Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Barton, Michelle

Keywords

Gender, Children, Narratives, Agency, Communion

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

This study examined differences in children’s representations of agency (exerting influence to achieve desired outcomes) and communion (feelings of social belongingness) in narratives about the self versus gendered others. These themes were coded for in four different narratives (one about the self, as well as one each about a masculine, feminine, and androgynous puppet) generated by 20 children. Though data were not analyzed directly between gender conditions, differences in correlational patterns between girls and boys for themes and age emerged. For girls, descriptions of dynamic physical activity decreased with age in importance as well as propensity, and descriptions of physical or psychological strength increased in importance and propensity with age for feminine puppet narratives; however, only an increased propensity to cite themes of prestige was found with increased age in self narratives. For boys, the propensity to cite themes of positive reciprocal communication, the importance of positive reciprocal communication, and the importance of affection in self narratives increased with age, though no themes were correlated with age and masculine puppet narratives. The findings of this study suggest that increases in age influence descriptions of gendered others in a manner that reflects gendered notions of agency and communion, but representations of the self are less constrained by these cultural norms.

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