Gender stereotypes, patriarchal beliefs, and normative generics: A survey-based measure of what Polish parents communicate in norm-breaching scenarios involving children

Abstract

Normative generics, which are statements that can be seen as reflecting the social world, can be powerful tools by which parents convey norms to children. In this article, we explored how two interrelated issues, the perceived salience of gender stereotypes and the socially constructed system of patriarchy, could affect what parents communicate in the context of parent–child interactions that concern the breaching of a salient gender norm. By analyzing data from two perception studies, we found that some norms pertaining to hair length or table manners triggered a more frequent use of normative generics than other norms and that the individuals who espoused traditional gender values tended to prefer one mode of norm responsiveness (i.e., norm-following) and used more normative generics than those espousing nontraditional gender norms. In this way, the study contributed to our understanding of how rules of behavior shared by members of a given group, as well as beliefs in a system of hierarchical power, might favor the use of normative generics.