How does stereotyping affect children

How much do young people hold onto gender norms? How do stereotypes on children affect their happiness? Our Good Childhood Report showed what young people across the UK think about traditional gender roles and stereotypes, and how it can affect their happiness. We asked children what features they thought their friends would say are the most important in boys and girls.

It is clear many young people are living in gendered environments, and are affected by traditional male or female stereotypes day in day out. These perceived gender norms impact on young people's well-being.

As well as battling gender stereotypes, young people are also contenting with pressures at school, unhealthy friendships and uncertainty about the future. Our Good Childhood Report shines a light on children's well-being. Gender roles in society can create certain expectations, and the pressure of gender stereotypes can often get ugly.

The more a girl is exposed to these kind of jokes or comments, the more unhappy they are with their appearance. We all have responsibility to build a more inclusive and accepting society. Growing up should be about discovery and diversity. We're campaigning to overturn the decline in children's well-being and build a brighter future for their whole generation. Right now there are children fighting for hope. They've missed out on education, making friends, enjoying their childhood.

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We recoded these items before computing the scale score. We assessed students' value beliefs in math with scales from Gaspard et al. The items covered all four conceptual dimensions of task values as specified in the expectancy-value model Wigfield and Eccles, Intrinsic value e.

For utility value, we differentiated between two facets: utility for daily life e. We assessed self-concept with a math self-concept scale comprised of four items e. We assessed students' sense of belonging in math with 10 items e. The items were translated into German and adapted to math class instead of school membership.

Because we did not preregister the exclusion of the item, we conducted the analysis for this outcome also using the original scale, which included all 10 items. We assessed explicit attitudes toward math with a feeling thermometer as used by Kessels et al.

As done by Kessels et al. As preregistered, we additionally assessed stereotype endorsement with measures based on studies by Ambady et al. Due to high rates of missing data and the low reliability of these scales, we refrained from conducting additional analyses on these instruments.

We furthermore preregistered analyses with respect to the same set of constructs i. Due to space limitations, the results on girls' and boys' motivational dispositions and attitudes in German are reported in the Supplemental Material. In summary, we found no effects of the experimental condition on girls' and boys' motivational dispositions and attitudes in German except that girls in the experimental condition reported lower cost in German than those in the control condition.

In order to estimate effects of the gender stereotypes in the television program, we computed multiple regression analyses for the different outcomes in Mplus 7. In addition, we included the respective pretest measures as covariates to estimate the effect of the experimental manipulation more precisely Raudenbush, In order to make it easier to interpret the results, we standardized all continuous predictors i.

In our analyses, we conducted an intention-to-treat analysis by taking only the original assignment into account in order to keep the randomization to the experimental and control conditions intact Shadish et al.

This question was assessed at the end of the posttest questionnaire. The results did not differ meaningfully and are presented in the Supplemental Material.

To test whether there were any order effects of the instruments, we computed multiple-group regression analyses with the order of the instruments as the grouping variable. If there were no significant differences between the coefficients in the models, we calculated multiple regressions for the whole sample. Missing data ranged from 2. To deal with missing data, we used the full information maximum likelihood approach as implemented in Mplus 7.

We considered the clustered structure of the data students nested in classes by using the design-based correction of standard errors implemented in Mplus 7. The means and standard deviations for all scales are shown by gender and condition in Tables 1 — 3. Compared with boys, girls showed significantly lower math performance and reported lower levels of the feeling thermometer, self-concept, intrinsic value, and social utility value on the pretest.

The correlations for the outcome variables indicate that the mean levels were relatively stable across the two measurement points for all outcomes 0. Table 1. Descriptive statistics for all study variables on the pretest separated by gender. Table 2. Descriptive statistics for all outcome variables at T1 separated by gender and condition.

Table 3. Descriptive statistics for all outcome variables at T2 separated by gender and condition. As preregistered, we controlled for the pretest scores in all analyses to estimate the effect of the experimental manipulation more precisely because of the explanatory power of this covariate.

First, we tested if there were any order effects of the instruments by computing multiple-group regression analyses using the order of the instruments as the grouping variable. Consequently, we computed multiple regression analyses using the total sample for all outcomes i. Table 5. Multiple regression models 1: effects on stereotype endorsement, performance, self-concept, sense of belonging, and feeling thermometer. Table 6. Multiple regression models 2: effects on intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value for daily life, and cost.

