The Influence of Sex Role Perception on Career Aspirations and Self-Esteem in Children with a Preference for Disney Movies

The focus of this study is Disney movies. While looking into the effect of these movies it is seen that the gender role portrayal in Disney movies has had a major impact on the sex role perception children develop. The study examines the influence of sex role perceptions on the career aspirations and self-esteem in children with a preference for Disney movies. Children aged 10 – 12 years(n = 398) are divided into two groups based on their preference for Disney movies and are studied for the following variables – sex role perception, career aspiration and self-esteem using Children’s sex role inventory (CSRI), Career aspiration scale for children and Moray child self-esteem scale. Results show that the group which preferred Disney movies are more masculine and more feminine in their sex role perceptions. Masculine sex role perception predicts career aspiration 83% of the time in boys and feminine sex role perception predicts career aspiration 62% of the time in girls and androgynous sex role perception is not related to career aspiration both in boys and girls. This means that children are defining job roles with the stereotypical identity and aspire to have careers that fit with these stereotypes. Masculine sex role perception predicts 36% of self-esteem in boys and feminine sex role perception predicts 8% of self-esteem in girls. This shows that the sense of identifying with their own sex roles and abiding by it, children feel competent and good about themselves. Results display the evidence for the pervasiveness of Disney films and its potential outcomes on the sex role perceptions. The other significant influences on career aspirations and self-esteem sheds light on the extent of influence sex role perception has on the different domains in middle childhood.