Facing the beast apart together: fear in boys and girls after processing information about novel animals individually or in a duo

P. Muris; S. Rijkee

doi:10.1007/s10826-010-9427-y

Facing the beast apart together: fear in boys and girls after processing information about novel animals individually or in a duo

P. Muris^*, S. Rijkee

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

In this experimental study, we made an attempt to examine gender-related peer influences on childhood fear. Nine- to 12-year-old boys and girls were provided with ambiguous and positive information about novel animals and then asked to provide a subjective fear rating of the animals under two conditions: fear of one animal was assessed individually by the child on its own, whereas fear of the other animal was measured after a brief discussion on fear-related issues with a same-gender peer. Results indicated that children who completed the FBQ after a discussion with a same-gender peer displayed lower fear beliefs scores than children who completed the questionnaire fully on their own. This fear-suppression effect was mainly evident in boys after hearing ambiguous information about the novel animals. The implications of these findings are briefly discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	554-559
Number of pages	6
Journal	Journal of Child and Family Studies
Volume	20
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-010-9427-y
Publication status	Published - Oct 2011
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

ADOLESCENTS
BELIEFS
CHILD ANXIETY
Children
Fear
GENDER-ROLE ORIENTATION
Gender role
Information transmission
PROSPECTIVE PARADIGM
Peer influences
RACHMANS INDIRECT PATHWAYS
RELIABILITY
SURVEY SCHEDULE
VALIDITY
VERBAL INFORMATION

Access to Document

10.1007/s10826-010-9427-yLicence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

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title = "Facing the beast apart together: fear in boys and girls after processing information about novel animals individually or in a duo",

abstract = "In this experimental study, we made an attempt to examine gender-related peer influences on childhood fear. Nine- to 12-year-old boys and girls were provided with ambiguous and positive information about novel animals and then asked to provide a subjective fear rating of the animals under two conditions: fear of one animal was assessed individually by the child on its own, whereas fear of the other animal was measured after a brief discussion on fear-related issues with a same-gender peer. Results indicated that children who completed the FBQ after a discussion with a same-gender peer displayed lower fear beliefs scores than children who completed the questionnaire fully on their own. This fear-suppression effect was mainly evident in boys after hearing ambiguous information about the novel animals. The implications of these findings are briefly discussed.",

keywords = "ADOLESCENTS, BELIEFS, CHILD ANXIETY, Children, Fear, GENDER-ROLE ORIENTATION, Gender role, Information transmission, PROSPECTIVE PARADIGM, Peer influences, RACHMANS INDIRECT PATHWAYS, RELIABILITY, SURVEY SCHEDULE, VALIDITY, VERBAL INFORMATION",

author = "P. Muris and S. Rijkee",

year = "2011",

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doi = "10.1007/s10826-010-9427-y",

language = "English",

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journal = "Journal of Child and Family Studies",

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T1 - Facing the beast apart together: fear in boys and girls after processing information about novel animals individually or in a duo

AU - Muris, P.

AU - Rijkee, S.

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N2 - In this experimental study, we made an attempt to examine gender-related peer influences on childhood fear. Nine- to 12-year-old boys and girls were provided with ambiguous and positive information about novel animals and then asked to provide a subjective fear rating of the animals under two conditions: fear of one animal was assessed individually by the child on its own, whereas fear of the other animal was measured after a brief discussion on fear-related issues with a same-gender peer. Results indicated that children who completed the FBQ after a discussion with a same-gender peer displayed lower fear beliefs scores than children who completed the questionnaire fully on their own. This fear-suppression effect was mainly evident in boys after hearing ambiguous information about the novel animals. The implications of these findings are briefly discussed.

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KW - BELIEFS

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KW - Fear

KW - GENDER-ROLE ORIENTATION

KW - Gender role

KW - Information transmission

KW - PROSPECTIVE PARADIGM

KW - Peer influences

KW - RACHMANS INDIRECT PATHWAYS

KW - RELIABILITY

KW - SURVEY SCHEDULE

KW - VALIDITY

KW - VERBAL INFORMATION

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