Table 7. Multiple-group multiple regression model: effects on social utility value. We specified multiple regressions to test effects of the experimental manipulation see Tables 5 , 6. Because we were more interested in investigating effects of the experimental manipulation on girls' and boys' performance, motivational dispositions, and attitudes rather than on gender differences in these outcomes, we additionally estimated the simple slopes for boys for all outcomes using the model constraint in Mplus.

With respect to stereotype endorsement, we did not hypothesize specific effects due to mixed previous results for effects of stereotype threat on this outcome. The results revealed a significant positive effect of the experimental condition for girls.

Regarding math performance, math self-concept, and sense of belonging, we hypothesized that girls in the experimental condition would score lower on these outcomes than girls in the control condition. For boys, we did not hypothesize specific effects. For these outcomes, the results revealed no significant effect of the experimental condition for girls. For math performance and math self-concept, there were also no effects of the condition for boys. Figure 1. Effects of the experimental manipulation.

Regarding task values and attitudes toward math assessed with the feeling thermometer, we did not hypothesize specific effects of the experimental condition for girls and boys.

With respect to the feeling thermometer, intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value for daily life, and cost, we found no significant effects of the experimental condition for either girls or boys see Table 6. Because we were interested in the effects of the experimental manipulation on social utility assessed with the questionnaire, the results for the students who were given the questionnaire first in the assessment were of major interest.

For the students who were given the achievement test first, there was no significant effect of the condition for girls or for boys see Table 7. In this experimental study, we examined how stereotypes embedded in a children's television program about math influence girls' and boys' stereotype endorsement, math performance, motivational dispositions and attitudes in math.

We used a randomized study with a pretest—posttest design and a relatively large sample size, which enabled us to detect medium-sized effects. The material we chose was a television program that had been broadcast on a German national television channel, thus contributing to the high validity of the study.

Television programs play a central role in children's everyday lives and are an important part of their informal science learning, but such programs can provide specific gender stereotypes about math National Reserach Council. Previous research has indicated that the stereotypes children encounter in their environment can impact young girls' and boys' math performance, motivational dispositions, and attitudes.

Yet, such research has primarily been conducted in laboratory settings where stereotypes have been presented as isolated stimuli, rather than integrated into other information as would be the case in children's daily lives, for instance, in television programs. Overall, our results did not indicate that children's performance, motivational dispositions, and attitudes were strongly affected by the stereotypes presented in one part of a television program.

However, girls and boys in the experimental condition reported a higher endorsement of stereotypes compared with the respective control condition. Furthermore, boys showed a higher sense of belonging but lower social utility after watching the video that included the stereotypes compared with boys in the control condition. We did not find any effects on either the other motivational dispositions, attitudes or math performance for boys.

We also did not find any effects on math performance, motivational dispositions, and attitudes for girls. First of all, the small number of significant effects found in this study support previous research indicating that the short-term effects of stereotypes on performance, motivational dispositions, and attitudes are not as robust as sometimes claimed.

For example, Stoet and Geary reviewed replication attempts of the stereotype threat effect on women's math performance that was found in Spencer et al. In addition, Flore and Wicherts found indications of publication bias in their meta-analysis on stereotype threat effects in children. In accordance with these findings, the non-significant effects found in our study indicate that stereotype threat effects might occur only in specific situations or might apply only to some children.

Here, the negative effect on boys' social utility might add to this discussion because this effect was found only for students who were given the questionnaire first in the assessment in which we also assessed social utility. We did not find any effects of condition among boys who were given the questionnaire after the achievement test.

Therefore, the stereotypes might have affected boys' social utility in the short term, but were washed out after they completed the achievement test, indicating that even if stereotype threat effects occur, they might be very limited in duration and sensitive to other influences.

Nevertheless, specific characteristics of the present study could have also contributed to the small number of effects found. For example, the duration and frequency of the stereotypes presented in the video provide one possible explanation for the fact that we found hardly any effects on girls' and boys' performance, motivational dispositions, and attitudes even though we found an effect on their stereotype endorsement.

