ABSTRACT
Imagine taking part in an experiment on how children play. You are introduced to an 18-month-old infant-'Joey"-and asked to play with him for a few minutes. What would you do? Give him a noisy rattle or plastic hammer to play with? Bounce him on your knee, or playfully toss him a foot or two into the air? But what if you were introduced to 'Janie" instead? Would you give her a female doll and accessories to play with? Handle her more gently, and talk to her more softly? Experimental research confirms that this is what people tend to do (Smith & Lloyd, 1978). Consider also the following experiment. Participants watched a videotape of a 9-month-old baby. Some were told that it was a boy, others that it was a girl. When asked why the baby burst into tears over a jack-in-the-box, the participants in the first group often said that it was because he was angry, while participants in the second group said that it was because she was afraid (Condry & Condry, 1976). What about your reactions to boys versus girls? Does something different come to mind when you hear "It's a boy!" versus "It's a 300
girl!"? Do you associate boys and girls with different traits? Do you think that boys and girls will grow into men and women with different preferences, potentials, and perceptions of the world?
