Responsiveness to babies was observed in parents of children of different ages. Stage of family life cycle affected women's responsivity but not men's. New mothers displayed a heightened generalized interest in babies which is optimally timed and functional in terms of sex differentiated role requirements. (Author/GC)

Compared parents and nonparents to examine differences in the use of gender stereotyping to classify children's toys, and differences according to children's ages. Findings for 206 toys suggest that while toys are gender stereotyped for all age groups, there is more flexibility in gender stereotyping of toys for infants and toddlers. (SLD)

Studied the construction of the personal stereotypes of adult and adulthood roles and the influence of gender, maternal employment, and employment goals of 237 adolescents. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a four-factor structure in attitudes toward family and career roles, ideology of fairness, social status, and rational characteristics,…

Examined the influence of age and gender on attitudes toward sexist and nonsexist language in sport and nonsport contexts. College students, university personnel, and business people (n=272) completed an attitude measure. Sport was not a special case of resistance to nonsexist language. Age and gender explained 23% of the variance in attitude…

Reviews developmental literature on cognitive gender differences; and compares past and present trends in gender differences, by age, from standardizations of the Wechsler Intelligence Scales and the California Achievement Tests. Decreases are found in gender differences for adolescents but not for adults. Implications are discussed. (SLD)

Examined the relationship between traditional sex-role stereotypes about personality traits and children's judgments about themselves and their peers. Also investigated the development of androgynous orientations in children. (CMG)

Explores age as a moderator of the relationship among gender, sex role, and coping strategies for 155 males and 281 females in 5 age groups from adolescence through old age. Age is related to type of coping and moderates the relationship between sex role orientation and coping. (SLD)

Assesses beliefs of 32 male and 35 female middle-class preschool children about the frequency and intensity with which girls, boys, women, and men experience anger, sadness, and happiness. Children's beliefs are complex; they vary as a function of the target person's age and sex and of the specific emotion. (SLD)

Investigated relationships between age and sex role among college students varying in age from late adolescence to middle adulthood. Findings indicated that sex role development continues into adulthood. (Author/ST)

Investigates gender differences in smoking behavior by observing 292 men and 648 women smoking in a university workplace. Finds that men take longer breaks, smoke more cigarettes, and inhale more often than women. (MW)

Interactions of adults with a single infant, dressed as either a male or female, were recorded and analyzed for direction of gaze, facial expression, physical contact, and toys used. Interviews followed. Results shows that both male and female parents behave differently toward unfamiliar infants on the basis of perceived sex. (AOS)

Despite the egalitarianism of recent years, contemporary middle-class preschool children hold pronounced stereotypes about sex differences in emotionality. They associate anger with maleness and associate happiness and sadness with femaleness. These stereotypes are similar to those held by adults but dissimilar to actual sex differences in…

Females responded more quickly to an infant's crying when they thought the infant was a girl than when they thought it was a boy. Males responded equally slowly, whether they thought the infant was a boy or a girl. (Author/MJL)

A study found sex differences in: (1) frequency and intensity of crying, (2) likelihood of crying independent of the presence of others, (3) likelihood of crying independent of the level of intimacy of observers or type of crying stimulus, and (4) in postcrying affect. (CMG)

Earlier research found much sex stereotyping in college students' ratings of mental health among children and adults. A later study suggests, however, that the terms "adult" and "child" are gender-loaded toward males. Thus, caution is needed when interpreting results of experiments that assume the gender neutrality of these terms. (Author/MJL)