Age-related variations and sex differences in gender cleavage during middle childhood

Gender cleavage, the segregation of the sexes, is a powerful phenomenon aff ecting socialization during childhood, but its developmental trajectory is far from clear. Sociometric responses by 299 boys and girls in Grades 3 to 6 from a group preference record were used to investigate age-related Varia tions and sex differences in gender cleavage. Moreno's (1953) developmental model of gender cleavage was examined in the light of sociocultural change s, as well as advances in the theory and measurement of gender cleavage. Se x differences were found in same-gender preference, with older elementary g irls showing greater same-gender preference than boys of the same age. Howe ver, this finding, plus the absence of gender differences in cross-gender e valuations, did not support more recent developmental accounts of gender cl eavage. Linear trend analyses contradicted Moreno's basic precept of increa sing same-gender preference between Grades 3 and 6. While same-gender accep tance and rejection were relatively similar regardless of grade level, cros s-gender acceptance was greater in higher than in lower grades and the reve rse was true for rejection. Furthermore, weaker gender cleavage effects in rejection data than in acceptance data suggested that strong same-gender li king does not infer equally robust cross-gender dislike. Gender cleavage ap pears to be relative rather than absolute. A more complex model is proposed incorporating sex differences as well as rejection evaluations.