Of bears and men: Infants' knowledge of conventional and metaphorical gender stereotypes

Infants' knowledge of conventional and metaphorical gender stereotypes was examined using a "violation of expectancy" task. Eighteen- and twenty-four-month-old infants were shown identical pictures of masculine or feminine items (e.g., hammer, bear; dress, cat) on two computer screens, with an accompanying gender-neutral prompt saying, "This is the one I like. Can you look at me?" Immediately following the pictures, two adult faces, one male and one female, appeared. Half of the items were conventionally associated with each gender, the other half were metaphorically related to each gender. Results indicated that masculine conventional and metaphorical gender knowledge have been acquired by the middle of the second year, with infants relating such items as fire hats, hammers, fir trees, and bears with males. It is suggested that metaphorical gender stereotypes may play a significant role in the rapid expansion of children's gender schemas which follows the toddler period. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.