Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dolls are for Girls and Not for Boys: Evaluating the Appropriateness of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure for School-Age Children

  • Original Article
  • Published:
The Psychological Record Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) has been used for assessing implicit attitudes across different domains. The current study aimed to investigate whether the IRAP is an adequate measure to assess children’s implicit gender-based attitudes toward toys (dolls and toy cars). Although the software parameters used were taken from previous adult studies, children performed successfully in the task. The strongest IRAP effect found was for relations between dolls and girls (i.e., participants responded faster when relating dolls-girls-match than dolls-boys-match). Additionally, children’s response latencies were longer for pairings of dolls and boys than for pairings of toy cars and girls. These findings seem to confirm that the IRAP is sensitive to gender-stereotyped relations established in children and may be a useful tool in providing additional information to complement explicit measures in children’s attitudes.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., Power, P., Hayden, E., Milne, R., & Stewart, I. (2006). Do you really know what you believe? Developing the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) as a direct measure of implicit beliefs. The Irish Psychologist, 32(7), 169–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes-Holmes, D., Waldron, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Stewart, I. (2009). Testing the validity of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure and the Implicit Association Test: measuring attitudes toward Dublin and country life in Ireland. The Psychological Record, 59, 389–406.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes-Holmes, D., Murphy, A., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Stewart, I. (2010a). The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure: exploring the impact of private versus public contexts and the response latency criterion on pro-white and anti-black stereotyping among white Irish individuals. The Psychological Record, 60, 43–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes-Holmes, D., Murtagh, L., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Stewart, I. (2010b). Using the implicit association test and the implicit relational assessment procedure to measure attitudes toward meat and vegetables in vegetarians and meat-eaters. The Psychological Record, 60, 287–306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron, A. S., & Banaji, M. R. (2006). The development of implicit attitudes evidence of race evaluations from ages 6 and 10 and adulthood. Psychological Science, 17(1), 53–58. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01664.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blakemore, J. E. O., & Centers, R. E. (2005). Characteristics of boys’ and girls’ toys. Sex Roles, 53, 619–633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bortoloti, R., & de Rose, J. C. (2012). Equivalent stimuli are more strongly related after training with delayed matching than after simultaneous matching: a study using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). The Psychological Record, 62, 41–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, C. S., & Bigler, R. S. (2005). Children’s perceptions of discrimination: a developmental model. Child Development, 76(3), 533–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, C. S., Alabi, B. O., Huynh, V. W., & Masten, C. L. (2011). Ethnicity and gender in late childhood and early adolescence: group identity and awareness of bias. Developmental Psychology, 47(2), 463.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, D. B., & Mccloskey, L. A. (1984). Peers and the maintenance of sex-typed behavior: the development of children’s conceptions of cross-gender behavior in their peers. Social Cognition, 2, 294–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, G., Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Stewart, I. (2009). Implicit attitudes to work and leisure among North American and Irish individuals: a preliminary study. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 9(3), 317–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cvencek, D., Meltzoff, A. N., & Greenwald, A. G. (2011). Math–gender stereotypes in elementary school children. Child Development, 82(3), 766–779. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01529.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dunham, Y., Baron, A. S., & Banaji, M. R. (2006). From American city to Japanese village: a cross-cultural investigation of implicit race attitudes. Child Development, 77(5), 1268–1281. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00933.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, C. K., Leaper, C., & Bigler, R. (2007). Do mothers’ gender related attitudes or comments predict young children’s gender beliefs? Parenting: Science and Practice, 7, 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, A. G., Mcghee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: the Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464–1480.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Langlois, J. H., & Downs, A. C. (1980). Mothers, fathers, and peers as socialization agents of sex-typed play behaviors in young children. Child Development, 51, 1217–1247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leaper, C. (2011). Research in developmental psychology on gender and relationships: Reflections on the past and looking into the future. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 29(2), 347–356.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leaper, C., & Bigler, R. S. (2011). Gender. In M. K. Underwood & L. S. Rosen (Eds.), Social development: Relationships in infancy, childhood, and adolescence (pp. 289–315). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lytton, H., & Romney, D. M. (1991). Parents’ differential socialization of boys and girls: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 2, 267–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mckenna, I., Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Stewart, I. (2007). Testing the fake-ability of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP): the first study. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 7(2), 123–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson, E., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2012). The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) as a measure of spider fear. Psychological Record, 62, 263–278.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Toole, C., Barnes-Holmes, D., Murphy, C., O’Connor, J., & Barnes-Holmes, Y. (2009). Relational flexibility and human intelligence: extending the remit of Skinner’s Verbal Behavior. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 9, 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pahlke, E., Bigler, R. S., & Suizzo, M. A. (2012). Relations between colorblind socialization and children’s racial bias: evidence from European American mothers and their preschool children. Child Development, 83, 1164–1179. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01770.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Power, P., Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Stewart, I. (2009). The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) as a measure of implicit relative preferences: a first study. The Psychological Record, 59, 621–640.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roddy, S., Stewart, I., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2010). Anti-fat, pro-slim, or both? Using two reaction time based measures to assess implicit attitudes to the slim and overweight. Journal of Health Psychology, 15, 416–425.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P. (2010). Children and play: Understanding children’s worlds. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stockwell, F. M., Walker, D. J., & Eshleman, J. W. (2010). Measures of implicit and explicit attitudes toward mainstream and BDSM sexual terms using the IRAP and questionnaire with BDSM/fetish and student participants. The Psychological Record, 60, 307–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Timko, C. A., England, E. L., Herbert, J. D., & Forman, E. M. (2010). The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure as a measure of self-esteem. The Psychological Record, 60, 679–698.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wanderlind, F., Martins, G. D. F., Hansen, J., Macarini, S. M., & Vieira, M. L. (2006). Diferenças de gênero no brincar de crianças pré-escolares e escolares na brinquedoteca [Gender differences in play of prescholar and scholar’s children at toy-library]. Paidéia, 16(34), 263–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal de São Carlos, and Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia sobre Comportamento, Cognição e Ensino, Rodovia Washington Luís, Km 235, São Carlos, SP, 13565-905, Brazil

    Laura Z. Rabelo, Renato Bortoloti & Debora H. Souza

Authors
  1. Laura Z. Rabelo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Renato Bortoloti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Debora H. Souza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura Z. Rabelo.

Additional information

The first author was supported by FAPESP during the development of this research (#2009/04736-6) and by CAPES during the preparation of the manuscript. Renato Bortoloti was supported by FAPESP through a Young Investigator grant (#2011/50561-3). This study is part of the research program of Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia sobre Comportamento, Cognição e Ensino (Deisy G. de Souza, Chairperson), supported by grants from the Brazilian National Research Council–CNPq (Grant #573972/2008-7) and FAPESP (Grant #08/57705-8). We thank Julio C. de Rose for his ongoing and invaluable support. Finally, we thank Dr. Dermot Barnes-Holmes and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rabelo, L.Z., Bortoloti, R. & Souza, D.H. Dolls are for Girls and Not for Boys: Evaluating the Appropriateness of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure for School-Age Children. Psychol Rec 64, 71–77 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-014-0006-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-014-0006-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation