Gender Development Issues in South African Preschool Children.

The main purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of intellectual maturity and age on gender identification and gender definition in South African preschool children (N = 70). Furthermore, we investigated whether children in this population preferred same-sex playmates (i.e, gender segregation), and whether they were in the stage of gender identification (Kohlberg) in which they should belong according to their age. Intellectual Maturity was measured by the Goodenough-Harris Drawing test, by evaluating the details of drawings of a Man and a Woman. Gender identification and gender segregation were measured during an interview. Intellectual maturity and age had significant effects on gender identification and gender definition. Consistent with previous research, children appeared to prefer same-sex friends. Furthermore, our results corroborated the developmental theory of Kohlberg: the majority of the children were in the stage of gender constancy (69.2%).