Journal of Families and Better Life (가정과삶의질연구)

Korean Home Management Association (가정과삶의질학회)
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A Study on Children's Gender-Role Flexibility

아동의 성역할 개념의 유연성에 관한 연구

  • Kim Jung-Min (Department of Child Development and Education, Myongji University)
  • Published : 2005.08.01
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the developmental trends in children's gender-role flexibility across different areas of gender-role concept(appearance, activities, occupations, personality trails). Participants included 74 children(1st, 3rd, 5th graders). They were interviewed on a series of 16 pictures depicting cross-gender characteristics. Analyses revealed that (a) flexibility reached its peak at around age 8, which then remained the same except in appearance, (b) girls showed higher flexibility than boys except in occupations, (c) children showed the lowest flexibility in appearance and the highest in occupations, (d) children showed the lowest flexibility toward a male target child with cross-gender characteristic, and (e) children's justifications for flexibility were varied according to the situations. The results suggest that children's gender-role flexibility is influenced by age, sex, areas of gender-role concept, and target persons.

Keywords

References

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