CHILDREN'S ACCOUNTS OF SEX-ROLE STEREOTYPES IN TELEVISION

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Abstract
Despite widespread concern about the possibly deleterious effects of television and sex-role stereotypes upon young viewers, little research has been conducted to investigate how children perceive stereotypes in the medium. In this study, seventeen children aged 4½ and 9½ are interviewed individually and asked to discuss features of a series of highly stereotyped male and female behaviors shown on television. The children display considerable knowledge of sex-role conventions and reveal clear ability to relate this to their accounts of the excerpts presented. Children are able to infer feelings and motives appropriately, and offer plausible accounts of “off-screen” behavior by using their existing sex-role knowledge. The findings are discussed with reference to developmental work in script theory, and it is stressed that television “effects” upon the young are best understood in the context of models of developing social understanding.