Individual differences in gender development: Associations with parental sexual orientation, attitudes, and division of labor

Research on children of lesbian parents has suggested that such children are developing well, but questions have been raised about their gender development. In this study, we explored associations among parental sexual orientation, parental gender-related attitudes, parental division of labor, and children’s gender development. Participants were 66 preschool children and their 132 parents from the East Coast of the United States. Thirty-three families were headed by lesbian and 33 by heterosexual couples. Parents who divided paid and unpaid labor more unequally had children whose occupational aspirations were also more traditional. Measures of children’s gender development were generally unrelated to parental sexual orientation. Parents’ attitudes and behaviors were more strongly associated with children’s gender development than was parental sexual orientation.

这篇研究的核心问题是探讨父母的性别态度、家庭劳动分工以及父母的性取向如何影响儿童的性别发展，特别是儿童的性别角色偏好和未来职业抱负。研究聚焦于比较来自33对女同性恋父母和33对异性恋父母家庭的儿童在性别发展方面的差异。研究假设，家庭中的性别态度和行为比家庭结构（即父母的性取向）更能影响儿童的性别发展。研究还探讨了家庭劳动分工的平等性如何影响儿童的性别角色灵活性，以及男孩和女孩在性别发展上的差异。

本文的研究方法通过对66名4至6岁儿童及其132名父母进行访谈，探讨父母性别态度、家庭劳动分工及父母性取向对儿童性别发展影响。研究包括两组家庭：一半为女同性恋父母，另一半为异性恋父母。儿童的性别角色知识、性别灵活性、职业抱负以及父母的性别态度和家庭劳动分工被评估。研究使用了多个量表，如性别违规测量（Gender Transgressions Measure）和性别角色学习指数（Sex-Role Learning Index）来评估儿童对性别刻板印象的了解与灵活性，并通过父母问卷评估其对儿童性别行为的态度和劳动分工情况。数据收集过程中，研究人员与家庭进行家庭访谈，并获得父母同意后进行儿童访谈。所有程序获得了大学伦理委员会批准。

本文发现，父母的性取向与儿童的性别发展存在一定关联。女同性恋母亲在性别角色的态度上比异性恋父母更加宽容，并且在家庭劳动分工上更加平等。这种平等的家庭劳动分工与儿童在性别角色刻板印象上的灵活性以及职业抱负的多样性相关。儿童在家庭中如果见到父母平等分工，无论父母的性取向如何，往往能够设想一个不受性别刻板印象限制的未来。然而，父母的性取向对儿童的性别态度影响并不绝对，家庭内存在较大变异，且仅在特定情况下，儿童的性别刻板印象才会随着父母的性别态度和行为而变化。例如，性别角色违规行为被孩子们视为更加严重的标准在异性恋家庭中明显高于女同性恋母亲家庭，表明女同性恋母亲的孩子可能在性别行为判断上较为宽容。总之，父母性取向通过影响其态度和行为，间接影响儿童性别观念的发展，但更为关键的是父母的态度和行为是否具有平等性。