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In addition to biological maturation, children develop within a set of gender-specific social and behavioral norms embedded in family structure, natural play patterns, close friendships, and the teeming social jungle of school life. The gender roles encountered in childhood play a large part in shaping an individual’s self-concept and influence the way he or she forms relationships later on in life.〔Beal, C. (1994). Boys and girls: The development of gender roles. New York: McGraw-Hill.〕 In general, the roles of males and females are not equally valued; the active, practical, and hardy role of men is considered more important than the passive, caretaking responsibility associated with women.〔Calvert, S. L. (2013, November 6). Gender Roles (presentation ).〕 ==Parental influences== Parents actively shape their children's gender roles throughout childhood. Regardless of preference for one gender versus another, parents tend to treat sons differently from daughters. While these influences are found to have little effect on a child's sexual development, the effects of parental gender typing can be felt into adulthood. This gender socialization has two lines of communication: not only do parents influence their children's gender roles, but the way children respond and react to these influences impacts how the surrounding environment reacts to their behavior. Ultimately, children both respond to and elicit behaviors as a result of parental gender role influences. Several factors may cause this differential treatment. Parents and children of the same gender more easily develop similar preferences and interests, as well as spend more time together. Parents also encourage father-son, mother-daughter bonds to reinforce the importance of same-gendered role models. Parents may believe that only fathers know how to teach boys how to be men, and that mothers must teach girls how to be nurturing. Expectations for children's future adult lives, like financial success or future care giving, may lead parents to encourage certain behaviors in children. However, most parental behaviors remain uninfluenced by the gender of the child, including speaking to, playing, teaching, and caretaking.〔 Family dynamics can especially influence gender specialization. Parents of sons are more likely to express conservative gender role views than parents of daughters, with fathers emphasizing the paternal breadwinning role for males. The effects of parental expectations of gender roles can especially be seen in the role children play in household duties. Girls generally do more housework than boys and the type of housework assigned to children largely depends on gender. Thus, household dynamics further advance gender role expectations on children. Children's toy preferences are significantly related to parental sex-typing, such as girls playing with dolls and boys participating in sports. While both fathers and mothers encourage traditional gender roles in their children, fathers tend to encourage these roles more frequently than mothers. Parents choose activities that they believe their children will enjoy and value. By choosing their children’s activities, parents are directly influencing their gender role views and preferences onto their children and shaping expectations. Hines & Kaufman (1994) examined the toy preferences and behavior in girls with ''congenital adrenal hyperplasia'' (CAH), a condition characterized by exposure to high levels of androgens ''in utero''. The results suggested that CAH girls exhibited more masculine-typed behavior observable through toy choice as well as drawings and rough-and-tumble play. While a compelling result, parental expectations, in addition to biology, could play a large role in shaping behavioral outcomes. An early diagnosis might lead parents to expect, and therefore, condone, more masculine-typed behaviors, implicitly socializing the CAH girls to express themselves in certain ways. In normally developing girls, masculine behaviors may be discouraged, and parents may steer their daughters toward more traditionally feminine toys, colors, and preferences. This alternative social explanation complicates the interpretation of neat causality between hormones and behavior.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gender roles in childhood」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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