1 Introduction

Gendered stereotypes of intellectual ability are very common and are thought to shape the career goals and interests of men and women. A common stereotype assumes that a high level of intellectual ability is more commonly possessed by men rather than women. Previous research on gender stereotypes have focused predominantly on adult subjects, however cultural stereotypes are likely to be influential throughout development, and little is known about the acquisition of gender stereotypes relating to intellectual ability. Addressing this gap in the research literature, Bian, Leslia, and Cimpian (2017) report the results of four studies which investigated the acquisition and developmental trajectories of gender stereotypes of cognitive ability and their relation to children’s interests in children aged 5, 6 and 7-years-old

2 Studies 1 & 2

Study 1 involved 96 children, aged 5 (mean age = 5.55 years), 6 (mean age = 6.50 years) and 7 (mean age = 7.44 years). There were 48 girls and 48 boys and 32 children in each age group.

Study 2 involved 144 children aged 5 (mean age = 5.50 years), 6 (mean age = 6.48 years), and 7 (mean age = 7.45 years). There were 72 girls and 72 boys and 48 children in each age group.

In study 1, three stereotype tasks were administered and children were measured on the proportion of trials in which they associated intellectual ability with their own gender. In task (i) children were told a brief story about a person who was “really, really smart” or “really, really kind” and were then shown four photos - two adult males, two adult females - and asked who the story was about. In task (ii) children were shown pairs of photos - one adult male, one adult female - and were told that one of the people was “really, really smart” or “really, really nice” and asked to indicate which photo the descriptor applied to. In task (iii) children completed puzzles in which they had to associate objects or attributes with pictures of men and women.

Study 2 replicated tasks (i) and (ii) from study 1 with a larger sample, and included both child and adult targets during tasks.

In both studies there was no statistically significant difference in the association of brilliance with the children’s own gender at age 5, however at ages 6 and 7 girls were significantly less likely than boys to associate their own gender with brilliance. See figure 1.

Figure 1 - Results of Studies 1 (A & B) & 2 (C & D), Boys Scores in Blue, Girls Scores in Red

Figure 1 - Results of Studies 1 (A & B) & 2 (C & D), Boys Scores in Blue, Girls Scores in Red

3 Study 3

3.1 Methods

Study 3 involved 64 children aged 6 (mean age = 6.52 years) and 7 (mean age = 7.50 years). There were 32 girls and 32 boys, and 32 children in each age group.

To investigate whether gendered beliefs about intelligence relate to children’s interests, the children were introduced to two novel games named “zarky” and “impok”. For each game the experimenter showed a picture and briefly described the game (see figure 2), with one game said to be for children who are “really, really smart” and the other for children who “try really, really hard”. The order was counterbalanced and each game was presented in the “smart” category for half of the participants and the “try hard” category for the other half. After describing the games the experimenter asked the children to recall the relevant information (whether the game was for “smart” children or children who “try hard”) before moving on.

The experimenter proceeded to ask the children four questions to assess to measure their level of interest in the games with the order of the questions being randomized. After answering two questions the children were reminded of the relevant information. Responses to the questions were standardized and then averaged to give a measure of the children’s interest in both types of game.

Children’s gender stereotypes were assessed with task (i) of studies one and two, the gender-neutral story task. Before selecting who the story was about from the selection of photos of men and women, the children were additionally asked to repeat the story while the researcher coded the number of gender pronouns used. The children’s final own-gender-brilliance score was the average of these two scores.

Figure 2 - The Games Used to Assess Children’s Interests in Studies 3 & 4

Figure 2 - The Games Used to Assess Children’s Interests in Studies 3 & 4

3.2 Results

Girls were found to be less interested than boys in the game for “smart” children (Wald χ² - 4.02m p = 0.045) but not in the game for children who “try hard” (Wald χ² = 0.53, p = 0.47). See table 1 and figure 3.

Table 1 - Boys and Girls Interest Scores

Age Gender Smart Game Try-Hard Game
6 Years Old Boys 0.2 (0.71) -0.09 (0.81)
Girls -0.17 (0.77) 0.1 (0.49)
7 Years Old Boys 0.15 (0.69) -0.03 (0.9)
Girls -0.21 (0.88) 0.04 (0.58)
Figure 3 - Results of Study 3, Boys’ (blue) and girls’ (red) interest in novel games

Figure 3 - Results of Study 3, Boys’ (blue) and girls’ (red) interest in novel games

Girls’ own-gender brilliance scores (their associations of intelligence with their own gender in the tasks from study 1) were lower than boys’ (t = 2.4, p - 0.02). A product-of-coefficients mediation test was used to investigate the relationship between children’s gender, their stereotype beliefs, and interest in the games. Stereotype beliefs were found to mediate the relationship between gender and interest in the game for “smart” children versus interest in the game for children who “try hard”: indirect effect = -0.11, 95% confidence interval = [-0.33, =0.004]. See figure 4.

Figure 4 - The difference between boys and girls in their interest toward the smart vs. the try-hard game was mediated by their own-gender brilliance scores

Figure 4 - The difference between boys and girls in their interest toward the smart vs. the try-hard game was mediated by their own-gender brilliance scores

4 Study 4

Study 4 involved 96 children aged 5 (mean age = 5.4 years) and 6 (mean age = 6.52 years). There were 48 girls and 48 boys, and 48 children in each age group.

The procedure for study 4 was identical to that of study 3, except only the “smart” game was used. The interests of 5 and 6-year-old boys and girls in the game for “smart” children were compared.

No significant gender differences were found in the 5-years-old age group (Wald χ² = 0.55, p = 0.45). In the 6-years-old age group non-significant trend was found for boys to express more interest in the game for “smart” children (Wald χ² = 3.66, p = 0.056). Comparing the combined sample of 6 and 7-year-olds from studies 3 and 4, the magnitude of difference in boys’ versus girls’ interest in the game was estimated to be d= 0.51, 95% confidence interval = [0.13, 0.88], p = 0.008.

5 Conclusion

The studies suggest that between the age of 5 and 6 years old many children acquire the stereotype that intelligence is a male quality. Specifically, 6-year-old girls are less likley than boys to associate intelligence with their own gender. Additionally, this acquired stereotype begins to influence children’s interests, with young girls less likely to be interested in a game said to be for smart children.

6 Reference

Bian, L., Leslia, S., & Cimpian, A. (2017). Gender Stereotypes about intellectual ability emerge early and influence children’s interests. Science, 355, 389-391.