Sex stereotyping of infants: A re-examination

Abstract

Research in the late 1970s attempted to assess the effects of adults' sex-role stereotypes upon their interactions with infants. In ‘stranger-baby’ experiments infants play with an adult for a brief period, having been introduced either as male or female. Some studies found clear effects of gender labelling (Frisch, 1977; Smith and Lloyd, 1978). Others found no such influence or uncovered differences correlated with either the infant's biological sex or the adult's attitudes towards sex-role differentiation (Bell and Carver, 1980). This experiment attempted to reeoncile these findings by re-examining the supposed influence of the adult's sex-role beliefs on adult-infant interaction. Twelve 1-year-olds played with two male and two female adults, each child being labelled as male or female when introduced to an adult member of each sex. The results show a few significant effects of gender label and sex of adult, but more clear influences of the sex of the baby. In addition the adults completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory immediately after the play session. Their self-attributions similarly were influenced by the biological sex of the infant with whom they had been playing. Thus the results suggest that adults' sex stereotyping of infant behaviour may well be subtly influenced by the child's own contribution to the interaction. Indeed, in the short term such interactions influence adults' self-perceptions.