Infant Behavior and Maternal Attitudes

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Abstract
Nineteen boys and 20 girls from West Bengal, aged 7-18 months, were observed, together with their mothers, in free activity in a standard setting. The boys' exploratory and attachment behaviors showed developmental trends parallel to trends found among same age American children. The girls showed reduced exploratory behavior and a heightened need for physical closeness with the mother; those behaviors became prominent during the second year of the children's lives. Mothers of boys interacted with the son across a distance, and initiated interaction as well as were responsive to him significantly more than did mothers toward a daughter. They also evidenced a distinct pattern of reciprocity with the son, in contrast to a poorly established pattern of reciprocity between mothers and their daughters. The differential maternal attitudes toward boys and girls became marked during the second year of the children's lives. It was suggested that this culturally determined change in maternal attitudes led to an insecure attachment among girls, which in turn contributed to the children's behavioral sex differences.