Children's gender : affectionate and social interaction behavior differences among children and teachers in day care centers

The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to examine differences in (a) the amount of affectionate behavior expressed by boys and girls and (b) the types of recipients of boys', girls', and teachers' affectionate behavior in day care centers. The secondary objective was to examine the same differences in boys', girls', and teachers' total social behavior. Hypotheses were formulated based on the social learning perspective of gender-typed behavior and Schutz's theory of the role of affection in social relationships.

Data were collected by conducting naturalistic observations of 47 female teachers and 76 children (32 males and 44 females) in six day care centers. Teachers' and children's behaviors and the types of recipients were recorded. The behaviors observed were smiling, affectionate words, active and passive affectionate physical contact, and social interaction. The data were converted to percentages and subjected to parametric multivariate analyses of variance.

The results indicated that neither children's affectionate nor total social behaviors were gender typed as defined by social learning theory. However, there were gender differences related to the recipients of children's and teachers' behaviors. Children expressed more of all behaviors to same-gender peers than to opposite-gender peers. Female teachers expressed more of their behaviors to female children than to male children.

Additionally, the specific behaviors making important contributions to the overall differences between boys' and girls' expressions of affectionate behavior to male and female children differed. The behaviors primarily responsible for the overall difference in boys' expressions of affection to male and female children were both types of affectionate physical contact. The behaviors making important contributions to the overall difference in girls' expressions of affection to male and female children were smiling and affectionate words. Both teachers and children expressed their affectionate behavior more often to individuals than to groups.

There is a need to refine the social learning perspective of gender-typed behavior to include the interpersonal context of the behavior. Theory and research on the role of affection in human development and relationships across the life cycle needs to be expanded