Kindergarten children’s attitudes towards homosexuality: The influence of puppet theatre on the topic of diversity in a group of kindergarten children

Maus, Johanna; Aleksic, Gabrijela

doi:10.1007/s42087-022-00320-8

Article (Scientific journals)

Kindergarten children’s attitudes towards homosexuality: The influence of puppet theatre on the topic of diversity in a group of kindergarten children

Maus, Johanna; Aleksic, Gabrijela

2023 • In Human Arenas

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10993/53994

DOI
10.1007/s42087-022-00320-8

Files (1)Send to Details Statistics Bibliography Similar publications

Files

Full Text

Maus_Aleksic_Kindergarten.pdf

Publisher postprint (939.33 kB)

Download

All documents in ORBilu are protected by a user license.

Send to

RIS BibTex APA Chicago Permalink X Linkedin

Details

Keywords :

puppet theatre; homophobic stigma; kindergarten

Abstract :

[en] Homophobic stigmas and the discrimination of homosexual people are still worrying in today’s society. The current study seeks to investigate kindergarten children’s attitudes towards homosexuality and how they are influenced by their peer-groups and authorities. It does so by means of a puppet theatre presentation including ‘Kasperl’ and ‘Seppel’ puppets as the main protagonists in a German puppet theatre. The audience consisted of six German kindergarten children aged 4–6 years, randomly selected by the kindergarten director. A participant observation has been conducted with the first researcher as the presenter of the puppet show. The results of the recorded puppet theatre showed that several intragroup processes including the social identity theory with regard to group membership could be observed within the puppet theatre. Groups have been formed and children of the same ingroup showed equal attitudes towards homosexuality. However, the researcher’s influence as an authority figure could have as well impacted their attitudes through positive reinforcement. The present study contributed to the gap in research regarding kindergarten children’s attitudes towards homosexuality. To have a better overview of the results, future studies should include additional variables like kindergarten’s cultural and geographical differences.

Disciplines :

Education & instruction

Author, co-author :

Maus, Johanna

Aleksic, Gabrijela ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE) > Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences (DBCS)

External co-authors :

yes

Language :

English

Title :

Kindergarten children’s attitudes towards homosexuality: The influence of puppet theatre on the topic of diversity in a group of kindergarten children

Publication date :

2023

Journal title :

Human Arenas

ISSN :

2522-5804

Publisher :

Springer, Cham, Switzerland

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Focus Area :

Educational Sciences

Available on ORBilu :

since 21 January 2023

Statistics

Number of views

59 (0 by Unilu)

Number of downloads

124 (0 by Unilu)

