Wearing costumes is a common experience during early childhood and is often important to sociodramatic play. Costumes tend to be highly gendered for both girls and boys (such as princess and superhero costumes). However, there is very little research on the impact that wearing costumes has on gender-differentiated behavior, such as toy preference, prosocial behavior, or perseverance during early childhood. The current study included 223 U.S. children, aged between 3 and 5 years-old. Children were assigned to wear either a gendered, counter-gendered, or gender-neutral costume, and they then took part in three gender-related tasks. There was no impact of wearing costumes on any task for girls. However, boys preferred feminine toys significantly more when wearing a neutral costume when compared to a masculine-typed one. Additionally, boys were significantly less likely to help when wearing a masculine-typed costume compared to a feminine-typed costume. There are several implications of these findings that are discussed in the paper. Parents may wish to purchase a wide range of costumes for their child for sociodramatic play, particularly for boys. Therapists could also potentially use costumes during play therapy to discuss gender issues. Additionally, costume producers could consider marketing a wide range of costumes for children as opposed to largely focusing on gendered ones.

穿着戏服是幼儿时期的一种常见体验，对于社会戏剧表演来说通常很重要。女孩和男孩的服装往往是高度性别化的（例如公主和超级英雄服装）。然而，关于穿着服装对性别差异行为的影响的研究很少，例如玩具偏好、亲社会行为或幼儿时期的毅力。目前的研究包括 223 名年龄在 3 至 5 岁之间的美国儿童。孩子们被分配穿着性别、反性别或性别中性的服装，然后他们参加了三项与性别相关的任务。穿着服装对女孩的任何任务都没有影响。然而，与男性化服装相比，男孩更喜欢穿着中性服装的女性玩具。此外，与女性风格的服装相比，男孩们在穿着男性风格的服装时不太可能提供帮助。本文讨论了这些发现的几个含义。父母可能希望为他们的孩子购买各种各样的服装，用于社会戏剧游戏，尤其是男孩。治疗师也可能在游戏治疗期间使用服装来讨论性别问题。此外，服装生产商可以考虑为儿童销售范围广泛的服装，而不是主要关注有性别的服装。治疗师也可能在游戏治疗期间使用服装来讨论性别问题。此外，服装生产商可以考虑为儿童销售范围广泛的服装，而不是主要关注有性别的服装。治疗师也可能在游戏治疗期间使用服装来讨论性别问题。此外，服装生产商可以考虑为儿童销售范围广泛的服装，而不是主要关注有性别的服装。