Sex factors in children's observational learning of value judgments of toys

Abstract

Preschool children observed the play of a male or female model with a nonpreferred toy. The model's play incorporated a masculine or feminine storylike sequence of actions or was random and unrelated to either sex role. It was found that children displayed greater adoption of the model's toy preferences when either storylike sequence was incorporated into the model's play. The masculine sequence had more impact than the Feminine one. A female model engaging in masculine play was more effective than a male engaging in feminine play in producing changes in toy preference. Girls were more affected by feminine play patterns than were boys. These results are discussed in terms of Mischel's (1968, 1971) hypothesis of situational determinants of behavior.