The Development of Gendered Expectations of Moral Parties Open Access

Abstract

Do children have gendered expectations of moral parties? Here we asked 5-10-year-olds (N = 177) to indicate whether boys or girls were agents or patients of morally good (e.g., helping) and bad (e.g., pushing) actions. When it comes to moral agency, children of all ages tested demonstrated a strong and consistent tendency to identify boys as perpetrators of various moral wrongs, but only 7–8-year-olds identified girls as benefactors. As for moral patiency, girls and boys were selected as patients at equal rates. The results of this study point to an early-emerging and persistent association of boys with negative moral agency. In other words, children as young as 5 expect boys to perpetrate. Further research is needed to uncover the mechanisms that drive such gendered expectations as well as their implications for potential disparities in treatment based on gender. 

Table of Contents

Introduction ...............................................................................................................................1

Methods .....................................................................................................................................7

Table 1............................................................................................................................9

Table 2..........................................................................................................................10

Figure 1........................................................................................................................12

Figure 2........................................................................................................................13

Figure 3........................................................................................................................13

Results .....................................................................................................................................11

Discussion ...............................................................................................................................14

Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................18

References ...............................................................................................................................19 

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Psychology
Subfield / Discipline	Developmental Science
Degree	MA
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Social Psychology, Experimental
Keyword	Gender Moral development Perpetration Stereotypes Agency
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Arber Tasimi, Emory University
Committee Members	Stella Lourenco, Emory University Philippe Rochat, Emory University

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