Adults' perceptions of children's negotiation: Effects of target and perceiver gender

Although there is extensive research on gender and negotiation in adults, research on how gender impacts adults' perceptions of negotiation in children is lacking. The current study used videos of child actors playing an “art dealer” game to examine whether adults perceived the children differently based on their gender and negotiation behaviors, with comparisons of four targets (i.e., boy who negotiated, boy who did not negotiate, girl who negotiated, and girl who did not negotiate) on perceived competence, agentic characteristics (e.g., assertive, confident), and communal characteristics (e.g., caring, kind). Results indicated that, compared to other targets, the girl who negotiated was viewed as high in competence and in both positive and negative agentic characteristics, but relatively low in communal characteristics. In contrast, the boy who did not negotiate was viewed as relatively low in competence and positive and negative agentic characteristics, but relatively high in both positive and negative communal characteristics. These results suggest that children's negotiation behaviors are evaluated relative to gendered expectations and that children's negotiation behaviors may impact adults' perceptions of other gender-typed characteristics in children, consistent with social role theory and the shifting standards model. • Negotiation behaviors are perceived differently when performed by men versus women. • Research on how gender impacts perceptions of negotiation in children is lacking. • Girls who negotiated were viewed as competent and agentic, but less communal. • Boys who did not negotiate were viewed as more communal, but less competent and agentic.