Publication Date

Summer 2021

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Gregory J. Feist

Keywords

Gender attitudes, Gender bias, Gender prejudice, Intervention, Meta-analysis, Sexism

Subject Areas

Psychology; Social psychology; Developmental psychology

Abstract

This meta-analysis of youth gender prejudice interventions provides an estimate of the overall effectiveness of empirical efforts to reduce expressions of gender prejudice or promote gender egalitarian attitudes among child and adolescent samples. Studies eligible for inclusion were quasi- or fully-experimental designs with child and adolescent participants ranging from 5-17 years of age that quantitatively measured gender prejudice reduction or increases in an egalitarian view of gender. The final sample of 31 studies were located via database searches using both general and specific keywords and Boolean operators. Effect sizes for measures of gender prejudice were calculated using Cohen’s d as the estimate of effect. A total of 88 effect sizes were retained for analysis. Overall, the interventions had mean and median d-values of 0.16 and 0.21, indicating a small positive effect, whereby gender prejudice was reduced. Tests of heterogeneity revealed significant variation among the observed effect sizes, which necessitated the use of random-effects models to potentially identify moderator variables. Publication status and participant age group were identified as significant moderator variables. An analysis of covariance revealed a significant difference in intervention effectiveness between the youngest and oldest participant age groups when the effect of publication status was removed. The results of this meta-analysis will aid researchers in identifying effective and ineffective intervention methods for children and adolescents and may encourage implementation of improved gender prejudice interventions.

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