Sonya Xinyue Xiao

Although peers are acknowledged as playing a significant role in gender development, less is known about how they shape gender identity. Here we assessed two broad processes: gendered peer interactions (i.e., interaction frequency, quality) and gendered cognitions about peers (i.e., efficacy, inclusion, and costs with same- and other-gender peers), and how they predict changes in children’s felt gender similarity, a central component of gender identity. Participants included 884 children (48.30% girls, 50.68% boys, 1.02% gender diverse; M _age = 9.04, SD = 0.90) from southwestern U.S. elementary schools. Data were collected from students in Fall (T1) and Spring (T2) of an academic year. Longitudinal path analyses demonstrated that both gendered interactions and cognitions were related to changes in children’s felt gender similarity. Results highlighted the importance of interaction quality with peers in children’s felt-gender similarity over time as it directly predicted gender similarity over and above other constructs. In contrast, interaction frequency showed a moderated pattern by gender. For girls but not boys, with more frequent other-gender interactions, felt similarity to other-gender decreased over time. Further, gendered cognitions moderated the relation between interaction frequency and similarity to other-gender peers: for children with less positive cognitions about the other gender, more frequent interactions with them led to less similarity to other-gender peers over time (at the trend level). Overall, findings have implications for fostering inclusive peer environments that support children’s gender identity development.

In this research, we examined (a) the primary effects of intergroup friendships: whether having a friend of a different gender/racial status benefits children’s gender/racial status-based prosocial behavior and (b) the secondary transfer of intergroup friendships: whether friendships from one domain (e.g., gender) would extend to improved prosocial behavior toward outgroup members of another domain (e.g., race). Participants were 603 third- to fifth-grade students ( M _age = 9.06, SD = .90; 47.9% girls; 52.4% racially minoritized). Peer nominations of prosocial behavior and friendships were collected twice in 1 year. Longitudinal path analyses focused on intergender friendships showed support for both the primary and secondary transfer effects on enhanced intergroup prosocial behavior. Analyses focused on racial status showed the primary effects of these friendships on enhanced interracial prosocial behavior, whereas the secondary transfer effects were less consistent. These findings provide a basis for interventions to promote equity in prosociality toward diverse others.

How gender diversity is exhibited varies: some individuals feel similar to the other gender; others experience little similarity to either gender, and some feel similar to both genders. For children, do these variations relate to differing relationships with peers? The goal was to assess whether a community sample of children (884, M _age = 9.04, SD = .90, 51% boys/1 transgender boy; 57% non‐Latinx) with differing types of gender diversity have differing relationship experiences and beliefs about same‐ and other‐gender peers. Gender diversity was determined by gender self‐concepts (Both‐Gender Similar, Cross‐Gender Similar, Low‐Gender Similar); these were compared among themselves and to gender‐typical children (Own‐Gender Similar). Results confirmed that children who exhibited differing gender diversity patterns varied in their peer experiences such that gender self‐concept matching was found: Children who felt more similar to other‐gender peers reported more contact and felt included and efficacious with other‐gender peers; children who felt more similar to same‐gender peers reported more contact and felt included and efficacious with same‐gender peers. These findings suggest that children with two of the atypical patterns (i.e., Cross‐Gender and Both‐Gender) may experience social benefits that gender typical children do not. These findings illustrate the variability and strengths among gender diverse children.

Gender is one of the most salient social identities, particularly during early adolescence. However, factors related to adolescents' gender attitudes remain underexamined. We examined links between adolescents' gender discrimination, felt‐gender similarity, and intergroup gender attitudes. Participants were 270 adolescents in the United States ( M _age = 12.95 years, SD = 1.33; 47.4% adolescent girls; 63.7% White, 12.2% Latinx, 10.7% Black, 4.1% Asian, 5.6% multiracial, and 3% indigenous). Path analyses showed that gender discrimination negatively predicted adolescents' attitudes towards own‐ and other‐gender peers. Felt own‐gender similarity positively predicted own‐gender attitudes as expected, but other‐gender similarity did not predict other‐gender attitudes. Further, own‐ and other‐gender similarity did not interact to predict adolescents' gender attitudes. However, adolescents' attitudes towards other‐gender peers were more negatively impacted by gender discrimination for those who felt highly similar to own‐gender peers than for those with average or low own‐gender similarity. Findings inform potential strategies to improve adolescents' gender attitudes.

