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. 2011 Apr;59(4):549-55.
doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.02.007. Epub 2011 Feb 19.

Prenatal hormones and childhood sex segregation: playmate and play style preferences in girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. vp265@cam.ac.uk

Prenatal hormones and childhood sex segregation: playmate and play style preferences in girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Vickie Pasterski et al. Horm Behav. 2011 Apr.
. 2011 Apr;59(4):549-55.
doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.02.007. Epub 2011 Feb 19.

Affiliation

  • 1 University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. vp265@cam.ac.uk

Abstract

We investigated playmate and play style preference in children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) (26 females, 31 males) and their unaffected siblings (26 females, 17 males) using the Playmate and Play Style Preferences Structured Interview (PPPSI). Both unaffected boys and girls preferred same-sex playmates and sex-typical play styles. In the conflict condition where children chose between a same-sex playmate engaged in an other-sex activity or an other-sex playmate engaged in a same-sex activity, boys (both CAH and unaffected brothers) almost exclusively chose playmates based on the preferred play style of the playmate as opposed to the preferred gender label of the playmate. By contrast, unaffected girls used play style and gender label about equally when choosing playmates. Girls with CAH showed a pattern similar to that of boys: their playmate selections were more masculine than unaffected girls, they preferred a boy-typical play style and, in the conflict condition, chose playmates engaged in a masculine activity. These findings suggest that prenatal androgen exposure contributes to sex differences in playmate selection observed in typically developing children and that, among boys and girls exposed to high levels of androgens prenatally, play style preferences drive sex segregation in play.

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Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Playmate and Play Style Preferences…

Figure 1

Playmate and Play Style Preferences Structured Interview (PPPSI) stimuli.

Figure 1
Playmate and Play Style Preferences Structured Interview (PPPSI) stimuli.
Figure 2

Figure 2

Conflict condition: Percentages of children…

Figure 2

Conflict condition: Percentages of children who preferred male targets engaged in a feminine…

Figure 2
Conflict condition: Percentages of children who preferred male targets engaged in a feminine play style, female targets engaged in a masculine play style, and those who showed no preference.

Comment in

References

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    1. Berenbaum SA, Hines M. Early androgens are related to childhood sex-typed toy preferences. Psychological Science. 1992;3(3):203–206.
    1. Berenbaum SA, Snyder E. Early hormonal influences on childhood sex-typed activity and playmate preferences: Implications for the development of sexual orientation. Developmental Psychology. 1995;31(1):31–42.

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