items Number of Error Responses Boys Girls Sex-Linked Items n=60 n=60 Totals Male Appearance 9 Items 134 122 256 Male Task Items 134 129 263 Totals 268 251 519 NS 43 As shown in Table 18 below, a highly significant association (P . 01) exists between sex and error responses on the female appear- ance and male appearance items. In terms of statistical probability the boys of this sample made fewer errors than expected on the male appearance items, while the girls made fewer errors than expected on the female appearance items. Conversely, the boys made more errors than expected on the female appearance items and the girls made more errors than expected on the male appearance items. Hence, for this sample population, the boys and girls made fewer errors than expected on the same—sex appearance items. Table 18. Association of Sex and Error Responses on Female Appearance and Male Appearance Items Number of Error Responses Boys 1 Girls Sex~Linkeditems n=60 n=60 Totals Female Appearance Items 70 33 103 Male Appearance Items 134 122 256 _ Totals 204 155 359 x2 7.339 P .01 C .24 It was also found that there was no significant association (NS) between sex and error responses on the female task and male task items, as shown in Table 19 below. For the boys and girls of this sample, the error responses on the female task and male task items were randomly scattered. This finding indicates that there was no 44 significant difference between the boys and girls of this sample in the accurateness of their sex designation of the male and female task items. Table 19. Association of Sex and Error Responses on Female Task and Male Task Items :3:— M Number of Error Responses Boys Girls Sex-Linked Items n=60 n=60 Totals Female Task Items 105 92 197 Male Task Items 134 - 129 263 Totals 239 221 460 NS The finding that there was a highly significant association between sex and error responses on the female appearance items and the male appearance items, but no significant association between sex and error responses on the female task items and the male task items indicates that in terms of statistical probability the children of this sample have a greater capacity for designating the sex appro- priateness of same-sex appearance items than same-sex task items. Apparently for this age group of two and one-half to five years sex distinctions are made more accurately in terms of same-sex appear- ance items. Apparently further socialization must take place in order for the child to develop a greater capacity for discerning the sex appropriateness of male and female task items. 45 Table 20 below shows that there is no significant association between sex and error responses on male and female task items and male and female appearance items. For this sample population it appears that the boys are no more accurate than the girls and vice versa in designating the sex appropriateness of the male and female task items and the male and female appearance items. Table 20. Association of Sex and Error Responses on Male and Female Task Items and Male and Female Appearance Items M W Number of Error Responses Boys . Girls Sex—Linked Items n=60 n=60 Totals Male and Female 1 Appearance Items 204 155 359 Male and Female Task Items 239 221 460 Totals 443 376 819 NS The finding that there was a significant association between sex and error responses on‘ the female task and female appearance items may be a result of our cultural promotion of what is con- sidered masculine and what is considered feminine. Girls are more oriented towards clothing and appearance in our culture--this is a feminine domain. For the boys, masculine sex-typing is considered appropriate in terms of work and task activities. This finding seems to corroborate Pitcher's conclusion that girls are more aware of feminineness with reference to clothing--its detail, color, and 46 suitability-~than are boys. 1 In contrast, there was no significant association found between sex and error responses on the male appearance and male task items. Likewise, no significant association was found between age and the child's capacity to recognize the sex appropriateness of task items versus appearance items. A factor which may be related to these findings is that the preschool child is more involved with feminine oriented activities for he spends most of his time in a woman domi- nated enviromnent. Also, we are in the midst of a "do-it-yourself" age, and the preschool child continuously sees his mother use all sorts of tools and objects which are also considered appropriate for father. Hence, it seems feasible that the child of two and one-half to five years of age may be quite capable of discerning the sex appropriateness of female task and female appearance items but not male task and appearance items. In light of these findings it would seem appropriate to choose an older age group to see whether or not differences will exist in the child's capacity for recognizing the appropriateness of male items, and task items versus appearance items. It would be interesting to follow the children of this sample into the first year of elementary school in order to see if differences in the pattern of errors will become evident. Summary The principal consideration of this chapter was the statistical testing of specific hypotheses proposed in Chapter I concerning the association of age and the preschool child's capacity to recognize the sex appropriateness of adult task and appearance items. Also con- sidered in this chapter was the association of sex and number and 1Pitcher, pp. (31., p. 91. 