NEGATIVE EVALUATIONS OF MENS NURTURANT TOUCHING OF YOUNG-CHILDREN

82 female and 65 male, mostly unmarried undergraduate students read on e of 16 versions of a brief scenario depicting a man or woman either e ngaging or not engaging in nurturant touching of young children. Subje cts then rated story characters on masculinity and goodness scales and on scales measuring likelihood of social acceptance and future instru mental achievement. Men and women who engaged in nurturant touching we re rated low on masculinity and high on goodness and social acceptance . Men rated male characters lowest on goodness and women rated male ch aracters highest on goodness. Women who engaged in nurturant touching were given the highest goodness and social acceptance ratings. It was concluded that some men may avoid engaging in nurturant touching of yo ung children due to gender stereotyping.