Anticipation of the sexual and gender development of children adopted by same-sex couples.

The present study aimed to characterize beliefs surrounding the sexual and gender development of children adopted by lesbian and gay couples. Participants were 768 Portuguese university students. Using a quasiexperimental design, participants were presented with identical descriptions of a couple interested in adopting a child, manipulating couple sexual orientation and child gender. Participants were then asked to anticipate three aspects of the sexual and gender development of the adopted child: sexual orientation, gender role behavior, and gender identity. MANOVAs and follow-up ANOVAs were conducted in order to analyze the data. Results indicated that participants, particularly males, considered children adopted by either lesbian or gay couples to have a lower probability of developing a normative sexual and gender identity than children adopted by heterosexual couples. Both men and women considered that children would emulate the sexual orientation of their same-sex parents, and that a boy's gender role behavior was more at risk if he was adopted by a lesbian couple. Moreover, men were apprehensive about the gender role behavior of a boy adopted by a gay male couple. Overall, these results indicate persistence of biased evaluations of the sexual and gender development of children adopted by lesbian and gay parents. Furthermore, both gender of the participant and gender of the child play an important role in these evaluations. Results are discussed and interpreted as a way of "doing gender" in the context of hegemonic masculinity.

[1]  T. Eckes,et al.  Social Role Theory of Sex Differences and Similarities : A Current Appraisal , 2012 .

[2]  J. Stacey,et al.  How Does the Gender of Parents Matter , 2010 .

[3]  A. Santos,et al.  Homoparentalidade e desafios ao direito: O caso Silva Mouta na justiça portuguesa e no Tribunal Europeu de Direitos Humanos , 2009 .

[4]  C. Kitzinger,et al.  Doing Gender , 2009 .

[5]  M. Ryan,et al.  Social Work Students' Attitudes toward Homosexuality and Their Knowledge and Attitudes toward Homosexual Parenting as an Alternative Family Unit: An Australian Study , 2006 .

[6]  E. Kane.  “No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That!” , 2006 .

[7]  R. Collier.  Masculinities , 2002 .

[8]  Amy J. C. Cuddy,et al.  A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[9]  Jeanne S. Zechmeister,et al.  Heterosexual Undergraduates' Attitudes Toward Gay Fathers and Their Children , 1999 .

[10]  K. Black,et al.  College students' perceptual stigmatization of the children of lesbian mothers. , 1999, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[11]  N. K. Sandnabba,et al.  Parents' Attitudes and Expectations About Children's Cross-Gender Behavior , 1999 .

[12]  J. Etemad.  Growing Up in a Lesbian Family: Effects on Child Development , 1997 .

[13]  S. Golombok,et al.  Donor insemination: child development and family functioning in lesbian mother families. , 1997, Human reproduction.

[14]  B. Whitley,et al.  Sex Differences in Attitudes Toward Homosexual Persons, Behaviors, and Civil Rights A Meta-Analysis , 1996 .

[15]  Donna Fisher-Thompson,et al.  Toy selection for children: Personality and toy request influences , 1995 .

[16]  C. Patterson,et al.  Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents , 1992, Child development.

[17]  Hugh Lytton,et al.  Parents' differential socialization of boys and girls: A meta-analysis. , 1991 .

[18]  C. Martin,et al.  The development of gender stereotype components. , 1990, Child development.

[19]  M. Siegal.  Are sons and daughters treated more differently by fathers than by mothers , 1987 .

[20]  Mary E. Kite,et al.  Gender Belief Systems: Homosexuality and the Implicit Inversion Theory , 1987 .

[21]  G. Herek.  On Heterosexual Masculinity , 1986 .

[22]  J. DiPietro,et al.  Sex-typing behavior and sex-typing pressure in child/parent interaction , 1984, Archives of sexual behavior.

[23]  Aletha C. Huston,et al.  Sex Typing and Socialization. , 1982 .

[24]  P. Mussen,et al.  Carmichael's Manual of Child Psychology , 1972 .

[25]  C. Ridgeway,et al.  FRAMED BEFORE WE KNOW IT How Gender Shapes Social Relations , 2009 .

[26]  F. Pratto,et al.  The Bases of Gendered Power. , 2004 .

[27]  Robert J. Sternberg,et al.  The psychology of gender, 2nd ed. , 2004 .

[28]  S. Golombok,et al.  Children with lesbian parents: a community study. , 2003, Developmental psychology.

[29]  C. West,et al.  Doing gender, doing difference : inequality, power, and institutional change , 2002 .

[30]  E. Schellenberg,et al.  Attitudes Toward Homosexuals Among Students at a Canadian University , 1999 .

[31]  Brian D. Zamboni,et al.  PSYCHOLOGISTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD GAY AND LESBIAN PARENTING , 1999 .

[32]  M. Kimmel,et al.  Masculinity as homophobia: Fear, shame and silence in the construction of gender identity. , 1997 .

[33]  I. Crawford,et al.  The attitudes of undergraduate college students toward gay parenting. , 1996, Journal of homosexuality.

[34]  T. M. Mackenzie,et al.  Reactions to child custody decisions involving homosexual and heterosexual parents. , 1995 .

[35]  Linda D. Garnets,et al.  Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Male Experiences , 1993 .

[36]  Raewyn Connell,et al.  Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics. , 1991 .