Playing the part: Children's willingness and embarrassment to play gender stereotype-violating roles

Although anticipated affect has been shown to influence young adults' willingness to engage in counter-stereotypic fields of study and careers, research has not yet explored whether elementary school children also anticipate negative affect for violating gender norms. The present studies explored elementary school students' knowledge of gender stereotypes, anticipated embarrassment and willingness to play counter-stereotypic characters in a play. In Study 1 (N = 56, M_age = 9.46 years) and Study 2 (N = 49, M_age = 9.52 years), children anticipated more embarrassment and were less willing to play a character with gender stereotype-incongruent behaviours and roles, compared to gender stereotype-congruent characters. In Study 3 (N = 47, M_age = 11.43 years), children anticipated more embarrassment and were less willing to play a character with a stereotype-incongruent occupation compared to gender stereotype-congruent occupations. In a combined analysis across the three studies, knowledge of gender stereotypes predicted children's embarrassment to play counter-stereotypic roles. The results are discussed with respect to the development of gender norms and occupational aspirations in children.