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Study: Tomboys Born, Not Made
Testosterone Level During Pregnancy Linked To Girls' Behavior
POSTED: 12:43 p.m. EST November 12, 2002
If your daughter prefers trucks to dolls, or climbing trees to tea parties, her preferences may date back to her time in the womb.
Levels of testosterone during pregnancy appear to influence the gender-role behavior of preschool girls, according to a new study.
Researchers measured pregnant women's levels of testosterone, then evaluated the behavior of their children at age 3 1/2. The greater the maternal testosterone level, the more likely girls were to engage in "masculine-typical" gender-role behavior, such as playing with toys typically preferred by boys. No such correlation was found for boys' behavior.
"Because hormones influence basic processes of brain development, they also exert permanent influences on behavior," said lead author Melissa Hines, of City University in London.
The study results appear in the November-December issue of Child Development.
Researchers studied nearly 14,000 pregnant women who lived in the Avon, England, area during an 18-month period in the early 1990s. For this particular study, data from 679 children born to the women was analzyed.
The researchers said that since differences in childhood gender-role behavior develop for multiple reasons, they also looked at other criteria, such as maternal education, the presence of older brothers or sisters in the home, the presence of a male adult living in the home, and parental adherence to traditional sex roles.
But the background criteria could not account for the observed link between testosterone and masculine-typical play in the girls, Hines said.
The authors suggested that the effects were not seen in boys because boys ordinarily are exposed to higher levels of prenatal testosterone.
"Compared to girls, boys are more strongly encouraged to behave in sex-typical ways and are more strongly discouraged from engaging in cross-gendered behavior," they wrote. Thus, girls may be more likely than boys to follow their hormone predispositions.
Levels of testosterone during pregnancy appear to influence the gender-role behavior of preschool girls, according to a new study.
Researchers measured pregnant women's levels of testosterone, then evaluated the behavior of their children at age 3 1/2. The greater the maternal testosterone level, the more likely girls were to engage in "masculine-typical" gender-role behavior, such as playing with toys typically preferred by boys. No such correlation was found for boys' behavior.
"Because hormones influence basic processes of brain development, they also exert permanent influences on behavior," said lead author Melissa Hines, of City University in London.
The study results appear in the November-December issue of Child Development.
Researchers studied nearly 14,000 pregnant women who lived in the Avon, England, area during an 18-month period in the early 1990s. For this particular study, data from 679 children born to the women was analzyed.
The researchers said that since differences in childhood gender-role behavior develop for multiple reasons, they also looked at other criteria, such as maternal education, the presence of older brothers or sisters in the home, the presence of a male adult living in the home, and parental adherence to traditional sex roles.
But the background criteria could not account for the observed link between testosterone and masculine-typical play in the girls, Hines said.
The authors suggested that the effects were not seen in boys because boys ordinarily are exposed to higher levels of prenatal testosterone.
"Compared to girls, boys are more strongly encouraged to behave in sex-typical ways and are more strongly discouraged from engaging in cross-gendered behavior," they wrote. Thus, girls may be more likely than boys to follow their hormone predispositions.
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