Seavey et al. (1975)

• Seavey et al. (1975) investigated how sex-role stereotypes affect adult’s perception of a baby's gender
• Seavey et al. (1975) Procedure

  • Told 1 of 3 adult pps that a 3mnth baby dressed in a yellow jumpsuit was either a boy, girl, or did not reveal the gender.
  • Left adult + baby in a room containing a ball (stereotypically male toy), a doll (female) and a plastic ring (not sex-role stereotyped)
• Seavey et al. (1975) Findings

  • both male + female adults gave the baby the doll if told the baby was female
  • But, more likely to give the non-stereotyped toy if told the baby was a boy

  When gender was unknown:

  • females handled baby more
  • both m+f adults tried to assess the baby based on perceived strength