More statistics

Scopus citations^®

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

WoS citations^™

Bibliography

Aboud, F. E. (2003). The formation of in-group favoritism and out-group prejudice in young children: Are they distinct attitudes? Developmental Psychology, 39(1), 48. DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.39.1.48
Aguirre, A., Moliner, L., & Francisco, A. (2020). Can anybody help me? High school teachers’ experiences on LGBTphobia perception, teaching intervention and training on affective and sexual diversity. Journal of Homosexuality, 2431–2450. 10.1080/00918369.2020.1804265 DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2020.1804265
Altman, D. (2013). The End of the Homosexual? University of Queensland Press.
Amiot, C. E., de la Sablonniere, R., Smith, L. G. E., & Smith, J. R. (2015). Capturing changes in social identities over time and how they become part of the self-concept. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 9(4), 171–187. 10.1111/spc3.12169 DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12169
Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1963). Vicarious reinforcement and imitative learning. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(6), 601. DOI: 10.1037/h0045550
Baron, A. S., & Banaji, M. R. (2006). The development of implicit attitudes: Evidence of race evaluations from ages 6 and 10 and adulthood. Psychological Science, 17(1), 53–58. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01664.x
Bergen, T. J., Jr. (2001). The development of prejudice in children Education 122: 154–163, 2001. Education, 122, 154–163.
Binder, J., Zagefka, H., Brown, R., Funke, F., Kessler, T., Mummendey, A., Maquil, A., Demoulin, S., & Leyens, J. P. (2009). Does contact reduce prejudice or does prejudice reduce contact? A longitudinal test of the contact hypothesis among majority and minority groups in three european countries. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(4), 843–856. 10.1037/a0013470 DOI: 10.1037/a0013470
Boehnke, K. (2001). Parent-offspring value transmissions in a societal context: Suggestions for a Utopian research design with empirical underpinnings. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32, 241–255. DOI: 10.1177/0022022101032002010
Borrillo, D. (2001). Homofobia. Bellaterra.
Bussey, K., & Bandura, A. (1984). Influence of gender constancy and social power on sex-linked modeling. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47(6), 1292–1302. 10.1037/0022-3514.47.6.1292 DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.47.6.1292
Bussey, K., & Perry, D. (1982). Same-sex imitation: The avoidance of cross-sex models or the acceptance of same-sex models? Sex Roles, 8(7). https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00287572
Cialdini, R. B. (2009). Influence: Science and practice (5th ed.). Pearson Education.
Collier, K. L., Bos, H. M., & Sandfort, T. G. (2012). Intergroup contact, attitudes toward homosexuality, and the role of acceptance of gender non-conformity in young adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 35(4), 899–907. 10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.12.010 DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.12.010
Cooper, J., Blackman, S. F., & Keller, K. (2016). The Science of Attitudes. Routledge.
Coşkun, K. (2019, 16. Oktober). Conditioning tendency among preschool and primary school children: Cross-sectional research. Interchange, 50(4), 517–536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-019-09373-1
Diamond, L. M., & Butterworth, M. (2008, 29. März). Questioning gender and sexual identity: Dynamic links over time. Sex Roles, 59(5–6), 365–376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9425-3
Duller, A. (2015). How Kasperl became Mr Punch. (2021, April 8). The Magic Lantern. http://www.magiclantern.org.uk/the-magic-lantern/issue.php?id=4009712
Dunst, C. J. (2012). Effects of puppetry on elementary student's knowledge of and attitudes toward individuals with disabilities. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 4(3), 51–457.
Farr, R. H., Salomon, I., Brown-Iannuzzi, J. L., & Brown, C. S. (2019). Elementary school-age children’s attitudes toward children in same-sex parent families. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 15(2), 127–150. 10.1080/1550428x.2018.1452659 DOI: 10.1080/1550428x.2018.1452659
Grace, D. M., David, B. J., & Ryan, M. K. (2008). Investigating preschoolers’ categorical thinking about gender through imitation, attention, and the use of self-categories. Child Development, 79(6), 1928–1941. 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01234.x DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01234.x
Guadagnino, L. (Director). (2017). Call me by your name [Chiamami col tuo nome] [Film]. Frenesy film company; La Cinéfacture; RT Features; M.Y.R.A. Entertainment; Water's End Productions.
Gollwitzer, M., Schmitt, M. (2009). Sozialpsychologie kompakt. Beltz.
Heinzel, F. (2012). Methoden der Kindheitsforschung: Ein Überblick über Forschungszugänge zur kindlichen Perspektive (Kindheiten) (2nd ed.). Beltz Juventa.
Hillier, L., Jones, T., Monagle, M., Overton, N., Gahan, L., Blackman, J., Mitchell, A. (2005). Writing themselves in 3: The third national study on the sexual health and wellbeing of same sex attracted and gender questioning young people.
