Citation

Dawson B, Vaughan AR, Wagner WG. J. Fam. Violence 1992; 7(2): 135-152.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Southern Mississippi, Southern Station Box 5025, 39406 Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Department of Counseling Psychology, University of Southern Mississippi, Southern Station Box 5012, 39406 Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF00978702

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The behaviors and verbalizations of normal, preschool age boys and girls during interactions with sexually anatomically detailed (SAD) dolls were examined. A structured, nonsuggestive interview with each child was videotaped, and five behaviors and five verbalizations were coded for each of five phases of the interview. A two-way ANOVA (gender × phase) showed that during those phases when the dolls were undressed, both boys and girls showed more sexual exploratory play, aggressive behavior which was nonsexual, and active avoidance. Across all phases, nonsexual aggression accounted for 31% of the boys'' and 22% of the girls'' total responses. Behavioral and verbal sexual exploratory play represented 42% of the boys'' responses and 50% of the girls'' responses. In contrast, sexually aggressive behavior accounted for only 1% and 2% of the boys'' and girls'' responses, respectively. Girls interacted with the dolls more than did boys. Additionally, girls demonstrated more affection to the dolls than did the boys, and boys displayed more anxiety with the dolls than did girls. Investigators should be cautious as to inferences about preschoolers'' interactions with SAD dolls, especially interactions of a sexual or aggressive nature which do not clearly depict fondling or intercourse.