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If I read that correctly, the experiment was done 20 years ago in the UK. That's a long time ago. I don't know if it's politically correct now to even comment on any differences between genders.
I think if we did that now, they'd all be on their phones and forget to feed themselves.
If I read that correctly, the experiment was done 20 years ago in the UK. That's a long time ago. I don't know if it's politically correct now to even comment on any differences between genders.
I think if we did that now, they'd all be on their phones and forget to feed themselves.
Funny! You may be right on both counts. But I"m thinking, that one reason the girls' choices were very different, is that they were instructed in cooking (as were the boys), and we don't know if any other guidance or instruction or suggestions were made in addition to cooking. But the girls actually followed through. IOW, they took the "training" seriously. They did what they were told, instead of forgetting all about it, viewing it as irrelevant.
So with that small foundation of structure provided to them, they took it further once they were on their own. At least one or two of the girls applied experience to the experiment, that they'd learned or observed at home: mom made chore lists for her kids at home (we can assume), so they did that when thrown into this "housekeeping" situation with a group of strangers.
It's very interesting. It shows, for one thing, that (some) girls absorb information and skills from their home environment by casual observation, and retain that info. They're learning to "adult" without even being conscious of it. A few of the boys may have such influences in their passive awareness, but maybe when they get together as a group, group dynamics take over, and the focus is on the freedom to have fun and do whatever they want in the absence of adult supervision. Maybe they all want to "fit in" with the group, and the way to do that instinctively is not to start creating rules or playing "house".
I remember I said once at work around 2014 that boys seem to be more wild than girls in terms of behavior. Someone I work with who was pansexual and very liberal seemed offended. Whatever. I think studies have shown that boys tend to have ADD and can't sit as still as girls do in the classroom. Comparing my own kids my son was definitely the more active one and he still is now at 8.
Yeah, I agree ^^^
Very good observation.
It doesn't really matter if the experiment was done 20 years ago. Some dynamics prevail for a long time.
What do you think would be different nowadays?
20 years ago the children were not learning about choosing their own genders or gay marriage. It's a very sensitive topic right now, even though many of us may agree that this old study did show differences in this situation between genders. But like the above poster said, if you start throwing out these generalities you're going to offend some folks that don't believe girls and boys are different.
20 years ago the children were not learning about choosing their own genders or gay marriage. It's a very sensitive topic right now, even though many of us may agree that this old study did show differences in this situation between genders. But like the above poster said, if you start throwing out these generalities you're going to offend some folks that don't believe girls and boys are different.
Of course boys and girls are different - no one trained in psychology or most any social science would say differently. However, what's interesting is how much of those difference are due to biological influences versus environmental/societal influences. Not even one or the other, but the combination.
In this example it seems the boys didn't internalize the need for or importance of cooking...neither did they seem to bring any of their "home" experiences with them. Why not? Did they not feel that any of those home experiences related to them specifically? That it was all stuff that women/girls did and didn't apply to them or should matter to them? They surely knew about them but didn't apply or behave or act in all those ways they'd experienced at home. Did they think it was just stuff that only adults concerned themselves with or just women/girls?
The girls apparently brought a lot of their knowledge and experiences with them and more than that, applied them to a new situation beyond their original home life where they first learned them. Rather than feeling free of responsibilites of cooking and cleaning up after themselves, they did those things without being told by adults where the boys, without adult supervision just did whatever they wanted and were actually destructive.
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