Hong, S. M. (1984). Australian attitudes towards homosexuality: A comparison with college students. The Journal of Psychology, 117(1), 89–95. 10.1080/00223980.1984.9923663 DOI: 10.1080/00223980.1984.9923663
Igartua, K. J., Gill, K., & Montoro, R. (2009). Internalized homophobia: A factor in depression, anxiety, and suicide in the gay and lesbian population. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 22(2), 15–30. DOI: 10.7870/cjcmh-2003-0011
Insko, C. A. (1965). Verbal reinforcement of attitude. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2(4), 621–623. DOI: 10.1037/h0022485
Jones, O., Moskito, J. (2015). Keine Angst in ANDERSRUM. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf.
Kantor, M. (2009). Homophobia: The state of sexual bigotry today. Greenwood Publishing Group.
Klotz, M. B. (2017). June is LGBT pride month. Communiqué (national Association of School Psychologists), 45(8), 7.
Kohlberg, L. (1969). Stage and sequence: The cognitive development approach to socialization. In D. A. Goslin (Ed.), Handbook of socialization theory (pp. 347–480). Rand McNally.
Kornienko, O., Santos, C. E., Martin, C. L., & Granger, K. L. (2016). Peer influence on gender identity development in adolescence. Developmental Psychology. 52(10), 1578–1592.
Korošec, H. (2012). Playing with puppets in class—teaching and learning with pleasure. In L. Kroflin (Ed.), The Power of the Puppet (pp. 29–45). Union Internationale de la Marionette.
Korošec, H. (2013). Evaluating study of using puppets as a teaching medium in slovenian schools. Šk. Vjesn, 62(4), 495–520.
Kurdek, L. A. (1988). Correlates of negative attitudes toward homosexuals in heterosexual college students. Sex Roles, 18, 727–738. 10.1007/BF00288057 DOI: 10.1007/BF00288057
Kröger, T., & Nupponen, A. M. (2019). Puppet as a pedagogical tool: A literature review. lnternational Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 11(4), 393–401. 10.26822/iejee.2019450797 DOI: 10.26822/iejee.2019450797
Liben, L. S., Bigler, R. S., & Krogh, H. R. (2001). Pink and blue collar jobs: Children’s judgments of job status and job aspirations in relation to sex of worker. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 79(4), 346–363. 10.1006/jecp.2000.2611 DOI: 10.1006/jecp.2000.2611
Lin, K., Button, D. M., Su, M., & Chen, S. (2016). Chinese college students’ attitudes toward homosexuality: Exploring the effects of traditional culture and modernizing factors. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 13(2), 158–172. 10.1007/s13178-016-0223-3 DOI: 10.1007/s13178-016-0223-3
Magić, J., & Maljevac, S. (2016). Research for action: Challenging homophobia in Slovene secondary education. Journal of LGBT Youth, 13(1–2), 28–45. 10.1080/19361653.2015.1087931 DOI: 10.1080/19361653.2015.1087931
Majaron, E. (2012). Art as a pathway to the child. In L. Kroflin (Ed.), The Power of the Puppet (pp. 11–17). Unima.
Margalit, A. (2017). On Betrayal. Harvard University Press. DOI: 10.4159/9780674973930
Martin, C. L., & Fabes, R. A. (2001). The stability and consequences of young children’s same-sex peer interactions. Developmental Psychology, 37(3), 431–446. 10.1037/0012-1649.37.3.431 DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.37.3.431
Nasie, M., Ziv, M., & Diesendruck, G. (2021). Promoting positive intergroup attitudes using persona dolls: A vicarious contact intervention program in Israeli kindergartens. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 25(5), 1269–1294. 10.1177/13684302211005837 DOI: 10.1177/13684302211005837
Nelson, E. S., & Krieger, S. L. (1997). Changes in attitudes toward homosexuality in college students. Journal of Homosexuality, 33(2), 63–81. 10.1300/j082v33n02_04 DOI: 10.1300/j082v33n02_04
Olson, K. R., & Enright, E. A. (2017). Do transgender children (gender) stereotype less than their peers and siblings? Developmental Science, 21(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12606
Perry, D. G., Pauletti, R. E., & Cooper, P. J. (2019). Gender identity in childhood: A review of the literature. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 43(4), 289–304. 10.1177/0165025418811129 DOI: 10.1177/0165025418811129
Pickett, B. (2009). Historical Dictionary of Homosexuality. Amsterdam University Press.
Plöderl, M., Faistauer, G., & Fartacek, R. (2010). The contribution of school to the feeling of acceptance and the risk of suicide attempts among Austrian gay and bisexual males. Journal of Homosexuality, 57(7), 819–841. DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2010.493401
Raabe, T., & Beelmann, A. (2011). Development of ethnic, racial, and national prejudice in childhood and adolescence: A multinational meta-analysis of age differences. Child Development, 82(6), 1715–1737. 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01668.x DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01668.x
Renold, E. (2006). ‘They won’t let us play … unless you’re going out with one of them’: Girls, boys and Butler’s ‘heterosexual matrix’ in the primary years. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 27(4), 489–509. 10.1080/01425690600803111 DOI: 10.1080/01425690600803111
