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. 2025 Jul 29:16:1601339.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1601339. eCollection 2025.

The Gendered Toy Choice (GTC): validating a behavioral measure of gendered parenting

Noya Kislev  1 , Tamar Saguy  1
Affiliations

The Gendered Toy Choice (GTC): validating a behavioral measure of gendered parenting

Noya Kislev et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Gendered parenting reflects parents' tendency to promote gender-typed behaviors of their children, shaping their everyday experiences and environments. Existing research primarily relies on self-report or observational methods, limiting behavioral insights. This study introduces the development and validation of the Gender Toy Choice (GTC) measure, an unobtrusive behavioral tool assessing parents' real-time product choices for their children. In three studies conducted among Israeli and U.S. parents to preschool children, the GTC measure demonstrated face, construct, concurrent, convergent, and discriminant validity, supporting its theoretical relevance. Findings highlight how parental choices reinforce gender norms in children's daily lives and provide a standardized behavioral measure for future research. By offering a novel, easy-to-implement tool, this work contributes to the study of factors underlying parents' gendered decision-making and the mechanisms shaping gendered parenting practices.

Keywords: Gendered Toy Choice measure; gendered behavior; gendered parenting; measurement; validity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Various boxed toys are displayed in a grid, each with numbers and gender-typicality scores obtained in pretest on black tags. Toys include a toy car set, an Avengers figure, Play-Doh, a doll, a Mr. Potato Head, and a child's kitchen playset. The toys are colorful and diverse, appealing to children of different ages.
Figure 1
Final set of toys presented to Israeli parents, with gender-typicality scores obtained in the pretest. Scores were used for coding and constructing the indices of the GTC measure but were not presented to parents.
Bar chart showing gender typicality of gifts for boys and girls, divided into wanted and unwanted categories. The y-axis indicates gender typicality from 1 to 9. Boys' wanted gifts average around 7, girls' around 6.5. Unwanted gifts show lower typicality, with boys' averaging about 4 and girls' around 5. The chart highlights a gender-neutral gift line at 5 and marks a significant difference with an asterisk for unwanted gifts between boys and girls. Error bars indicate variability.
Figure 2
Mean and standard error of the wanted and unwanted gift indices in mothers choosing gifts for sons and daughters (Pilot Study). Higher wanted gift scores indicate more gendered parenting. Lower unwanted gift scores indicate more gendered parenting, as they reflect avoidance of gifts with low gender typicality (i.e., typical of the other gender). *p < 0.01.
Bar chart showing gender typicality of gifts for boys and girls. Wanted gifts by fathers and mothers show higher typicality around 6-7 for boys and girls. Unwanted gifts show lower typicality, with boys scoring around 4 and girls slightly higher. A line marks the gender-neutral gift level at 5.
Figure 3
Mean and standard error of the wanted and unwanted gift indices in mothers and fathers choosing gifts for sons and daughters (Study 1). Higher wanted gift scores indicate more gendered parenting. Lower unwanted gift scores indicate more gendered parenting, as they reflect avoidance of gifts with low gender typicality.
A grid displays various toys with their product numbers and gender-typicality scores obtained in pretest. Items include a toy airplane (6.71), a cooking play set (2.76), Avengers figurine (8.18), stacking game (5.13), makeup kit (1.24), pink toy kitchen (2.79), Play-Doh set (5.09), basketball game (6.47), headband kit (1.23), police toy vehicle (7.75), Mr. Potato Head (5.41), toy drill set (7.94), toy oven (3.41), Cars sticker book (6.39), Barbie doll (1.40), building straws (4.95), robotic toy (6.63), toy shopping cart (3.94), truck playset (7.89), and a baby doll (1.29).
Figure 4
Final set of toys presented to American parents in Study 2, with gender-typicality scores obtained in the pretest. Scores were used for coding and constructing the indices of the GTC measure (English version) but were not presented to parents.
Bar chart showing gender typicality of wanted and unwanted gifts from fathers and mothers for boys and girls. Wanted gifts have higher typicality scores, mostly above the gender-neutral line, while unwanted gifts have lower scores, especially those for boys.
Figure 5
Mean and standard error of the wanted and unwanted gift indices in mothers and fathers choosing gifts for sons and daughters (Study 2).
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