Knowledge and naturalization of gender stereotypes in secondary school students and their relationship to peer group acceptance

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. Recent research in the adolescent population points to the persistence of a stereotypical view of gender categories. However, there are indications of changes in the way these categories are currently understood. In order to explore these transformations in depth, it is necessary to check whether the stereotypical gender attributes are known, but also if they are considered natural, static or whether the female/male categories are understood as unidimensional. These characteristics have been identified as key to understanding recent transformations in conceptions of gender. METHOD. The present research analyzed the dimensions of acceptance, naturalization, and stability of stereotypes as well as the one-dimensionality of gender categories, on the basis of data collected by a questionnaire designed for the study. In addition, different response profiles were related to social acceptance from their peers in class, measured by Sociescuela sociometric test (Martín-Babarro, et al., 2008). Both instruments were administered to a sample of 242 secondary school students from a secondary school in the southern suburbs of the Community of Madrid. RESULTS. The results indicated that most of the sample investigated did not consider stereotypical gender attributes as natural and static characteristics of individuals. On the other hand, boys tended to accept, naturalize, and consider these attributes more static than girls. However, boys with more flexible responses had a higher degree of acceptance by their peers in the classroom. DISCUSSION. The findings showed a tendency among respondents towards a flexible conception of gender categories, in which the traditional attributes associated with men and women were not understood as given but rather as subject to change.