Mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters, gender schematicity in the family context

Abstract

Gender schematicity was studied in 178 kindergarten and grade four children and their parents. Children were administered a computerized measure that used response latencies to differentiate gender schematic from gender aschematic children. Parents were administered the Bem Sex Role Inventory, and their scores were classified into four categories of parental gender type combinations. A series of analyses of variance were used to determine differences in children's gender schematicity based on their sex, age, and parental classifications. Results showed that boys were more gender schematic than girls. No age effects were found. Simple comparisons indicated that boys with gender-typed fathers and non-gender-typed mothers were more schematic than girls with the same parent gender classification, than girls with non-gender-typed mothers and gender-typed fathers, and than boys with two non-gender-typed parents. Implications in educational settings and suggestions for future research were discussed.