This is a new result of theFrench longitudinal study since childhood (Elfe), a large French study involving 18,000 children, born in 2011. These children are followed by 60 research teams, including those of the National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED), from their birth until their 20s, to shed light on how a young French person grows up today.
Some results presented Thursday, October 6 show that at the age of 2, boys still prefer to have fun with small cars (89%) against 32% of girls. And that 82% of girls play with dolls every day, compared to only 19% of boys. In general, girls also draw more and prefer indoor games, while boys prefer to play outdoors: three-quarters of them play ball every day. These stereotypes are found in all social classes but are attenuated in children who have brothers and sisters of the opposite sex, regardless of the age difference between them.
This reality is a training story, explains Kevin Diter, a sociology researcher at the University of Lille who conducted the study. With brothers or sisters of the opposite sex, there are more varied games available in the house and then because these children are encouraged to change games, if they do not want to play alone in their corner. A boy is thus three times more likely to play with dolls if he has sisters. And a girl is twice as likely to play toy cars if she has brothers. We note in passing that the ripple effect of daughters on brothers is a little stronger than that of brothers on sisters.
The influence of parents in the choice of these games is less strong than that of brothers and sisters in getting out of stereotypes. On the other hand, parents play an important role when it comes to motivating children to choose educational hobbies: drawing, writing or reading, for example. The games which are the most unanimous among boys and girls are, in order, water games, followed by puzzles and construction games.