Tamis-LeMonda-05-14-2021-7

Contexts of Self-Identity  283

(A)

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

(B)

10 20

Girls

Boys

–30 –20 –10 0

20 40

Girls

Boys

Difference (degrees) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 –40 –20 0 FIGURE 7.26  Parental socialization of gender.  (A) Parents have expectations of their infants’ abilities based on infant sex that do not relate to what infants can actually do. Researchers showed mothers an adjustable sloping walkway that could move up and down to different angles. They asked mothers to set the walkway to the steepest slope they believed their infant would crawl down successfully and then the steep- est slope their infant would attempt to crawl down, whether successful or not. Infants were later tested on the same walkway to assess their abilities and attempts to crawl down slopes of different angles. (B) Mothers of girls underestimated their infants’ crawling ability and also underestimated the angle of slope that their infants would at- tempt to crawl down. This pattern is indicated by the predominance of red bars (each representing the response of one parent) that fall below the line representing infant actual ability (low expectations) versus above the line (high expectations). In contrast, mothers of boys more accurately estimated their infants’ ability, but overestimated the slopes that boys would attempt, suggesting that they viewed their boys to be “risk- takers” who would attempt slopes beyond the bounds of their ability. This pattern is indicated by the tendency of blue lines to fall at or above the line representing infant ability. (After E. R. Mondschein et al. 2000. J Exp Child Psychol 77: 304–316.) PROPERTY OF OXFORD Participant

Tamis-LeMonda Child Development: Context, Culture, and Cascades 1E Sinauer Associates/OUP Morales Studio TL1e_07.26 02-18-21 Finally, one of the most powerful and consistent ways that parents social- ize gender in their infants and toddlers is through the toys they provide. Par- ents typically buy their girls dolls, tea sets, and play purses and jewelry, and buy their boys balls, cars, trucks, and play tools (Leaper & Friedman, 2007). UNIVERSITY PRESS