Preschool children's self-presentations in situations with infants: effects of sex and race

Preschool children's self-presentations with infants in 2 different conditions were explored. Black and White boys and girls, age 4-6 years, were asked to pose for photographs with a same-sex peer and with an infant. Girls stood significantly closer, smiled more, and touched the baby more often than boys did. In addition, there were significant sex differences when children were asked to enact the same-sex parental role. Girls asked to act as "mommy" moved closer to the infant, while boys as "daddy" stood farther from the infant, than when they posed with the infant without these instructions. Race differences were also found for this sample of children who were from middle- and working-class families. Contrary to expectations, White children exhibited more proximity behavior, more looking, and more touching to same-race infants than did Black children.