47 pattern of errors. The findings may be summarized as follows: (1) (Z) (3) (4) (5) The child's age is directly related to the accuracy of his discernment of the appropriateness of male and female task and appearance items. The older the child the fewer are the number of errors he makes in judging the appro- priateness of appearance and task sex-linked objects. For the children of this sample sex alone is not signifi- cantly associated with number of error responses on the sex-linked items. Age was not found to be significantly associated with the pattern of error responses on the four categories of sex-linked items. Although the older boys and girls made fewer errors, the errors were randomly distributed among the male and female task and appearance items. Thus there was no association between the kinds of errors the children made and their age. A moderately significant association was found between sex and error responses on the four categories of male and female items. In terms of statistical probability, the girls of this sample are more accurate in their sex designation of male and female appearance items while the boys are more accurate in their sex designation of male and female task items. An extremely significant association between sex and error responses on only the female task and female appearance items was in evidence. In terms of statistical probability, the girls of this sample were more accurate in their sex designation of the female appearance items while the boys were more accurate in their sex designation of the female task items . (6) (7) (8) (9) 48 For these age groups there was no significant association found between age and greater accuracy in the recognition of the sex appropriateness of task items. Sex was not found to be significantly associated with error responses on the female task and male task items. When only the error responses on the female appearance items and male appearance items were associated with sex a highly significant association was found. Interms of statistical probability, the boys and girls of this sample make fewer errors than expected in designating the sex appropriateness of same-sex appearance items. For this age group there was no association found between sex and error responses on the male and female task items and the male and female appearance items. CHAPT ER IV NUMBER AND PATTERN OF ERRORS AND ‘ SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS In the discussion of the focus of this study it was stated that one of the aims of this investigation is to explore the association of sibling relationships and the child's capacity to discern the sex appropriateness of sex-linked objects. This chapter is devoted to an exploration of the association of number and pattern of errors and sibling relationships. Comparisons were not made in terms of social class since the sample consists of a relatively homogeneous middle-clas 5 group. Association of Slblillg Relationships and Number of Errors As indicated by Brown1 and Rabban, 7‘ the presence or absence of siblings of the same and/or opposite sex may have a bearing on differences in children's sex-role preference and sex-role identifi- cation. Hence, it is important to ask whether or not the number and pattern of errors of the children of this study are influenced in any pronounced degree by the presence or absence of siblings of the same and/or opposite sex. The association of number of errors and differences in sibling relationships for both boys and girls is contained in Table 21 and 22, 1Daniel G. Brown, pp. 913., pp. 16-18. 2Meyer Rabban, _o_p_. <_:_i_g., pp. 120—122. 