Introduction: In a diverse society, individuals often need to make prosocial decisions toward others who vary on a range of intertwined social identities. Adolescence is a prime time to promote intergroup prosociality due to identity salience during this developmental stage. In this study, our goal was to develop and provide initial validation, of a novel measure on intergroup prosocial behavior considering gender and race/ethnicity.Method: We used two independent samples of early adolescents (N₁ = 118, M_age = 12.21 years, 55% boys, 59% White collected nationally in the United States.; N₂ = 133, M_age = 12.77, 51.1% boys, 77% White collected locally in Arizona).Results: Using the data from Sample 1, Exploratory Factor Analyses revealed a two‐factor solution capturing intergroup prosociality and personal distress. Confirmatory Factor Analyses with data from Sample 2 confirmed the factor structure. The reliability of intergroup prosociality was acceptable. Prosociality subscale was positively correlated with adolescents' empathy, sympathy, compliant, emotional, dire, and anonymous prosocial behaviors indicating convergent validity and negatively correlated with adolescents' public prosocial behavior indicating discriminant validity. Further, we examined whether youth engage in differential intergroup prosocial behavior using both variable‐centered and person‐centered approaches, combining data from Samples 1 and 2. While adolescents did not engage in differential intergroup prosocial behavior, Latent Profile Analyses revealed five distinct profiles of early adolescents' intergroup prosociality. Overall, this study advances research on youth's intergroup prosociality across two intersectional social identities, moving beyond the conceptualization of single social identities in intergroup research.

White children's effortful control (EC), parents' implicit racial attitudes, and their interaction were examined as predictors of children's prosocial behavior toward White versus Black recipients. Data were collected from 171 White children (55% male, M age = 7.13 years, SD = 0.92) and their parent in 2017. Prosocial behavior toward White peers was predicted by children's higher EC. When predicting prosocial behavior toward Black peers and prosocial disparity (the difference between White and Black recipients), parents' implicit racial attitudes moderated the relation between children's EC and children's prosocial behavior. Specifically, children's EC was positively associated with prosocial behavior toward Black peers (and negatively related to inequity in prosocial behavior) only when parents exhibited less implicit racial bias.

Background: Prior research findings are mixed regarding whether prosocial behavior is positively or negatively related to socioeconomic status and its correlates, such as economic pressure. This may be due to the lack of considerations for the type of prosocial behavior.Aims: In this study, we aimed to examine how six types of prosocial behavior (i.e., public, anonymous, compliant, emotional, dire, and altruistic) are related to economic pressure among early adolescents. We hypothesized that family economic pressure would be associated with each type of prosocial behavior in differing ways.Materials & Methods: Participants were 11–14 years old (N = 143, M_age = 12.2 years, SD_age = 0.87, 63 boys, 1 trans‐identified boy, 55 girls), early adolescents and their parents. Among them, 54.6% were non‐Hispanic/Latinx (NH/L) White, 23.8% were NH/L Black, 11.2% were NH/L Asian, 2.1% were NH/L Multiracial, and 8.4% were Hispanic/Latinx. Parents reported family economic pressure and adolescents' six types of prosocial behavior.Results: Path analysis revealed that economic pressure was negatively associated with emotional and dire prosocial behavior over and above age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Family economic pressure was unrelated to public, anonymous, compliant, and altruistic prosocial behavior.Discussion: These findings show some support for the Family Stress Model, such that economic stress might hinder youth's prosocial development. At the same time, youth may have similar levels of certain types of prosocial behavior regardless of their family's economic pressure.Conclusion: This research provided insight into the complex relation between economic pressure and youth's prosocial behavior which varies depending on the type of behavior.

Objective: We examined the associations among parenting, children's moral emotions, and children's prosocial behaviors toward Black peers and White peers.Background: Parenting practices inform children's prosocial behaviors; however, the contextual and individual factors that predict children's differentiated prosocial behaviors have been understudied.Method: Participants were 190 White children (5.4 to 8.91 years old, 45.8% female) and their primary parents. Parents reported parenting practices. Children's prosocial behaviors were assessed through distribution tasks; children's sympathy and empathic anger were observed in response to films that depicted injustice toward others.Results: Nurturant parenting positively predicted, whereas restrictive parenting negatively predicted, children's prosocial behaviors toward diverse others. Additionally, parenting predicted children's prosocial behaviors toward Black peers only when children expressed low levels of empathic anger toward victimized Black peers.Conclusions: Overall, nurturant parenting is positively related, and restrictive parenting is negatively related, to children's prosocial behaviors toward different targets. Children's target‐specific empathic anger moderated the relation of specific parenting practices to children's prosocial behaviors toward racial outgroup peers.Implications: White parents should understand the way that restrictive parenting might impede children's generosity toward diverse others and engage in nurturant parenting, especially when children do not naturally feel concerned about distressed outgroup members.