Does Transgressor Gender and Intentionality Influence Children’s Decisions to Befriend a Transgressor?

• In Event: Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Topic - Social Cognition

Abstract

In the social world, a transgressor’s intentions are not always clear. In these ambiguous situations, children might rely on other information to guide their social decisions, such as transgressor gender. Physical aggression is associated with boys and relational aggression with girls (e.g., Crick & Grotpeter, 1995; Giles & Heyman, 2005). Therefore, whether a transgressor behaves in line with gender norms could be relevant to children’s social judgments when intent is ambiguous. A physically aggressive girl whose intent is unclear might be judged less harshly than a boy counterpart, as deviating from gender typicality might be interpreted as accidental. However, children become increasingly flexible about adherence to gender norms with development (e.g., Halim, 2016), suggesting less attention to gender typicality.

As part of a larger study, we examined the role of intention and transgressor gender on children’s friendship decisions. We presented 5- to 10-year-olds (N=138; 67 boys) with a boy and girl who both engaged in physical aggression, and another boy and girl who both engaged in relational aggression. Participants were either told that the transgressors behaved purposely (unambiguous condition) or intent was unclear (ambiguous condition). Children were asked which character from each pair they would rather befriend (scoring: boy = 0, girl = 1). When intent was ambiguous, we expected that participants would prefer to befriend girl transgressors if they engaged in physical aggression, but not relational aggression. We predicted these effects to weaken with age.

A two-way ANOVA analyzed children’s friendship choices for the physical transgressors. No effects or interactions were significant, ps < .05. A two-way ANOVA was used for the relational transgressors. There was a significant effect of ambiguity, F(1, 128) = 4.30, p = .04. Children in the unambiguous condition (M = .37, SD = .49) were less likely than children in the ambiguous condition (M = .55, SD = .50) to choose befriending the girl transgressor over the boy transgressor, t(130) = -2.17, p = .04. No other effects and interactions were significant.

Children did not prefer the girl over boy physical transgressor, regardless of intention or age. They likely overlooked gender typicality due to the explicit harm associated with physical aggression (e.g., Ball, Smetana, Sturge-Apple, 2017). Further, children across age were less likely to choose the girl over boy relational transgressor, but only when intent was explicit. Attention to gender was only expected for ambiguous situations, as past studies indicate negative beliefs about transgressors with explicit intentions (e.g., Boseovski, Lapan, & Bosacki, 2013). Instead, counter-stereotypical behavior worked in favor of relationally aggressive boys with clear intentions. Perhaps boys were viewed as less experienced and their behavior as unusual despite being purposeful and regardless of flexible gender beliefs with age (e.g., Halim, 2016). Thus, they were less likely to habitually engage in that behavior, less harmful than experienced girls, or reacting to provocation. Past research establishes that judgments about transgressors varies by intention clarity and aggression type, but the present findings indicate that the weight given to those cues varies by transgressor gender.

Authors

• Andrea C. Yuly-Youngblood, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Presenting Author

• Janet J Boseovski, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rachel Croce, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author