Abstract
In this study adult subjects evaluated the behavior of a 5- or 8-year-old child interacting with his or her baby “sibling.” The adults saw a 5-minute videotape in which the child interacted in a minimal or active fashion with the baby. The eight tapes consisted of all possible combinations of older child and infant sex and behavior style. The adults evaluated the active interaction with the infant very differently than the minimal interaction, but found each behavioral style equally typical of girls and boys in this age range. The active children were seen as more positive, more expressive, more intstrumental, more active, and more tender. The gender of the subject and older child played small roles in some of the evaluations.
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The research reported here was supported by a grant from the IPFW summer grants program. I would like to thank the parents and children who served as actors in the videotapes, and Hannelore Kay for her help with data collection.
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Owen Blakemore, J.E. Adults' evaluations of children caring for a baby: The effects of gender and behavior. Sex Roles 24, 541–549 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288412
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288412