The present study investigated the impact of stereotypic and counter-stereotypic children presented in children’s magazines on participants’ gender flexibility around gender-typed toy preferences for themselves and others, playmate choices, and endorsement of gender-based social exclusion. Most of the hypotheses were fully supported and a number of important patterns were observed. Participants did not demonstrate more gender flexible attitudes in their own preferences for gender-typed toys (i.e., girls preferred feminine toys and boys preferred masculine toys) after exposure to counter-stereotypic content. However, participants in the counter-stereotypic condition did demonstrate more gender flexible attitudes toward the toy play of other boys and girls, labeling masculine toys and feminine toys as appropriate for both boys and girls more often than participants in the stereotypic condition.

In addition, we observed a strong preference for same-gender playmates over other-gender playmates among participants in the stereotypic condition, but we observed no preference for same-gender playmates over other-gender playmates among participants in the counter-stereotypic condition. This choice of playmate in the counter-stereotypic condition appeared to be driven more by the type of toy play being modeled by the child than by the child’s gender. Using a more explicit indicator of social exclusion, we found that in the stereotypic condition, boys were more supportive of gender-based exclusion than were girls. Meanwhile in the counter-stereotypic condition, there were no significant differences between boys and girls in their endorsement of gender-based exclusion.

Our study represents the first known investigation of the impact of counter-stereotypic peers pictured in children’s magazines on children’s gender flexibility around toy and playmate attitudes and preferences. On the whole, our findings suggest that exposure to counter-stereotypic content that challenges gender-typed toy play may be a useful strategy for attenuating gender-typed attitudes and behavior in young children, at least encouraging more flexible thinking around the gender-typed toy play of other boys and girls.

In contrast to Green et al. (2004) who used fictional characters to display counter-stereotypic gender models, we found that gender counter-stereotypic peers shifted boys’ as well as girls’ gender-typed attitudes. This suggests that pictured examples of actual children engaged in counter-stereotypic toy play (in a media format) may be more effective at changing children’s gender-typed attitudes than the use of fictional characters. The use of actual children may also facilitate greater perceived behavioral similarity with the peers, which has been linked to the potential countering of gender-typed attitudes and behaviors (Martin et al. 2011). Children may have perceived themselves as similar to the other-gender peer in the counter-stereotypic condition if the peer displayed similar toy preferences to themselves, and this possibility should be explored further in future research.

Although we hypothesized that exposure to the counter-stereotypic peers in the magazine would amplify children’s gender flexibility, it is perhaps unsurprising that children’s own preferences for toys remained gender-typed. This pattern is consistent with previous research, which has shown children’s gender attitudes are easier to manipulate than their behaviors (for example, Bigler and Liben 1990, in the context of gender-typed occupations). Children’s own gender-related attitudes may be less flexible because of the increased risk of peer rejection associated with preferences (and behaviors) that break gender norms. Therefore, more intensive interventions with peer reinforcement may be required to effectively change children’s own gender-typed toy preferences. This underscores the idea that a single exposure to gender atypical toy play would not affect deeply entrenched attitudes (Weisgram et al. 2014; Wong and Hines 2015), a point to which we return in the Limitations section.

The fact that such exposure did alter attitudes around other’s toy play was consistent with expectations and warrants further consideration. There is some evidence to suggest that exposure to non-traditional toy play in television commercials can increase gender flexible attitudes around toy play in children between 6 and 8 years-old (Pike and Jennings 2005). Given the role of toy play style in directing children’s social and cognitive development (Alexander 2003; Alexander and Hines 2002; Blakemore et al. 2009; Blakemore and Centers 2005; De Lisi and Wolford 2002), it behooves scholars and practitioners to understand how we can harness toy play to maximize potential and growth for all children. Furthermore, engagement with a wider variety of toys that cross traditional gender lines may increase the possibility for more cross-gender friendships to develop and be sustained, which has also shown to be beneficial for children’s development (Fabes et al. 2003).

Limitations and Future Research Directions

Although we reported some interesting results regarding the gender flexibility of young children, our study is not without its limitations. First, we recognize the impact of the present study may be limited by the fact that we did not include a control condition against which to compare the direction of the observed effects. In future research, we would recommend a comparison against a peer playing with a gender-neutral toy (e.g., a puzzle) as well as against a non-exposure condition, which would reflect a truer baseline for gender flexible attitudes and behaviors. Furthermore, future research should standardize the images of the peers across conditions. Future research should also directly compare exposure to life-like peers with storybook characters to examine whether these images affect gender flexibility to different extents.

Second, we examined behavioral intentions in the context of hypothetical scenarios and contrived stimuli presented to children. An important next step in this program of research would be to examine toy and playmate preferences in the context of viewing gender counter-stereotypic peers in magazines in more natural settings where actual behavior can be observed.

Third, we presented participants with one exposure to a single magazine page and the impact on gender attitudes and preferences was measured immediately afterwards. This design was adopted with the intention of providing a snapshot of how media can impact children’s gender attitudes and preferences. Clearly a more intensive and regular intervention using counter-stereotypic peers would be necessary for long-lasting change, and future research is required in order to examine the long-term impact of such an intervention program. Such research would also determine whether the effects observed are due to priming or to more substantial changes to children’s understanding of and adherence to gender stereotypes.

