When told what to do, girls persist less: Ineffective instruction selectively lowers preschool girls’ exploratory behavior and subsequent persistence

Children's persistence is associated with future success, such as academic achievement. Therefore, researchers have examined individual differences that influence persistence. One factor that shapes persistence is how children respond to ineffective instructions. Previous research using a challenging, self-terminated task in which children attempted to open an unsolvable box showed that children who divested from ineffective instructions and used self-generated strategies persisted longer. As girls are socialized to follow instructions more closely than boys, they also may be less likely to divest from ineffective instructions. This reduced divestment limits girls' opportunities to use self-generated strategies, which, in turn, may lower their persistence. To examine this possibility, we conducted a secondary analysis of data collected between 2020 and 2024 from 157 Japanese 4-5-year-olds. The children were divided into two conditions: one that received ineffective instructions and one that did not. We found gender differences in responses to ineffective instructions and persistence only under the instruction condition. When ineffective instructions were provided, girls showed, on average, less divestment from ineffective instructions and the diversity of self-generated strategies, and lower persistence than boys. However, when no ineffective instructions were provided, these gender differences were not observed. These findings suggest that average gender differences in responses to ineffective instructions and persistence emerge in early childhood.