Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out the developmental relationship between category-based perception and trait-based perception in person perception. It was hypothesized that developmental shift may occur from category-based perception to trait-based perception. Two studies were performed. In study 1, interviews/surveys of kindergartners, 3rd-4th graders, 7th-8th graders, and college students were conducted, in which Ss were presented with descriptions of boys or girls with stereotypical or counterstereotypical attributes and asked to judge other characteristics these boys or girls might have. The data indicated that a) use of individuating information increases with age, but gender label decreases with age b) intergroup discrimination decreases with age, and c) the relationship between masculinity and femininity becomes increasingly negative with age, suggesting that gender may initially be viewed in dualistic terms but later as a unidimensional construct. In study 2, it was hypothesized that development to trait-based perception may be related to individual's perspective level. To test the hypothesis, a conflict situation that agenetic value contrasted to communal value was presented, and was judged in agenetic and communal dimension. The measures were criteria to categorize perspective expansion, perspective constraction, and non-perspective group. As a result, the hypothesis was partially supported that perspective expansion group more used individual trait informations than perspective constraction. no-perspective group. Thus it was discussed on the gender perception development.