49 50 Appendix A. No statistically significant associations (NS) were found among either the boys or the girls, regardless of whether or not the subjects had no siblings and same-sex siblings in contrast to those with cross-sex siblings. The association of girls' and boys' number of error responses and sibling relationships could not be tested statistically while controlling for age since all the theoreti- cal frequencies were considerably under five. Hence, a larger sample size would be necessary to test for this association. Association of Sibling Relationships and Pattern of Errors The association of pattern of errors and sibling relationships for both boys and girls is contained in Tables 23 through 31, Appendix A. No statistically significant associations (NS) were found among either the boys or the girls, regardless of whether or not the subjects had siblings of the same sex or the opposite sex. There was no indication that boys with cross-sex siblings were more or less accurate in designating the sex appr0priateness of female items. These same findings also hold for the girls of the sample, i.e. , a girl with only cross-sex siblings is just as accurate as a girl with same-sex siblings in designating the sex appropriateness of adult female items as adult male items. From these findings no assumption can be made in terms of the differential effect sibling relationship has on the child's capacity to rec0gnize the sex appropriateness of adult male and female items. Summary The principal consideration of this chapter was the exploration of the association of number and pattern of errors and sibling relation- ships. It was found that the presence or absence of siblings of the 51 same and/or Opposite sex has no differential effect upon the pattern of errors of the boys and girls of this sample. It was suggested that a larger sample size would be needed to statistically test for the association of girls' and boys' number of error responses and sibling relationships, while controlling for age. CHAPTER V SUMMARY, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary The primary concern of this study was centered upon an explor- ation of the preschool child's capacity to recognize the sex appropriate- ness of adult task and appearance items. The number and pattern of errors were examined in terms of the age and sex of the child. Also, the association of number and pattern of errors and sibling relation- ships were explored. Specific hypotheses which involved the associ- ation of the child's age and pattern and number of errors were proposed. An instrument was developed in order to test the proposed hypotheses and to explore the association of sex and sibling relation- ships and the number and pattern of errors. A questionnaire was also developed in order to obtain certain background information from the parents of the children interviewed. The final instrument was administered to 120 boys and girls between the ages of thirty and sixty months. The findings concerning the association of age and sex and pattern and number of errors may be summarized briefly as follows: (1) The child's age is directly related to the accuracy of his discernment of the appropriateness of male and female task and appearance items. The older the child the fewer are the number of errors he makes in judging the appro- priateness of appearance and task sex-linked objects. 52 (Z) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) 53 For the children of this sample sex alone is not significantly associated with the number of error responses on the sex- linked items. Age was not found to be significantly associated with the pattern of error responses on the four categories of sex- linked items. Although the older boys and girls made fewer errors, the errors were randomly distributed among the male and female task and appearance items. A moderately significant association was found between sex and error responses on the four categories of male and female items. In terms of statistical probability, the girls of this sample are more accurate in their sex designation of male and female appearance items while the boys are more accurate in their sex designation of male and female task items. An extremely significant association between sex and error responses on only the female task and female appearance items was in evidence. In terms of statistical probability the girls of this sample were more accurate in their sex designation of the female appearance items while the boys were more accurate in their sex designation of the female task items. For these age groups there was no significant association found between age and greater accuracy in the recognition of the sex appropriateness of task items. Sex was not found to be significantly associated with error responses on the female task and male task items. When only the error responses on the female appearance items and male appearance items were associated with sex, a highly significant association was found. In terms 54 of statistical probability the boys and girls of this sample make fewer errors than expected in designating the sex appropriateness of same-sex appearance items. (9) For this age group there was no association found between sex and error responses when the male and female task items and the male and female appearance items were combined. An analysis of the association of number and pattern of errors and sibling relationships demonstrated that for this sample population sibling relationships are not~ associated with the child's capacity to distinguish the sex