People vs. Object Orientation in Preschool Boys and Girls

This study was undertaken to explore the cultural stereotype that boys are more object-oriented and girls are more people-oriented. A total of 38 white, middle class, preschool children were observed during their free play hour at nursery school when a variety of people and objects were freely available to them. Each child was observed with a time sampling method for approximately 50 minutes over three nonconsecutive days. The observer, who was not aware that sex was a relevant variable, rated the children's play behavior with regard to its focus and context. The focus was categorized as being directed toward people, objects, or other and the context as being solitary, parallel, associative, or cooperative play. The mean scores on focus and context were summed to form a single index of People versus Object Orientation. The results showed no differences between boys and girls on People versus Object Orientation or on either of the component measures of focus or context. One minor difference between the sexes was that the most object-oriented and the most people-oriented children tended to be boys, while most girls tended to divide their attention fairly evenly between people and objects. (Author/JMB)