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Same-Gender Peer Interaction and Preschoolers’ Gender-Typed Emotional Expressiveness

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Abstract

The present study was guided by hypotheses derived from peer-socialization models of gender development that suggest preschool children’s time spent interacting with same-gender peers would be linked to gender-typed emotional expressiveness. Specifically, I predicted that girls who engaged in high levels of same-gender peer interaction would express more happiness, sadness, and fear, whereas boys who engaged in more same-gender peer interaction would express more anger. To address these hypotheses, a longitudinal study was conducted in which video recordings were made of 122 preschool children (57 boys, 65 girls; 86 European American, 9 African American, 17 Hispanic, and 10 other ethnicity) attending a University sponsored preschool program in the U.S. Southwest over a period of 2 years. Video recordings of children’s peer interactions in Years 1 and 2 were coded for involvement with same-gender peers and emotional expressiveness. Results of analyses revealed that both girls and boys who spent more time interacting with same-gender peers in Year 1 expressed more happiness in Year 2. Boys who spent more time interacting with same-gender peers in Year 1 displayed higher levels of anger in Year 2. Girls who spent more time interacting with same-gender peers in Year 1 displayed higher levels of sadness in Year 2. The findings support arguments made by the peer-socialization model of gender development that gender-segregated peer interaction contributes to patterns of gender-typed expression of emotions.

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Acknowledgments

This investigation was supported by faculty development grants from the College of Human Sciences at Texas Tech University to the author. The author would like to thank Molly Beiler, Chelly Cadet, Gina Feretti, Chris Forbes, Iris Miller, Mitzi Rivera, Stephen Rotkiski, and Marcy Tocker for their help in various phases of data collection and coding, and to Tiffany Miller and Samuel Warrick for help in editing the manuscript. The author is grateful to the children and teachers of the Texas Tech Child Development Research Center for their time and participation.

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  1. Applied Psychology, Penn State University Berks Campus, 7009 Tulpehocken Road, Reading, PA, 19610, USA

    Eric W. Lindsey

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Lindsey, E.W. Same-Gender Peer Interaction and Preschoolers’ Gender-Typed Emotional Expressiveness. Sex Roles 75, 231–242 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-016-0601-6

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