appropriateness of adult male and female task and appearance items. The association of number of error responses and sibling relationships could not be tested statistically while control- ling for age since all the theoretical frequencies were considerably under five. Implic ations The findings of this study suggest a number of implications. The question arises as to what are some of the cultural factors which shape the behavior of the middle-class preschool child. First, however, it may be worthwhile to present the following brief dis- cus sion of the interactionist approach to the self-concept, for appli- cation of this theory is basic to this study. In general terms, the interactionist approach holds that "the individual's conception of himself emerges from social interaction, and, in turn, guides or influences his behavior. "1 The child. perceives the actual responses of those around him in such a way that their behavior influences his. In turn, the behavior of the child influences 1John W. Kinch, "A Formalized Theory of the Self-Concept, " American Journal of Sociology, LXVIII (January, 1963), p. 481. 55 the actual behavior of others toward him. Thus the theory of the formation of the self is circular. The individual's self-concept, which is based upon his perception of the way others are responding to him, functions to direct his behavior. Such factors as the indi- vidual's familiarity with the situation, his past experience with social situations, and his familiarity with others determine the accuracy with which the individual perceives the actual responses of others. In the socialization of the child the development of the self- concept is a continuous process of experience and interaction which hang together and influence the child's modes of expression. To return to the primary question, why is it that the middle- class child's age is not a crucial variable with respect to the pattern of errors he makes on the four categories of sex-linked items. The findings of this study concur with the observations that middle-class preschool children are constantly involved in'a feminine world. This is coupled with the fact that in modern day America there is a tendency for the mother to perform functions which may be considered part of the masculine role by a larger segment of the society. Like- wise, many masculine functions are relatively abstruse to these children due to the fact that the middle-class father spends most of his day working away from home. Hence, the mother appears to be the more influential role model in the lives of middle-class preschool children. It has been pointed out by Rabban that in the middle-class family both the mother and the father are relatively less concerned about early and clear-cut definitions of sex appropriate behavior.1 For lower-class children ". . . the rigidity of pattern, the models of parents and the attitudes of peers are all of a piece. "2 For the fir 'Rabban, 9p. c_i_t_., p. 145. Zlhid. 56 middle-class child the peers have a profound impact upon his behavior. This would seem to corroborate the finding that the seven to eleven- year—old near peer judges possessed the capacity to clearly associate the sex appropriateness of the sex-linked items, while the preschool children of this sample population showed some confusion with respect to the sex appropriateness of the male and female items. These find- ings imply that there appears to be discontinuity in the middle class child's socialization. Apparently during the preschool years the middle-class child's recognition of appropriate adult sex-role behavior may be less accurate than that of lower social classes. Two years after entering school the child develops a more clear-cut notion of adult sex-role distinctions. The data concerning the error responses of the boys and girls of this sample were analyzed primarily in terms of frequency expecta- tions. If this type of analysis is put aside momentarily, a re- examination of the tables shows that the boys actually made a greater number of errors on all four categories of sex-linked items. Further- more, the greatest difference in the number of error responses of the boys and girls was found on the female appearance items, with the boys making over twice as many error reSponses as the girls in this category. These findings concur with numerous other studies which indicate that during the formative years girls are superior to boys in verbal ability, intelligence, and maturity. At the preschool age level girls are actually more aware of the cultural definitions of what is considered feminine than the boys are aware of what is considered masculine. Thus the data imply that during the first and second year of elementary school differences in the capacity of boys and girls to discern the sex appropriateness of adult sex- linked items sharply diminish. 