Preference for Infants among Black and White Children: Sex and Age Differences

• Published in: Child development Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 917 - 919
• Main Authors: Berman, Phyllis W., Goodman, Vickie, Sloan, Vicki L., Fernander, LaVerne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, etc University of Chicago Press 01.09.1978; University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc
• Subjects: Adults; Age; Animals; Black people; Brief Reports; Child care; Children; Infants; Male animals; Men; Sex linked differences
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.2307/1128272

Adolescent and preadolescent girls and boys were tested for the strength of their preferences for infants. 2 different samples, 68 white children and 74 black children, chose preferred pictures from a series of paired pictures of infants and middle-aged adults. All pictures were in the middle-attractive range. Results were essentially the same for each sample, although different stimuli were used for each, with pictured individuals of the same race as the subjects. None of the groups preferred adults to infants, but girls preferred infants significantly more often than boys did. Older children preferred infants somewhat more, but not significantly more, often than younger children did. Subjects' sex did not interact with subjects' age.