GIRLS EXPRESSION OF THEIR OWN PERSPECTIVES IN THE PRESENCE OF VARYINGNUMBERS OF BOYS

This study was designed to examine the hypothesis that girls' expressi on of their own perspectives would decrease as the ratio of girls to b oys decreased. In each of 12 classes, two target girls were observed i n three contexts: with four other girls (all-girls group), with two ot her girls and two boys (girls-in-majority group), and with four boys ( girls-in-minority group). The number and duration of episodes in which the target girls clearly took a differing perspective from another ch ild were analysed across the three contexts. Results showed a signific ant decrease in duration of episodes of firmly taking a different pers pective from the all-girls to the girls-in-majority contexts. However, there was no difference in duration of episodes of firmly taking a di fferent perspective between the all-girls and the girls-in-minority co ntexts. In contrast to previous literature, findings strongly suggest that girls' expression of their own perspectives is influenced by seve ral mechanisms and not simply the ratio of girls to boys.