Gender Differences in the Internalization of Body Size Stereotypes in Preschool-Age Children

Presentation Type

Poster

Keywords

preschool children, gender, body size stereotypes, internalization

Department

Psychology

Major

Psychology

Abstract

Research has shown that negative stereotypes towards overweight individuals are endorsed and possibly internalized by girls as young as three years old. Much of the previous research has yet to include boys or examine gender differences. A sample of 222 preschoolers (127 boys and 95 girls), ages 3 to 5-years old (M = 3.8 years, SD = 0.74) from Southern California completed three tasks designed to measure body size awareness and internalization of body size stereotyping. Results indicate a significant gender difference in attribution of positive and negative adjectives to various body types, F(2, 219) = 3.97, p = .02. Girls were more likely to attribute negative qualities to overweight figures and positive qualities to thin figures compared to boys. Additionally, gender differences emerged in the selection of a best friend task, χ2 (2, N= 211) = 10.44, p = .005. Girls were more likely to select a thin figure as her best friend and less likely to select an overweight figure as her best friend compared to boys. While there were no significant gender differences in a game piece task, trends in the data indicate that girls were more likely to select a thin figured game piece and less likely to select an overweight figured game piece compared to boys. Overall, these results indicate that both preschool-age boys and girls demonstrate body size stereotyping and internalized beliefs that “fat is bad,” but preschool-age girls are more likely to demonstrate these beliefs compared to boys.

Faculty Mentor

Jennifer Harriger

Funding Source or Research Program

Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative

Location

Waves Cafeteria

Start Date

24-3-2017 2:00 PM

End Date

24-3-2017 3:00 PM

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Mar 24th, 2:00 PM Mar 24th, 3:00 PM

Gender Differences in the Internalization of Body Size Stereotypes in Preschool-Age Children

Waves Cafeteria

Research has shown that negative stereotypes towards overweight individuals are endorsed and possibly internalized by girls as young as three years old. Much of the previous research has yet to include boys or examine gender differences. A sample of 222 preschoolers (127 boys and 95 girls), ages 3 to 5-years old (M = 3.8 years, SD = 0.74) from Southern California completed three tasks designed to measure body size awareness and internalization of body size stereotyping. Results indicate a significant gender difference in attribution of positive and negative adjectives to various body types, F(2, 219) = 3.97, p = .02. Girls were more likely to attribute negative qualities to overweight figures and positive qualities to thin figures compared to boys. Additionally, gender differences emerged in the selection of a best friend task, χ2 (2, N= 211) = 10.44, p = .005. Girls were more likely to select a thin figure as her best friend and less likely to select an overweight figure as her best friend compared to boys. While there were no significant gender differences in a game piece task, trends in the data indicate that girls were more likely to select a thin figured game piece and less likely to select an overweight figured game piece compared to boys. Overall, these results indicate that both preschool-age boys and girls demonstrate body size stereotyping and internalized beliefs that “fat is bad,” but preschool-age girls are more likely to demonstrate these beliefs compared to boys.