Bias in Perceptions of Children: Gender, Clothing, and Physical Attractiveness Effects

Introduction: This study explores how sex and clothing differences influence adults’ perceptions of elementary school students. It predicts that male students will be rated higher in academic ability, behavior, and likeability compared to female students, as well as predicting that formally dressed students will be rated higher compared to informally dressed students.

Methods: Participants (N = 160) rated formally and informally dressed male and female students’ perceived skills. The data was analyzed on SPSS using a 2 (Model Sex: Male or Female) x 2 (Clothing Formality: Formal or Informal) factorial ANOVA. This research utilized three surveys that measured perceived behavioral, academic, and social skills of the model, as well as likeability and interaction with the photo.

Results: Results indicated that there was a significant influence of sex differences on the perception of scholastic emotional engagement, F(1, 160) = 15.63, p < .001, where boys (M = 3.20, SD = 0.87) were rated higher than girls (M = 2.68, SD = 0.74). Participants rated boys (M = 3.47, SD = 0.85) higher than girls (M = 2.95, SD = 0.92) in scholastic social engagement, F(1, 160) = 12.47, p < .001. Clothing formality had a limited influence overall, only being significant for emotional disengagement, F(1, 160) = 7.04, p = .009. Formally dressed students (M = 2.82, SD = 0.97) were seen as experiencing fewer negative emotions at school compared to informally dressed students (M = 3.06, SD = 0.70). The Pearson correlation analysis indicated that participants’ ratings of the models’ physical attractiveness were significantly associated with academic ability, behavior, and likeability scores, ranging from r(160) = .225, p = .004.

Conclusions: These results suggest that adults’ perceptions of children are influenced by gender and subtle cues like clothing and perceived attractiveness, whereby male students are rated more favorably. This could continue to perpetuate gender stereotypes in schools.