Perceptions of Gender Stereotypes amongst Chinese Children in Middle Childhood: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Gender stereotypes have been a popular topic since our childhood but little has been done regarding how Chinese children in their middle childhood differentiate and represent gender. The current study explored the perceptions of gender stereotypes among middle childhood children from age 9 to 12 years of both genders through the implementation of autobiographical and narrative approach. The central question for this study is: How do children in middle-childhood perceive gender-role stereotypes and schemas in a Chinese socio-cultural context? Eight participants were recruited and semi-structured interviews and the Collage Life-story Elicitation Technique (CLET; Van Schalkwyk, 2013) were used for data collection. A post-structural framework and thematic analysis was used for the interpretation. In both the collage and narratives, children represented the genders as a binary opposition between “boys-related characteristics” and “girls-related features.” There is also a tendency of objectifying of girls, while boys are represented in a more personalised manner. The current study confirmed that gender stereotypes developed early in children’s childhood and that family and the media tend to perpetuate gender differences rather than equality throughout childhood.