CHILDHOOD PLAY AND ADOLESCENT LEISURE PREFERENCES - ASSOCIATIONS WITHGENDER TYPING AND THE PRESENCE OF SIBLINGS

Childhood play and adolescent leisure preferences were solicited from a sample of 168 predominately white undergraduate students, who also c ompleted the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974) and provided rat ings of the amount of time spent in play and leisure with same- and op posite-sex siblings. Higher Femininity (F) scores were found among tho se females who gave higher ratings of interaction with female siblings . The BSRI measures were also predicted by play and leisure preference s for strongly gender-stereotyped activities. Amount of interaction wi th same- and opposite-sex siblings was associated with activity prefer ences for both sexes. There was evidence of more sex-stereotyped prefe rences being given by those with same sex siblings and fewer by those with opposite sex siblings. The results are discussed in terms of the possible influences of siblings upon play and leisure preferences and the differing developmental pathways of male and female sex roles.