Abstract
Fiction literature has been shown to influence the beliefs and attitudes of readers of all ages. Therefore, fiction literature might be a useful tool for helping individuals overcome potentially damaging beliefs, such as rigid gender stereotypes. Since most children’s literature is centered around stereotypical male protagonists, this study examined whether exposure to children’s fiction literature about non-stereotypical protagonists would shift endorsement of gender stereotypes in 8- to 12-year-old children. Two experiments exposed children to book material describing the adventures of either a stereotypically or counter-stereotypically behaving male or female child protagonist. Results showed that extended exposure to a multi-chapter story about a counter-stereotypical protagonist could reduce children’s endorsement of gender stereotypes; this effect was particularly strong in male children exposed to an atypical male protagonist. These findings support the importance of children’s literature about protagonists who move beyond stereotypes.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Kyle Chambers, Robert Kendrick, Leanne Tamm, Stephen Becker, and the members of the Gustavus Adolphus College Center for Developmental Science for their helpful comments on this work, with special thanks to Mark Kruger and Leanne Tamm for assistance with data analysis and interpretation. We also thank Eva Hendrickson, Andrea Viznor, and Andrew Jurek for allowing us to work with their students and facilitating our work in the schools.
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The authors do not have conflicts of interest to disclose. There are no funding sources to disclose. The study was approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board (study approval #1718–0061). Since all participants were under the age of 18, informed consent to participate in the study was obtained from the parents/guardians of all participants, and informed assent was obtained from child participants prior to participation. The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Kneeskern, E.E., Reeder, P.A. Examining the impact of fiction literature on children’s gender stereotypes. Curr Psychol 41, 1472–1485 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00686-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00686-4