According to expectancy-value theory, it is through repeated experience that effects begin to accumulate and can lead to the internalization of gender-role stereotypes and to gender differences in expectancy and value beliefs in math in the end Wigfield and Eccles, ; Eccles, In our study, we used a television program that was broadcast on national television to ensure that the experimental material was strongly linked to children's daily life experiences.

However, the stereotyped clip in this television program had a duration of only about 1 min, and the children in the experimental condition saw this clip only once.

Thus, the duration and frequency of stereotype presentation might need to be increased in future studies to substantially affect girls' and boys' motivational dispositions. Furthermore, when interpreting the results of the present study for girls and for boys, the specific age group of the participants should be taken into consideration.

We investigated how stereotypes in a television program affect 5th graders because important processes in the development of children's expectancy and value beliefs and understanding of gender role behavior take place during that age period. Around the age of 10 years old, children become increasingly aware of how gender-stereotypical behavior might reflect social gender roles for a review, see Leaper, In addition, children increasingly understand, interpret and integrate others' feedback and become more realistic in evaluating their strengths and weaknesses during their elementary school years Wigfield et al.

Such processes are believed to influence the development of children's expectancy and value beliefs Wigfield et al. We investigated how stereotypes experienced in the environment might influence students' motivational dispositions among 5th graders because children at that age should be right at the beginning of these developmental processes.

In addition, previous research has indicated that even elementary school children can be affected by gender stereotypes—at least with respect to math performance Flore and Wicherts, However, the participants' young age could be a reason why we found almost no effects on students' expectancy and value beliefs. One reason for this assumption is provided by findings from the stereotype threat literature that have indicated that group and domain identification moderate effects of stereotype threat e.

Given that children increasingly identify with specific school subjects in elementary and middle school but do not differentiate much between the subjects at younger ages see Wigfield et al. In addition, the stereotypes that were displayed in the video may provide an explanation for the fact that we did not find any effects on girls' motivational dispositions, attitudes, and performance in math and only a few effects on boys' motivational dispositions and attitudes.

With respect to the girls in the video, it was not clear whether the girls in the video thought doing their math homework was boring or whether they were not able to solve the problems; thus, the video might have targeted the low motivation of these girls and not their low performance or talent in math, which has typically been the focus of studies that have investigated the effects of stereotype threat see e.

A video that more directly targets girls' lower performance or talent compared with boys might thus evoke stronger effects on girls' motivational dispositions and attitudes. Such a video might also evoke more positive effects on boys' motivational dispositions and attitudes, effects that would go against previous research that has indicated the experience of stereotype lift for male students in situations in which female students' disadvantage in math was made salient.

Stereotype lift describes the effect of a boost for the non-targeted group in settings in which stereotypes are activated e. The positive effect on boys' sense of belonging could be an indication of effects of stereotype lift on this outcome due to the traditional gender stereotypes in the video such as the stereotype that boys are better at math than girls.

However, the negative effect on boys' social utility can hardly be explained by stereotype lift effects. Here, the specific portrait of the boy presented in the stereotyped clip could have played a role. Although the male classmate from whom the girls copied their homework seemed to be mathematically competent, he was also presented as geeky. To the best of our knowledge, effects of this stereotype have not yet been investigated. However, there is research on the stereotypes of math and science.

Such research has indicated that favoring these subjects reduces students' perceived social competence and popularity. A study by Hannover and Kessels showed that students who admitted to liking science were judged as less popular, less attractive, less socially competent, and less integrated than students who claimed they did not like science.

As the social utility scale directly referred to social acceptance, the stereotype of the boy as competent but geeky might thus explain the negative effect of the stereotype on boys' social utility. One major strength of this study is its high ecological validity. In our experiment, we used a television program that was broadcast on national television. Although the experiment took place in the school context, which does not exactly represent the setting in which children watch television programs in their everyday lives, the experimental material perfectly reflected what children encounter in real-world situations.

Contrary to previous research on stereotypes, we furthermore investigated effects of stereotypes embedded into a more complex situation, where a lot of other information was presented to the children. Our results therefore provide initial insights into effects of stereotypes embedded in a television program on young girls and boys in a naturalistic setting. Nevertheless, further studies should also investigate such effects in other real-life settings, such as the home, where children might watch television programs together with their families and therefore might discuss the content of these programs.

