Who should do and who chooses to do service: Girls’ and boys’ developing service-related beliefs and behaviors

Women are often expected to and do perform service more than men. When do these gendered expectations and behaviors develop? 127 children (aged 6–9 years, 64 girls, 63 boys, 57% white children, 43% children of color) made decisions about who should do and whether they themselves would do various classroom jobs—a child-friendly example of service. After age 9, girls were more likely to choose to do service than boys, even though children generally thought everyone should do service. Whereas parents’ relevant beliefs and the gender distribution of housework did not relate to developing gender differences, parent–child conversations revealed that girls’ more frequent choice to do service may be rooted in their perceived personal benefits of doing service.