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Cited by 111Gender Roles and Identity StudiesMedia, Gender, and AdvertisingGender and Feminist Studies

Socialization of gender stereotypes related to attributes and professions among young Spanish school-aged children

Open access
Solbes-Canales, Irene, Valverde-Montesino, Susana, Herranz-Hernández, Pablo·2020·Frontiers in Psychology
DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00609PMC PMC7194082
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Abstract

Modern societies increasingly show more egalitarian attitudes related to sexism and gender equality. However, there is still an important gender gap in wages and professions as well as in expectations surrounding male and female characteristics. Developmental studies carried out from an ecological perspective confirm that these influences come from the closest environments (mainly family and school) but also from more distant systems such as media or cultural values. As children are socialized in these norms and values, they increasingly internalize those schemes and use them to judge others, to choose friends and playmates, and to construct expectations of them. On this basis, the aim of this study was to examine the degree of gender bias internalization in a group of Spanish children. Two tasks were applied to a group of 149 public school boys and girls (aged 4-9 years). Results showed that, already from an early age, the participants had internalized traditional gender roles, especially when asked to assign masculine attributes. Moreover, group differences were found given that boys seemed to be more aware of expectations surrounding masculinity and girls assigned the attributes associated with femininity to women more often than boys. Furthermore, a developmental pattern similar to one obtained in previous studies was observed. Younger children already apply gender roles as part of their increasing acquisition of knowledge in the social field, but there is a big increase in the strength of this bias as they grow older. Psychological and educational implications of these findings are discussed, especially considering that the male gender role seems to be more rigid and less malleable. In this regard, developmental and environmental studies should be considered when designing early intervention programs to reduce sexism and to promote equity in schools and families. As research has already shown what type of environments affect children's acquisition of traditional gender roles, society must make an effort to promote more egalitarian environments that will serve as protective factors in their future psychological, social and professional development.

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  1. Allport G. V. (1954). The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.

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Authors
Solbes-Canales, I., Valverde-Montesino, S., & Herranz-Hernández, P.
Affiliations
Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
ORCID
Herranz-Hernández, Pablo
Venue
Frontiers in Psychology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2020-04-24
Volume
11
Pages
609-609
ISSN
1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00609
PMC
PMC7194082
OpenAlex
W3020733283
Cited by
111
References
74
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 4
FWCI
18.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Roles and Identity Studies
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Media, Gender, and Advertising
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
Keywords
gender stereotypes, gender socialization, gender roles, developmental changes, early childhood, school-aged children, sexism, gender equality, early intervention programs, Spanish children

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