Parents' math-gender stereotypes, children's self-perception of ability, and children's appraisal of parents' evaluations in 6-year-olds

Abstract

This study investigated for the first time the relations between parents' math-gender stereotypes, parents' evaluations of children's math ability, children's math ability self-perception, and children's appraisal of parents' evaluations, addressing 253 Italian children as young as 6 years of age, their mothers, fathers, and teachers. Novel results revealed the specific role of mothers' math-gender stereotypes in relation to daughters, but not sons: Mothers' math-gender stereotypes predicted girls' math self-perception which, in turn, predicted girls' appraisal of both mothers' and fathers' evaluations of their ability. Importantly, children's appraisal of parents' evaluations was related more strongly with their own self-perception of ability than to parents' actual evaluations, thus supporting the projected appraisal versus the reflected appraisal model of the development of self-perception.