Young girls can be sensitive. At a young age many of them could already be affected by many issues. Young girls get affected by gender stereotypes early in their childhood.
Early in their life, young girls aren't impressed by other girls. Gender stereotypes play a role in this, and girls as young as six years old do not tend to associate brilliance with girls in general. This is the conclusion made by a study by Lin Bian from the University of Illinois and Andrei Cimpian, a Psychology Professor from New York University.
Young girls are exposed to the perception that brilliance is only associated in males. Such perception though isn't the reality, as explained by Cimpian, the senior author of the study. However, this perception stick into young girls which they would carry later in life.
The researchers studied this perception in children from ages five to seven. Children would often point to a male character when told of a story about someone who is very, very smart. They would then be told to guess who the unrevealed character was in the story, and often children would see the smart person to be male.
The study has found that children aged five would see their own gender in a positive way. However, girls from six to seven years would less likely to see their own gender to be smart or brilliant, according to the New York University's site. More boys tend to see their own gender in a positive light.
The same has been seen when the study looked into how perception would shape children's interests, as Science Daily reports. Another set of children were asked to choose between a game for smart people and another one for those that try real hard. The study has found that girls tend to show less interest in games that are geared for smart people.
The study shows that early in life, girls are already exposed to gender perception and stereotyping. Young girls get affected by gender stereotypes early in their childhood. A study also shows that male and female brains are much more alike than earlier believed.
