The Differentiation Of Children's Gender Consciousness And The Development Of Theory Of Mind

The differentiation of children's gender consciousness refers to children's cognition and recognition of their own gender.In order to explore children's gender consciousness from 3 to 5 years old,and children's theory of mind.We conducted an experiment research(children as subjects)and a questionnaire(with parents as subjects),using the choice of toys.Study 1 using the mixed experiment design of 2(gender:male,female)x 3(grade:small class,middle class,large class)x 3(selection situation:self-situation,heterosexual situation,homosexual situation).Among them,gender and grade are between variables,and select situation is within variable,self-situation means choosing toys for selves,heterosexual situation means choosing for opposite sex partners and homosexual situation means choosing for the same gender partners,dependent variable is gender stereotypes,and we use a three level sacle to score:1-don't like,2-a little bit,3-very like.The results showed that there were significant gender differences in children's preference of toys,boys preferred the typical male toy picture,and the girl preferred the typical female toy picture.Besides,this kind of preference also show in choosing for others,when choosing for others in heterosexual situation or homosexual situation,children also can choose for the toys which suit others'gender,which show a good level of the theory of mind.Besides,The gender consciousness differentiation also show the developmental characteristics of a certain age,whether boy or girl,with the development of age,show a stronger ability to choose the more suitable toys for themselves and others,and 4 years old is a turning period of development.Study 2 used the material picture of study I to made a parent questionnaire,in order to explore parents' toy preference when choosing for their children and made a contrast of children and parents.The results showed that boys' parent chose more typical male toy picture for them and girls'parent chose more typical female toy picture for them.A comparative study of children and parents found that children showed a higher preference for typical toys compared with the typical preference for sex toys chosen by parents.At the same time,there was no significant difference in scores between the three year olds and their parents in the typical sex toy preference,while the children aged four and five scored significantly higher on typical sex toys than their parents.Conclusions:First,preschool children have shown the gender awareness in toy preference,which shows that boys prefer typical male toys and girls prefer typical female sex toys.Second,three to five years old children have shown a good level of the theory of mind in choosing tasks.Third,children's gender consciousness is developing continuously between three to five years old.Forth,children's parents have a certain influence on children's choice of toys,which will increase with the age of children.Fifth,through comparative analysis between parents and children's choice of toys,the side confirms that children's gender consciousness is developing continuously between three to five years old.