Folklore Stories and Gender Stereotypes

Children aged 4 and 5 and a parent/ legal guardian who speaks and reads in English.

This study takes place during two sessions: you do one part right now, and then come back and do more sometime next week. Today, your child will answer 10 questions about how much they think boys and girls like to play with toys (for example, “How much do you think Nami like dolls? Really likes? Sorta likes? or Doesn’t like?”). Then, your child will answer 20 questions about what men and women do (for example, “Who can take a ballet class? Men? Women? Or both men and women?”). We will email you the second part of the study for you to do next week, and you can do it any time after we email you (up to 7 days later). In the second session, you will read a 10-minute folkstory aloud to your child. Your child will then answer questions similar to those from the first session (10 minutes). Finally, you (the parent) will complete approximately 15 minutes of additional questions about your child’s exposure to books, familiarity with folktales, and the genders of up to five adults and five children with whom your child spends the most time with.

We are studying whether young children’s ideas about activities, jobs, and toys differ before and after reading a folklore story with a parent. Children will answer similar questions during the first session and immediately after the shared reading activity in the second session, approximately one week later. Families will read one of two stories featuring a goddess, adapted from either Norse or Chinese folklore. This study will help us understand how children respond to character portrayals in folklore stories during a shared reading experience.

10 minutes

Families may receive up to $20 total for participating in both study sessions. You will receive a $5 Amazon.com gift card for participating in the first session and a $15 Amazon.com gift card for participating in the second session. To be eligible for compensation, your child must be 4 or 5 years old, speak English, and be visible on camera during the study. A parent must also provide verbal consent for the child to participate. Additionally, to receive compensation for the second session, both the parent and child must be visible during the story-reading activity. Only one set of gift cards will be issued per participant.