Suchergebnisse

Gender is a highly salient and important social group that shapes how children interact with others and how they are treated by others. In this Element, we offer an overview and review of the research on gender development in childhood from a developmental science perspective. We first define gender and the related concepts of sex and gender identity. Second, we discuss how variations in cultural context shape gender development around the world and how variations within gender groups add to the complexity of gender identity development. Third, we discuss major theoretical perspectives in developmental science for studying child gender. Fourth, we examine differences and similarities between girls and boys using the latest meta-analytic evidence. Fifth, we discuss the development of gender, gender identity, and gender socialization throughout infancy, early childhood, and middle childhood. We conclude with a discussion of future directions for the study of gender development in childhood

AbstractWe investigated first‐and second‐generation Latine immigrant children's attributions for cultural and structural discrimination, and how this differed based on their own neighborhood composition. Participants were recruited from 19 elementary schools (N = 101 girls, 101 boys), and ranged in age from 8 to 12 years old (M = 9.22; SD = 11.98 months). All children were either first‐generation (40%) or second‐generation (60%) immigrants from Mexico, South America, and Central America. Mixed ANCOVAs analyzed how attributions of structural and cultural discrimination differed based on children's perceptions of ethnic residential composition. The findings indicated that elementary school‐aged Latine children, regardless of neighborhood composition, were aware of the biased cultural narrative that Latine immigrants are "criminals." This seems to be the most salient form of cultural discrimination for children in middle childhood and echoes much of the political rhetoric around immigration reform. Children's own neighborhood composition predicted their understanding of residential segregation. Children who lived in predominantly White neighborhoods perceived segregation to be due to White people's biases, whereas children who lived in predominantly Latine neighborhoods perceived segregation to be due to Latine families' economic disadvantage or both groups' mutual preferences. These findings suggest that Latine children, by middle childhood, are aware of biased cultural narratives in the U.S., and their understanding of structural inequalities are related to the neighborhood context in which they live.