Skip to main content
Log in

Characteristics of Boys' and Girls' Toys

Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In Study 1, 292 undergraduates rated 126 toys as to whether they were suitable for boys, girls, or both. From these ratings, we established five categories of toys: strongly masculine, moderately masculine, neutral, moderately feminine, and strongly feminine. Using these categories, we constructed four toysets; each consisted of 15 toys, three from each category. In Study 2, 706 undergraduates individually rated the toys from one of the toysets on 26 scales that measured the toys' characteristics. We found that girls' toys were associated with physical attractiveness, nurturance, and domestic skill, whereas boys' toys were rated as violent, competitive, exciting, and somewhat dangerous. The toys rated as most likely to be educational and to develop children's physical, cognitive, artistic, and other skills were typically rated as neutral or moderately masculine. We conclude that strongly gender-typed toys appear to be less supportive of optimal development than neutral or moderately gender-typed toys.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander, G. M. (2003). An evolutionary perspective of sex-typed toy preferences: Pink, blue, and the brain. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32, 7–14.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, G. M., & Hines, M. (2002). Sex differences in response to children's toys in nonhuman primates (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus). Evolution and Human Behavior, 23, 467–479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Almqvist, B. (1989). Age and gender differences in children's Christmas requests. Play and Culture, 2, 2–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychological Science, 12, 353–359.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, R. C., & Hyde, J. S. (2001). Women, men, work, and family. American Psychologist, 56, 781–796.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blakemore, J. E. O., LaRue, A. A., & Olejnik, A. B. (1979). Sex-appropriate toy preference and the ability to conceptualize toys as sex-role related. Developmental Psychology, 15, 339–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, J. H. (1983). Differential premises arising from differential socialization of the sexes: Some conjectures. Child Development, 54, 1335–1354.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bradbard, M. R. (1985). Sex differences in adults' gifts and children's toy requests at Christmas. Psychological Reports, 56, 969–970.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradbard, M. R., & Parkman, S. A. (1984). Gender differences in preschool children's toy requests. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 145, 283–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bushman, B. J., & Huesmann, L. R. (2001). Effects of televised violence on aggression. In D. G. Singer & J. L. Singer (Eds.), Handbook of children and the media (pp. 223–254). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, A., Shirley, L., Heywood, C., & Crook, C. (2000). Infants' visual preference for sex-congruent babies, children, toys and activities: A longitudinal study. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 18, 479–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, D. B., & Levy, G. D. (1988). Cognitive aspects of early sex-role development: The influence of gender schemas on preschoolers' memories and preferences for sex-typed toys and activities. Child Development, 59, 782–792.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassell, J., & Jenkins, H. (1998). From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and computer games. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cherney, I. D., Kelly-Vance, L., Glover, K. G., Ruane, A., & Ryalls, B. O. (2003). The effects of stereotyped toys and gender on play assessment in children aged 18–47 months. Educational Psychology, 23, 95–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Lisi, R., & Wolford, J. L. (2002). Improving children's mental rotation accuracy with computer game playing. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 163, 272–282.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Downs, A. C. (1983). Letters to Santa Claus: Elementary school-age children's sex-typed toy preferences in a natural setting. Sex Roles, 9, 159–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etaugh, C., & Liss, M. B. (1992). Home, school, and playroom: Training grounds for adult gender roles. Sex Roles, 26, 129–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher-Thompson, D. (1993). Adult toy purchases for children: Factors affecting sex-typed toy selection. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 14, 385–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher-Thompson, D., Sausa, A. D., & Wright, T. F. (1995). Toy selection for children: Personality and toy request influences. Sex Roles, 33, 239–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, J. (1995). Aggressive toy play. In A. D. Pellegrini (Ed.), The future of play theory: A multidisciplinary inquiry into the contributions of Brian Sutton-Smith (pp. 127–147). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2003). Action video game modifies visual selective attention. Nature, 423, 534–537.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, P. M., deWinstanley, P., Kilpatrick, H., & Kaye, D. (1996). Action video games and informal education: Effects on strategies for dividing visual attention. In P. M. Greenfield & R. R. Cocking (Eds.), Interacting with video. Advances in applied developmental psychology (Vol. 11, pp. 187–205). Westport, CT: Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellendoorn, J., & Harinck, F. J. H. (1997). War toy play and aggression in Dutch kindergarten children. Social Development, 6, 340–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klugman, K. (1999). A bad hair day for G. I. Joe. In B. L. Clark & M. R. Higonnet (Eds.), Girls, boys, books, toys (pp. 169–182). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutner, N. G., & Levinson, R. M. (1978). The toy salesperson: A voice for change in sex-role stereotypes? Sex Roles, 4, 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcon, R. A., & Freeman, G. (1996). Linking gender-related toy preferences to social structure: Changes in children's letters to Santa since 1978. Journal of Psychological Practice, 2, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markee, N. L., Pedersen, E. L., Murray, C. I., & Stacey, P. B. (1994). What role do fashion dolls play in socialization of children? Perceptual and Motor Skills, 79, 187–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, C. L. (1989). Children's use of gender-related information in making social judgments. Developmental Psychology, 25, 80–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, C. L., Eisenbud, L., & Rose, H. (1995). Children's gender-based reasoning about toys. Child Development, 66, 1453–1471.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, C. L. (1987). Qualitative differences among gender-stereotyped toys: Implications for cognitive and social development in girls and boys. Sex Roles, 16, 473–487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, K. (1994). Toys for boys and girls. Science Scope, 17, 64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rheingold, H. L., & Cook, K. V. (1975). The contents of boys' and girls' rooms as an index of parents' behavior. Child Development, 46, 459–463.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, J. G., & Simpson, C. H. (1982). Children, gender, and social structure: An analysis of the contents of letters to Santa Claus. Child Development, 53, 429–436.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, C. C., & Morris, J. T. (1986). The gender-stereotyped nature of Christmas toys received by 36-, 48-, and 60-month-old children: A comparison between nonrequested vs. requested toys. Sex Roles, 15, 21–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, C. C., Watson, J. A., & Morris, J. T. (1984). An examination of fundamental sex-role behavioral change: Mothers' toy purchasing behavior. Parenting Studies, 1, 61–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Serbin, L. A., Poulin-Dubois, D., Colburne, K. A., Sen, M. G., & Eichstedt, J. A. (2001). Gender stereotyping in infancy: Visual preferences for and knowledge of gender-stereotyped toys in the second year. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 7–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Servin, A., Bohlin, G., & Berlin, L. (1999). Sex differences in 1-, 3-, and 5-year-olds' toy-choice in a structured play-session. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 40, 43–48.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ungar, S. B. (1982). The sex-typing of adult and child behavior in toy sales. Sex Roles, 8, 251–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, M. W., & Peng, Y. (1992). The relation between toy gun play and children's aggressive behavior. Early Education and Development, 3, 370–389.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, W., & Eagly, A. H. (2002). A cross-cultural analysis of the behavior of women and men: Implications for the origins of sex differences. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 699–727.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Judith E. Owen Blakemore.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Blakemore, J.E.O., Centers, R.E. Characteristics of Boys' and Girls' Toys. Sex Roles 53, 619–633 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-7729-0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-7729-0

Key Words

Navigation