57 Recommendations The major purpose of this study was to determine how age, sex, and sibling relationships influence the preschool child's capacity to determine the sex appropriateness of adult task and appearance items. As a result of the findings from this exploratory study, the following recommendations are made: (1) Replication of this study with children representative of different social classes, different ethnic groups, and different racial groups. (2) Replication of this study including children under thirty months of age. (3) Replication of this study with a larger sample population in order to test more rigorously for the association of sibling relationships and number of error responses. BIBLIOGRAPHY 58 BIBLIO GRAPHY Anderson, D. and P. E. Davidson. Ballots and the Democratic Class Struggle. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1943. Bossard, James H. and Boll, Eleanor Stoker. The Sociology of Child Development. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1960. Brim, Orville G. , Jr. "Family Structure and Sex Role Learning by Children: A Further Analysis of Helen Koch's Data, " Sociometry, XXI (March, 1958), 1-18. Brown, Daniel G. "Sex-Role Preferences in Young Children, " PsychOIOgical Monographs, LXX (1956), 1-19. Carmichael, Leonard (ed. ). Manual of Child Psychology. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1960. Conn, Jacob H. and Kanner, L. "Children's Awareness of Sex Differences, " Child Psychiatry, I (1947), 3-57. Davis, Allison. "American Status Systems and the Socialization of the Child, " American Soci010gical Review, VI (June, 1941), 345-356. Davis, Kingsley. Human Society. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1949. Edwards, Alba M. Ahahabetical Index of Occupations. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1937. Festinger, L. and Katz, D. Research Methods in the Behavioral Sciences. New York: Dryden Press, 1953. Hagood, M. J. and Price. Statistics for Sociologists. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1952. Jersild, Arthur T. Child Psychology. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1960. 59 60 Kinch, John W. "A Formalized Theory of the Self-Concept, " American Journal of Sociology, LXVIII (January, 1963), 481—486. Kluckhohn, Clyde. Mirror for Man. Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications, Inc. , 1961. Kneedler, Grace. "Functional Types of Cities, " Undated. (Mimeographed.) Lindesmith, Alfred R. and Strauss, Anselm L. Social Psychology. New York: Dryden Press, 1956. Linton, Ralph. "Age and Sex Categories, " American SociOIOpical Review, VII (October, 1942), 589-603. . The Study of Man. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1936. Meltzer, Bernard N. The Social Psychology of GeorgeHerbert Mead. Kalamazoo: Western Michigan University, 1959. Mussen, Paul Henry (ed.). Handbook of Research Methods in Child Development. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. , 1960. North, C. C. and Hatt, P. H. "Jobs and Occupations: A Popular Evaluation, " in R. Bendix and S. M. Lipset (eds.). Class, Status and Power. Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1953. Parsons, Talcott. "Age and Sex in the Social Structure of the United States, " American Sociological Review, VII (October, Pitcher, Evelyn G. "Male and Female, " Atlantic, Vol. 211 (March, 1963), 87-920 Rabban, Meyer. "Sex-Role Identification, " Genetic Psychology Monographs, XLII (August, 1950), 81-158. Rose, Arnold M. (ed.). Human Behavior and the Social Processes: An Interactionist Approach. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962. 61 Selltiz, Claire, Jahoda, M., Deutsch, M., and Cook, 5. W. Research Methods in Social Relations. New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1960. Seward, Georgene H. "Learning and Identification: V Some Cultural Aspects of Identification, " Journal of Genetic Psychology, LXXXIV (June, 1954), 229-246. Snedecor, G. W. Statistical Methods: Applied to Experiments in Agriculture and Biology. Arnes: Iowa State College Press, 1946. U. S. Bureau of the Census. Michigan General Population Character- istics, 1960. Vener, Arthur M. "Adolescent Orientations to Clothing: A Social- Psychological Interpretation. " Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1957. Warner, W. Lloyd, Meeker, Marchia, and Eels, Kenneth. Social Class in America. New York: Harper and Row, 1960. APPENDIX A TABLES REFERRED TO BUT NOT INCLUDED IN TEXT 62 63 Table 21. Association of Girls' Number of Error Responses and Sibling Relationships ’1 Only Child Girls Girls with and Girls with Opposite-Sex Number of Error Same-Sex Siblings Siblings Responses n=31 n=29 Totals High Error Responses 8 9 17 Medium Error Responses 9 7 16 , Low Error Responses 14 13 27 Totals 31 29 60 NS Table 22. Association of Boys' Number of Error Responses and Sibling Relationships m Only Child Boys Boys with and Boys with Opposite-Sex Number of Error Same-Sex Siblings Siblings Responses n=24 n=34 Totals High Error