NYC Gazette

A recent study by psychology researchers has shed light on how parents' language may influence perceptions of gender. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicates that parents in the United States tend to use gender-neutral labels like "kid" more frequently for boys than for girls, while using gender-specific terms such as "girl" more often for daughters.

Rachel Leshin, the lead author and a postdoctoral research fellow at Princeton University, explained that this pattern might contribute to societal tendencies to equate men with people in general. "While perceptions of gender are driven by a variety of factors, our research identifies one of the social influences that may contribute to our tendency to equate men with people in general and points to potential ways to address this bias," said Leshin.

The study involved over 800 parent-child pairs, with mothers making up more than 90 percent of the parental participants. In one experiment involving over 600 parents of children aged 4 to 10 from across the US, parents were shown photos of children playing and asked to caption them. Results showed a preference for gender-neutral descriptions when describing boys compared to girls.

In another part of the study with nearly 200 parent-child pairs, parents engaged in a virtual picture-book-reading task designed to elicit discussions about gender-related themes. This task included images depicting both stereotypical and counter-stereotypical behaviors. The findings were consistent: parents used more gender-neutral labels when discussing boys engaged in stereotypical behavior but reversed these patterns when it came to counter-stereotypical scenarios.

"This bias has important consequences for issues of gender equity," noted Leshin. "Understanding the specific factors that may lay the foundation for these male defaults is one way to start thinking about how to intervene on this bias."

The paper's co-authors include Josie Benitez, Serena Fu, Sophia Cordeiro, and Marjorie Rhodes from New York University. The research received support from grants provided by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.