Fourth, our relatively small sample size limited our ability to detect small and moderate effects of the magazine exposure, and it also precluded us from making age-based comparisons. Analyses revealed that gender flexibility as measured by gender-typed toy play, own gender-typed toy preference, and gender-based exclusion (boys only) was correlated with age. However, between the ages of 4–7 years, children undergo considerable changes in their understanding of and adherence to gender stereotypes. Rigidity and adherence to stereotypes appears to increase linearly from 3 to 6 years-old and begins to decline thereafter when gender flexibility emerges (Serbin and Sprafkin 1986; Signorella et al. 1993; Trautner et al. 2005). Future research should include a larger sample size to allow a thorough examination of developmental changes in behavioral (e.g. social exclusion, playmate preference) and attitudinal aspects of gender flexibility, as well as how these change in response to the peers across the age group studied here (i.e., compare the impact of the peers among children aged 4-, 5-, 6- and 7-years-old). Future research could also include measures of understanding of gender, such as gender constancy, to capture the differential impact of the peers depending on the child’s stage of gender development.

Moreover, future research should also examine the differential effect of exposure to gender stereotypic and counter-stereotypic children pictured in media across this age range. For example, research on encoding and memory processes has found that young children misremember or incorrectly process gender counter-stereotypic information to match their pre-existing gender schema (Liben and Signorella 1980; Martin and Halverson 1983; Signorella and Liben 1984). This research would suggest that a single exposure to gender counter-stereotypic children pictured in magazines or other media would have a stronger impact among the older children in our sample. This possibility warrants further study.

We also limited the playmate choice and social exclusion measures to ask about the children presented to the participants in the magazine. This was done in order to enhance the realistic nature of the scenarios, but it did mean the specific children targeted in the social exclusion scenarios varied by condition. Future research could adapt the methods employed here to include a variety of social exclusion scenarios, with new targets in the social exclusion scenario, in addition to those viewed in the magazines, in order to improve experimental control and test the generalizability of this finding to new children and social situations. It would also be beneficial to include an additional response option of “both” in the playmate choice measure to allow children to express a preference for playing with both girls and boys, instead of restricting their response to choosing one gender over the other, which may be masking children’s gender flexible preferences. The PPPSI (Pasterski et al. 2011) could also be included in future research to gain more detailed information about children’s play style and playmate preferences beyond what the present study was able to obtain.

It is noteworthy that the effect of counter-stereotypic peers on participant’s attitudes toward gender-typed toy play and playmate preference was the same across boys and girls. In fact, for endorsement of gender-based exclusion, counter-stereotypic peers brought boys’ and girls’ attitudes more in line with one another. This attenuation of gender bias in younger boys is, therefore, especially revealing. It could be argued that it is easier to change girls’ gender-related attitudes and behaviors, compared to boys’, because greater resistance to gender-atypical attitudes and behavior is more often observed among boys (Bussey and Perry 1982; Mulvey and Killen 2015). Furthermore, masculine traits, toys, and behaviors are generally accepted as being of higher status than their feminine counterparts, and research has shown that children are aware of these status differences (Ruble et al. 2006. For that reason, it may be easier to persuade girls to move toward masculine toy preferences, for instance, than persuading boys to choose feminine toys (Blakemore 2003, Horn 2008). Because boys and girls responded to the counter-stereotypic peers similarly in the present study, the use of pictures of actual children in a magazine format may overcome some of the difficulties in adjusting boys’ gender-typed attitudes. However, it would be interesting for future studies to examine the social status associated with masculine and feminine toys and activities in tempering the impact of stereotypic and counter-stereotypic peers on children’s gender flexibility.

Practice Implications

The findings of the present study have several implications. First, these findings suggest it is possible to shift children toward more gender flexible attitudes and change children’s views on gender-related play. This possibility counters lay beliefs that gender segregation and gendered toy preference is inevitable in young children, and it adds to literature emphasizing the potential for change in children’s attitudes about gender-related play and friendships.

In particular, our findings suggest more regular exposure to counter-stereotypic content in the media could be an effective strategy to promote gender flexibility and combat gender-related bullying (Bigler 1999; Bussey and Perry 1982). That such an acute exposure shifted attitudes, underscores the impact that repeated exposure to gender stereotypical media can have on young children. These findings suggest that presenting children with images of counter-stereotypic peers through magazines could be used to encourage children to play with their own and other-gender toys, play in mixed-gender groups, and reduce gender-based social exclusion and bullying for both gender-typical and gender-atypical children.

Educators, parents, and policymakers might benefit from the present research and the approach tested to increase gender flexibility in children. This exposure technique could be extended for use in the classroom by providing more regular exposure to counter-stereotypic peers in children’s media through a series of magazine articles, or news stories, that feature such children. Children could also be asked to model and create their own resources. Moreover, our research shows that children consider both play style and gender when selecting a playmate. This finding suggests that highlighting behavioral similarities in children could encourage mixed-gender play. We suggest encouraging mixed-gender play by teachers and parents, despite the apparent gender segregation during play, because boys and girls are willing to play with one another if they possess similar toy and play style interests.

Conclusion

Exposure to gender counter-stereotypic peers in a magazine format increases gender flexibility among young children. Specifically, children exposed to counter-stereotypic peers were more flexible in their attitudes toward what other children could play with and were more likely to choose an other-gender playmate, using play style as a guide more so than the playmate’s gender. Moreover, boys’ stronger endorsement of social exclusion in the stereotypic condition was attenuated in the counter-stereotypic condition. The results of the present study not only underscore the impact of media (specifically print media) on children’s early understanding of gender and conformity to gender stereotypes, but also highlight the potential use of media to challenge and disrupt gender-typed toy choices and playgroups in young children. In particular, this research highlights the potential use of counter-stereotypic same-age peers in children’s print media to normalize counter-stereotypic attitudes, and perhaps behaviors, as an important avenue for future research and intervention. On the whole, these results suggest that the observed play style and toy preferences of others could be used as a gateway to gender desegregation in children. We hope the present study will inspire further investigations of this possibility in children.