A study investigated developmental differences in children's self-perceptions of masculinity and femininity among 251 girls and 266 boys from grades 2 through 7. Meaningful developmental changes occur during the middle childhood period. Single summary scores ignore variations in gender-typed subtrait and raise study methodology questions. (JB)

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)

Provides a theory-based examination of relations among aspects of preschool children's social environments and cognitive indices of their gender role development. Examines differences in the relations among social agents on cognitive indices of girls' and boys' gender role development. Significant sex differences are discussed. (JS)

Investigates the development of an understanding of gender labels in toddlers by systematically varying the ages of pictured stimulus children. Results indicate that gender discrimination improved with age, but there was no evidence that the age of the stimulus children had an influence on labeling accuracy. (JS)

Examines the results of 5 measures of gender acquisition in 108 children from their eighteenth month to the age of 4. Concludes that gender acquisition is multidimensional and loosely organized rather than unidimensional and tightly systematic, as is often suggested. (CJS)

Possible antecedents of toddler gender separation were studied with 57 toddlers with a mean age of 35 months. There were no differences between gender-segregating and nonsegregating children regarding gender toy preferences or gender awareness, but teachers saw gender-segregating girls as more socially sensitive. (SLD)

Explored young children's motivation for gender-stereotypical preferences, examining cognitive development and understanding theory. Data from research on children in their first year of school and children transitioning into school found an association between gender-stereotypical behavior and attainment of gender constancy, suggesting that…

This study explores how mothers socialize their daughters in ways that are systematically different from how the socialize their sons, and whether these differences are related, in turn, to systematically different ways in which fathers socialize their sons and daughters. (Author/EB)

Psychoanalytic, social learning and cognitive-developmental theories are evaluated in terms of their usefulness in explaining sex role acquisition. A model that attempts to integrate the most significant features from each theoretical position is proposed. (Author/EB)

Examines gender differences in social network (SN) development from early to middle childhood and the relation of network characteristics to school competence through mothers' reports of the SNs of 38 sons and 37 daughters. For girls, SN characteristics correspond to teacher ratings of social competence in school. (SLD)

Attractiveness ratings of 50 children (26 males and 24 females) aged 12-38 months are studied in relation to adults' socializing behavior and attitude toward them. Correlations between attractiveness scores and child behavior reflect sex differences. A greater impact of attractiveness on girls' development than boys is noted. (SLD)

This article explores some of the major influences affecting the development of female sex-role identity and the psychological and social consequences of this deveopment during childhood and adolescence. (Author/EB)

Development in general, and sex-role behavior in particular, is influenced by both biological and environmental factors. However, the coalescence of these factors around the child's growing social cognitive abilities is the critical factor in the development of sex role behavior. (Author/EB)

Examines gender differences between 60 male and 67 female third graders concerning motivational orientation for correlation with incidence of depression. Results indicate that females were more often extrinsically motivated and more often depressed than males. Males were intrinsically motivated and had fewer incidents of depression than females.…