Linda’s Cars versus Dominik’s Dolls: How Do Pedagogical Educators in Training React to Children’s Violations of Gender Stereotypes?

Abstract

The gender stereotypes adults hold can influence whether they approve or disapprove of behavior shown by children, depending on whether this behavior is in line with stereotypes. Adults report negative evaluations toward children whose behavior does not adhere to gender stereotypes, particularly toward feminine boys. Whether pedagogical educators in training show negative reactions toward children who violate gender stereotypes has not been examined. We investigate this question by firstly assessing what gender stereotypes adults hold about children in Germany. In Study 1, we assessed descriptive, prescriptive, and proscriptive gender stereotypes identified by adults for children in German society. Stereotypes gathered from this first study were used to construct four vignettes of stereotypical and nonstereotypical boys and girls in order to examine how pedagogical educators in training (N = 414) evaluated these children in Study 2. We investigated ratings of one of these vignettes (2 × 2 between-participants design) regarding liking, perceived competence, creativity, self-esteem, prosocial behavior, as well as internalizing and externalizing problems. A series of ANOVAs revealed that girls displaying masculine behavior received advantageous ratings on competence, creativity, and self-esteem, while boys showing femininity were perceived as the most prosocial. More than gender nonconformity, masculinity and femininity strongly related to externalizing and internalizing problems, respectively. We review how our results in Germany differ from the literature originating in the USA, as we did not find backlash for feminine boys. Possible bias against femininity and toward masculinity within society and cultural and sampling factors is discussed.