Responses 8 11 19 Medium Error Responses 7 13 20 Low Error Responses 9 10 19 Z4 34 58 ‘ l I III I l NS 64 Table 23. Association of Girls' Error Responses on Male and Female Task and Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships m Number of Error Responses Only Child Girls Girls with and Girlswith Opposite-Sex Same-Sex Siblings Siblings _ Sex-Linked Items n=31 n=29 T011115! Female Appearance 21 13 34 Female Task 53 40 93 Male Appearance 62 62 124 ' Male Task 58 73 131 Totals 194 188 382 NS Table 24. Association of Boys' Error Responses on Male and Female ,. Task and Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships 1 Q I Number of Error Responses Only Child Boys Boys with and Boys with Opposite-Sex Same—Sex Siblings Siblings Sex-Linked Items n=24 n= 34 Totals Female Appearance 23 42 65 Female Task 42 60 102 Male Appearance 6O 70 130 Male Task 59 74 133 Totals 184 246 430 NS u.-._‘1-n--ll - 65 Table 25. Association of Girls' Error Responses on Female Task and Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships 11 Number of Error Responses Only Child Girls Girls with and Girls with Opposite-Sex Same-Sex Siblings Siblings Sex-Linked Items n=31 n=29 Totals Female Appearance 21 13 34 Female Task 53 40 93 Totals 74 53 127 NS Table 26. Association of Boys' Error Responses on Female Task and Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships Number of Error Responses Only Child Boys Boys with and Boys with Opposite—Sex Same-Sex Siblings Siblings Sex-Linked Items n=24 n= 34 Totals Female Appearance 23 42 65 Female Task 42 60 102 Totals 65 102 167 NS 66 Table 27. Association of Girls' Error Responses on Male Task and Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships 1| Number of Error Responses Only Child Girls Girls with and Girls with Opposite-Sex Same-Sex Siblings Siblings Sex-Linked Items n=31 n=29 Totals Male Appearance 62 62 124 Male Task 58 73 131 Totals 120 135 255 NS Table 28. Association of Boys' Error Responses on Male Task and Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships Number of Error Responses Only Child Boys Boys with and Boys with Opposite-Sex Same-Sex Siblings Siblings Sex-Linked Items n= 24 n= 34 Totals Male Appearance 60 70 130 Male Task 59 74 133 Totals 119 144 263 NS 67 Table 29. Association of Girls' Error Responses on Male and Female Task Items and Male and Female Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships Number of Error Responses Only Child Girls Girls with and Girls with Opposite—Sex Same-Sex Siblings Siblings Sex-Linked Items n=31 n=29 Totals Male and Female Task Items 111 113 224 Male and Female Appearance Items 83 76 159 Totals 194 189 383 NS Table 30. Association of Boys' Error Responses on Male and Female Task Items and Male and Female Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships Number of Error Responses Only Child Boys Boys with and Boys with Opposite-Sex Same-Sex Siblings Siblings Sex-Linked Items n=24 n=34 Totals Male and Female Task Items 101 134 235 Male and Female Appearance Items 83 112 195 Totals 184 246 430 NS 68 Table 31. Association of Girls' Error Responses on Male Appearance and Female Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships r —_—— Number of Error Responses Only Child Girls Girls with and Girls with Opposite-Sex Same-Sex Siblings Siblings Sex—Linked Items n=31 n=29 Totals Male Appearance 62 62 124 Female Appearance 21 ' 13 34 Totals 83 75 158 NS Table 32. Association of Boys' Error Responses on Male Appearance and Female Appearance Items and Sibling Relationships Number of Error Responses Only Child Boys Boys with and Boys with Opposite-Sex Same-Sex Siblings Siblings Sex-Linked Items n=24 n=34 Totals Male Appearance 60 70 130 Female Appearance 23 42 65 Totals 83 112 195 NS APPENDIX B BAC KGRO UND INF ORMAT ION QU ESTIO NNAIRE 69 70 November 29, 1963 Dear Mr. and Mrs. Presently a research project is being undertaken at Michigan State University concerning children's learning of male and female role differences. At the present time we know very little about the kinds of criteria young children use to determine appropriate sex-role behavior. Although much speculation exists, very little actual research has been done. In order to obtain reliable data, the researchers request your assistance. It is felt that child rearing practices play a crucial role in this aspect of a child's socialization. Since this is a sensitive area all information will be kept strictly confidential. In the analysis of data no names will be used. Thank you for your c00peration. Sinc erely, Arthur Vener Associate Professor Department of Sociology and Anthropology 71 GENERAL INFORMATION Child' 5 Name Age Par ent' 8 Name MOTHER FATHER Age Age Education Education Pr es ent Oc cupation SIB LINGS Name Age Relationship OTHERS LIVING IN THE HOME Name Age Relationship Does your child have a bedroom alone? Does your child have a bed alone? -~—.-.‘.-- 0.- . 4%-..