This research investigated 312 children, grades five and six, in three elementary schools located in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province in order to study children's gender role identity as seen through their self-esteem and their parents’ childrearing beha...
This research investigated 312 children, grades five and six, in three elementary schools located in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province in order to study children's gender role identity as seen through their self-esteem and their parents’ childrearing behavior.The measurement for the children's gender role identity was used the scale developed by Kim Hye Rae (2003) and revised by Ahn Soon(2004) to fit the cognition level of elementary students. In order to measure parental childrearing behavior as perceived by children, the scale developed by Park Yeong Ae(1995) was used, which Kim Mun Jeong(2003) revised. The self-esteem questionnaire was used the measurement created by Rosenberg(1965) and adapted by Eo Ju Gyeong(1998).For data analysis, a chi-square test was carried out in order to determine the difference between children’s gender role identity as seen through their self-esteem and what they perceive as parental rejection-restriction behavior.The results of the study can be summarized as follows.First, girls tended to perceive their parents' warm-acceptance behavior and father's permissiveness-nonintervention behavior more than boys, whereas boys tended to perceive their parents’ rejection-restriction behavior and mother's permissiveness-nonintervention behavior more than girls. Girl's self-esteem levels were a little higher than boys. As for gender role identity, the percentage for androgynous identity was the highest both for boys and girls, followed by undifferentiated identity.Second, androgynous identity was found to be the highest among boys that clearly perceived their parents' childrearing behavior as warm-acceptance and that did not clearly perceive their mother’s childrearing behavior as rejection-restriction. With girls, androgynous identity was found to be high that clearly perceived their mother’s childrearing behavior as warm-acceptance, while undifferentiated identity was found to be high that did not clearly perceive the same childrearing behavior. In other words, regardless of gender, when children perceive that their parents display a lot of warm-acceptance parental childrearing behavior, they acquire androgynous identity.Third, for boys and girls with high self-esteem, androgynous identity was found to occur most frequently, followed by masculine identity. In contrast, in the group with low self-esteem, undifferentiated identity occurred most frequently. In other words, regardless of gender, children with high self-esteem acquire androgynous identity, while children with low esteem acquire undifferentiated identity.In conclusion, androgynous identity for children require to perceive parental childrearing behavior as warm-acceptance. Also it accompany with high self-esteem of children.