Poster #187 - Examining the Impact of Fiction Literature on Children's Gender Stereotypes

• In Event: 2-163 - Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Section - Sex, Gender

Integrative Statement

Literary fiction has been shown to influence the beliefs and attitudes of readers of all ages. School-age children are particularly likely to experience high levels of engagement with fiction literature, both inside and outside of classroom settings. This makes children’s literature a potentially important source of knowledge and socialization on a variety of topics, such as gender-based stereotypes and characterizations. Though knowledge of gender stereotypes develops early, children’s literature has the potential to influence the strength and rigidity of children's beliefs about gender roles and stereotypes, thus providing a plausible mechanism for reducing the endorsement of possibly harmful negative stereotypes. Unfortunately, much of children’s literature is centered around culturally-stereotyped male protagonists, with dismal representation of non-male and counter-stereotypic protagonists. Though fiction picture books and short stories have been shown to shift children’s stereotyped beliefs, the potential impact of chapter books on the gender stereotypes held by pre-adolescent middle school readers -- an age group that is particularly susceptible to the potentially harmful impacts of endorsing negative gender stereotypes -- has largely been ignored. This study examined whether exposure to chapter book content centered around atypical protagonists would shift gender stereotype beliefs in English-speaking 8-12-year-olds. An age-appropriate English language fiction book was manipulated to create four between-subjects conditions, varying only in the protagonist’s gender pronouns (masculine, feminine) and gender characteristics (stereotypical, atypical). Participants were not made aware of the relevance of the protagonist’s gender characteristics, believing they were being read a book as part of a reading comprehension activity. Experiment 1 examined how exposure to one chapter of the book in a laboratory setting would impact beliefs about gender stereotypes. Experiment 2 paralleled Experiment 1, but explored the impact of exposure to a full multi-chapter book across multiple sessions in a classroom setting. Gender stereotyped beliefs were measured in pre- and post-tests via the Gender Stereotyped Attitude Scale for Children (GASC) (Signorella & Liben, 1985), and a novel elicitation measure that required the production of a gender pronoun for an individual displaying certain gender-stereotyped qualities. In Experiment 1, mixed ANOVAs showed no significant differences in shifts of gender stereotype endorsement based on condition or participant gender for either measure. GASC results from Experiment 2, however, showed significant differences in how book material shifted beliefs in boys versus girls (F=7.62, p=.008). The greatest reduction in stereotyped beliefs was seen in boys who were exposed to an entire book featuring an atypical male protagonist; this may be due to a dearth of atypical male protagonists in children’s literature. Although girls also endorsed fewer gender stereotypes after exposure to atypical protagonists, differences across conditions weren’t as dramatic (p>.40). Contrary to previous studies using picture books and short stories which suggested that females are more sensitive to exposure to counter-stereotypical material, our results suggest that the prolonged exposure and deeper engagement that’s possible with chapter book content can be quite impactful for male children. Overall, these findings support the importance of engaging children in age-appropriate fiction literature that portrays protagonists who move beyond stereotypes.

Authors

• Ellen Kneeskern, Gustavus Adolphus College
  Presenting Author

• Patricia Reeder, Gustavus Adolphus College
  Non-Presenting Author