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Children’s Toy Collections in Sweden—A Less Gender-Typed Country?

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe and analyze differences between girls’ and boys’ toy collections in a country that strongly emphasizes gender equality (Sweden). The study was based on the assumptions that toy collections reflect social values in the society where they are found and that Sweden has less gendered values than do many other countries. The toy collections of 152 3- and 5-year old Swedish children were inventoried, and the results were analyzed and discussed in relation to previous research on children’s toy collections and toy preferences in North America and Western Europe. The Swedish toy collections were found to be gender-typed in ways similar to those reported in previous research in other countries.

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Correspondence to Anders Nelson.

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Nelson, A. Children’s Toy Collections in Sweden—A Less Gender-Typed Country?. Sex Roles 52, 93–102 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-1196-5

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