THE ROLE OF GENDER-RELATED INFORMATION AND SELF-ENDORSEMENT OF TRAITSIN PREADOLESCENTS INFERENCES AND JUDGMENTS

The major purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a target child's gender typicality on different aspects of preadolescents' inf erences and judgments. The secondary purpose of the study was to inves tigate the relation between children's self-endorsement of traits and their inferences and judgments. Fifth and sixth graders were shown a v ideo film, portraying a child playing either a gender-appropriate game with members of the same sex or a gender-inappropriate game with memb ers of the other sex. In addition, subjects completed an adapted versi on of the BSRI and were categorized into sex-typed, androgynous, and u ndifferentiated subjects. Subjects made a number of different types of judgments and inferences about the target, including inferences about traits, popularity, choice of gift and name, and willingness to engag e in activities with the target. All types of inferences and judgments were affected by the variations in the targets' gender-related behavi ors, whereas self-endorsement of traits was not related to the inferen ces and judgments. The results suggest that the gender typicality of t he target behavior is salient to preadolescents, regardless of their s ex-role orientation.