![]() ![]() While demonstration that such nonhuman animals show preferences for toys similar to those seen in children would not eliminate the possibility that children’s toy preferences are primarily socialized, it would lend support to the notion that preferences for specific play objects may reflect underlying preferences for specific activities. One approach to disentangling these potential effects is to look at “toy” preference in a species that shows hormonally biased sexually differentiated juvenile behavior, but where there is no evidence for socialization of specific gendered activities ( Wallen, 2005). The more marked preference in boys than girls could reflect either that boys have stronger predispositions to a more limited set of activities, or alternatively that boys’ toy choices are more strongly socially constrained than are girls’ choices ( Ruble et al., 2006). The socialization and activity bias viewpoints do not resolve the sex differences in the magnitude of the preference for gender specific toys. The “pink” and “blue” aisles in toy stores thus reflect marked gender preferences for activities and not necessarily societal imposition of gender norms on boys and girls. According to this perspective, boys’ and girls’ toy preferences reflect differences in their preference for specific activities and they thus seek out toys that facilitate those preferred activities. In contrast to the socialization perspective this view posits that toy preferences reflect preferences for specific activities, such as active manipulation or cradling, facilitated by specific features of toys and that these activity biases result from the different prenatal hormonal environments of boys and girls. Possibly, differential attraction to these activities affects children’s toy preferences. Thus, girls are less rigid than boys in their gender-typed beliefs, behaviors, and preferences, including toy preferences ( Ruble et al., 2006).Ī striking disparity between “masculine” and “feminine” toys is in the kinds of activities with which they are typically associated ( Miller, 1987). Some have suggested that a greater preference for gendered toys in boys reflects a greater rejection of opposite-sex behavior in boys than in girls ( Bussey and Perry, 1982). While there are many hypothesized socialization mechanisms ( Bandura and Bussey, 2004 Martin and Halverson, 1981 Martin et al., 2002), one view is that societal endorsement of toys as masculine or feminine drive children’s toy preferences to conform to expected masculine and feminine gender roles ( Martin and Little, 1990). Socialization processes have typically been offered as the primary source of the sex differences in human toy preferences. Different superscripts within category or within sex indicate significant differences. (Adapted from Berenbaum and Hines, 1992).įigure 1b: Sex difference in total frequency of interactions with plush and wheeled toys by rhesus monkeys. We offer the hypothesis that toy preferences reflect hormonally influenced behavioral and cognitive biases which are sculpted by social processes into the sex differences seen in monkeys and humans.įigure 1a: Sex difference in play with stereotypical masculine and feminine toys in a choice paradigm. The similarities to human findings demonstrate that such preferences can develop without explicit gendered socialization. Thus, the magnitude of preference for wheeled over plush toys differed significantly between males and females. Male monkeys, like boys, showed consistent and strong preferences for wheeled toys, while female monkeys, like girls, showed greater variability in preferences. We compared the interactions of 34 rhesus monkeys, living within a 135 monkey troop, with human wheeled toys and plush toys. Thus if activity preferences shape toy preferences, male and female monkeys may show toy preferences similar to those seen in boys and girls. Sex differences in juvenile activities, such as rough and tumble play, peer preferences, and infant interest, share similarities in humans and monkeys. A contrast in view is that toy preferences reflect biologically determined preferences for specific activities facilitated by specific toys. Socialization processes, parents, or peers encouraging play with gender specific toys are thought to be the primary force shaping sex differences in toy preference. ![]()
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