In conducting the experiment, we applied a strong research design to address our research questions. We used a randomized block design, randomizing male and female students within classes to the different conditions.

Thereby, we investigated possible effects on girls' and boys' performance as well as on different motivational dispositions and attitudes with the aim of obtaining a comprehensive picture of possible effects of traditional stereotypes in television programs. The sample size was based on a power analysis, and in order to increase the transparency of our research, we preregistered all of our hypotheses as well as the analyses.

By doing so, we attempted to counter any arguments that might suggest that the effects of stereotype threat were built on p-hacking Flore and Wicherts, To assess possible effects of the stereotypes embedded in the television program, we included several different outcome measures such as scales for measuring all dimensions of the task values, for instance, or scales for assessing students' sense of belonging.

The findings thus provide a comprehensive picture of possible effects on different outcomes, although one should keep in mind that the scale to assess students' sense of belonging was adapted from the original study. However, the measures we used were based on an achievement test and a questionnaire, which consisted of self-report measures. Our results thus provide no insights into how individuals might process the information presented in the video.

Other assessment tools such as observational outcome measures e. The specific stereotypes transmitted in the television program also need to be considered when interpreting the results of our study. Whereas previous studies on stereotype threat mostly investigated stereotypes of girls being less able to do math than boys see e. The effects on stereotype endorsement indicate that the children noticed the stereotype of boys being better in math than girls in the video.

Nonetheless, it is still an open question if a video that more explicitly presents girls as being less able to do math than boys and boys not as being geeky would have caused effects on the other outcomes under investigation. For example, there is research indicating that favoring math and sciences reduces students' perceived social competence and popularity Hannover and Kessels, Based on such findings, it can be speculated that the negative effect on social utility for boys found in the present study might be due to the presentation of the boy as being geeky in the video because the social utility scale directly referred to social acceptance.

Additionally, it might be possible that the stereotype of the geeky math boy prevented girls from being negatively affected by the video because girls might have experienced this presentation as a negative stereotype against boys.

However, such assumptions are rather speculative and further research is necessary to investigate whether other presentations of gender stereotypes affect girls and boys differently than those used in the present study. Another limitation refers to the sample, which consisted of academic track students students attending Gymnasiums. When investigating the influence of stereotypes on gender differences in important predictors of STEM careers, it is therefore most informative to assess samples of academic track students.

Nevertheless, further research is required to investigate how the results can be generalized to students from other types of schools.

This study suggests that stereotypes in television can increase children's stereotype endorsement, but hardly affect their motivational dispositions, attitudes, and performance. Consequently, one could argue that traditional gender stereotypes presented in a television programs do not seem to affect young girls in math. This might be positive, particularly in light of the huge amount of time children spend watching television every day Rideout et al.

However, in our study, we investigated effects of stereotypes in a television program in which only about 1 min of the material had been manipulated, and it might be repeated experience that causes effects to accumulate and sustainably affect boys and girls in the end Wigfield and Eccles, ; Eccles, Additionally, even such a short clip containing stereotypes presented only once increased children's stereotype endorsement at least in the short term.

The results therefore suggest that television can activate and increase stereotypes about males' advantage in math in children, which might ultimately lead to gender differences in mathematically-intensive STEM fields Eccles, Even though we did not find effects on children's motivational dispositions and attitudes, program developers might therefore nonetheless wish to carefully consider including stereotypes in television programs for children.

Our research adds to the discussion of the relevance of stereotype threat effects, particularly with respect to motivational dispositions see Spencer et al.

Despite effects of the experimental condition on girls' and boys' stereotype endorsement, we found hardly any effects on children's performance, motivational dispositions, and attitudes. Again, it might be repeated experience that renders effects of stereotype threat potentially harmful, and more research is needed to explore the duration of possible effects.

Nevertheless, given failed attempts to replicate the original findings on stereotype threat Stoet and Geary, and indications of publication bias in the literature on stereotype threat Flore and Wicherts, , the findings from the present study cast doubt on the robustness of stereotype threat effects. To continue this discussion, it is imperative that non-significant findings are not hidden away in the file drawer. Datasets are available on request: The raw data supporting the conclusions of this manuscript will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation, to any qualified researcher.

This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of American Psychological Association with written informed consent from all subjects. All subjects and their parents gave written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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