Rogers, L. O., Scott, M. A., & Way, N. (2014). Racial and gender identity among black adolescent males: An intersectionality perspective. Child Development, 86(2), 407–424. 10.1111/cdev.12303
Roggemans, L., Spruyt, B., Droogenbroeck, F. V., & Keppens, G. (2015). Religion and negative attitudes towards homosexuals. Young, 23(3), 254–276. 10.1177/1103308815586903 DOI: 10.1177/1103308815586903
Ruble, D. N., Martin, C. L., & Berenbaum, S. A. (2006). Gender Development. In N. Eisenberg, W. Damon, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development (pp. 858–932). John Wiley & Sons.
Sahlins, M. (2017). Stone Age Economics (1st Ed.). Routledge.
Savin-Williams, R. C. (2008). Then and now: Recruitment, definition, diversity, and positive attributes of same-sex populations. Developmental Psychology, 44(1), 135–138. 10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.135 DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.135
Schenk, J., Naber, F., Nederhand, M., Gawke, R., & Prinzie, P. (2019). Fostering preschoolers positive behaviour and attitude towards Down syndrome by Down syndrome doll play. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 35(1), 128–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2019.1615803
Serbin, L. A., Poulin-Dubois, D., Colburne, K. A., Sen, M. G., & Eichstedt, J. A. (2001). Gender stereotyping in infancy: Visual preferences for and knowledge of gender-stereotyped toys in the second year. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25(1), 7–15. 10.1080/01650250042000078 DOI: 10.1080/01650250042000078
Shutts, K., Roben, C. K. P., & Spelke, E. S. (2013b, Januar). Children’s use of social categories in thinking about people and social relationships. Journal of Cognition and Development, 14(1), 35–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2011.638686
Singer, B. (Director). (2018). Bohemian Rhapsody. [Film]. Regency Enterprises; GK Films, Queen Films.
Sumiati, T., Septiani, N., Widodo, S., & Caturiasari, J. (2019). Building children’s learning motivation through positive reinforcement in science and math classroom. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1318(1), 012023. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1318/1/012023
Tajfel, H., Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel & W. G. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (2nd ed. 7–24). Nelson-Hall.
Teig, S., Susskind, J. E. (2008, 9. März). Truck driver or nurse? The impact of gender roles and occupational status on children’s occupational preferences. Sex Roles, 58(11–12), 848–863. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9410-x
Terry, D. J., Hogg, M. A., & White, K. M. (1999). The theory of planned behaviour: Self-identity, social identity and group norms. British Journal of Social Psychology, 38(3), 225–244. 10.1348/014466699164149 DOI: 10.1348/014466699164149
Thomas, A. J., Woo, B., Nettle, D., Spelke, E., Saxe, R. (2022, 21). Early concepts of intimacy: Young humans use saliva sharing to infer close relationships. Science, 375(6578), 311–315. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abh1054
Tomicic, A., Martínez, C., Rosenbaum, C., Aguayo, F., Leyton, F., Rodríguez, J., Galvez, C., & Lagazzi, I. (2021). Adolescence and suicide: Subjective construction of the suicidal process in young gay and lesbian chileans. Journal of Homosexuality, 68(13), 2122–2143. DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2020.1804253
Ullman, J., & Ferfolja, T. (2014). Bureaucratic constructions of sexual diversity: ‘sensitive’, ‘controversial’ and silencing. Teaching Education, 26(2), 145–159. 10.1080/10476210.2014.959487 DOI: 10.1080/10476210.2014.959487
van Anders, S. M. (2015). Beyond sexual orientation: Integrating gender/sex and diverse sexualities via sexual configurations theory. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(5), 1177–1213. 10.1007/s10508-015-0490-8 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-015-0490-8
Vogel, T., & Wänke, M. (2016). Attitudes and attitude change (2nd ed.). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315754185
Wei, Li. (2011). Moment Analysis and translanguaging space: Discursive construction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(5), 1222–1235. DOI: 10.1016/j.pragma.2010.07.035
Whiteland, S. R. (2016). Exploring aging attitudes through a puppet making research study. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 17(3).
Williams, C. D., Lozada, F. T., Hood, K. B., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Jahromi, L. B., & Updegraff, K. A. (2022). Mexican-origin 5-year-old children’s ethnic-racial identity centrality and attitudes predicting social functioning. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 28(2), 158–170. 10.1037/cdp0000511 DOI: 10.1037/cdp0000511
Wurm, S. (2017). Du bist die Welt:.. und so bist du entstanden. Epubli.
Xiao, Y. (2022). Children’s Attitudes Towards Homosexuality in China. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research. 10.2991/assehr.k.220401.219 DOI: 10.2991/assehr.k.220401.219
Zosuls, K. M., Ruble, D. N., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Shrout, P. E., Bornstein, M. H., & Greulich, F. K. (2009). The acquisition of gender labels in infancy: Implications for gender-typed play. Developmental Psychology, 45(3), 688–701. 10.1037/a0014053 DOI: 10.1037/a0014053