研究發現 女孩從6歲開始就認爲自己不如男孩聰明!

Girls start to see themselves as less innately talented than boys do when they are only six years old, a group of US researchers has said.

美國一組研究人員於日前表示，女孩子在年僅六歲時就會開始認爲自己天生就不如男孩子聰明。

They said the "disheartening" results suggested the problem could snowball to affect future careers.

科學家們表示，這一“令人沮喪”的結果可能會像滾雪球一般對未來職業生涯產生巨大影響。

The study on 400 children, in the journal Science, initially found both five-year-old boys and girls thought their own gender was "brilliant".

這份刊載在《科學》雜誌上的研究調查了400名兒童，起初發現5歲的男孩和女孩都認爲自己的性別“很棒”。

But then only one year later, gender differences had emerged.

但是僅僅一年之後，性別差異就出現了。

The team from Princeton University, New York University and the University of Illinois said it appeared stereotypes were starting to show.

這一來自普林斯頓大學、紐約大學和伊利諾伊大學的團隊表示，似乎從那時開始出現了模式化的見解。

Suspected influences include exposure to media, teachers, parents and other children.

可疑的影響來源包括和媒體、教師、父母、以及其他孩子的接觸。

The study put sets of five, six and seven-year-olds through different experiments.

這項研究把5、6、7歲的孩子放在不同的實驗中。

In one, the children were read a story about someone who is "really, really smart" but it is not clear who the story is about.

在一個試驗中，孩子們聽到了關於一個“真的、真的很聰明的”人的故事，但是卻不知道故事主人公是誰。

They then had to guess the protagonist from four pictures - two of men and two of women.

然後他們要從4張照片中猜出哪個是主角，待選人包括兩個男人和兩個女人。

At age five, boys pick men and girls pick women around 75% of the time. But fast-forward a year to age six and boys are still picking men while girls are now slightly more likely to pick men too.

在5歲組，75%的男孩子會選擇男人、女孩子會選擇女人。但是在比他們大一歲的6歲組，同樣數量的男孩子仍然會選擇男人，而女孩們也更加傾向於選擇男人。

In another scenario, groups of children played a new board game.

在另一場試驗中，一羣孩子玩了一個新的棋盤遊戲。

But for some it was branded as "for children who are really, really smart" and for others it was described as "for children who try really, really hard".

但是研究人員對一部分孩子說，只有那些“真的、真的很聰明的孩子”才能玩；對另一部分孩子說，只有那些“真的、真的很努力的孩子”才能玩。

Six and seven-year old girls were as likely as boys to enjoy the game for those who try, but much less likely to say they enjoy the game for smart children.

對於“努力”組來說，六七歲的女孩和男孩們一樣很享受這場遊戲，而對於“聰明”組來說就不那麼盡興了。

Prof Andrei, one of the researchers, told the BBC News website: "The message that comes out of these data is that young kids are exposed to the cultural notion that genius is more likely a male than a female quality.

其中一名研究者安德烈教授對BBC表示：“從這些數據中得出的信息是，年幼的孩子們正在接觸這一理念--天才更有可能是男人而不是女人。”

"It's disheartening to see these effects emerge so early. When you see them, you realise how much of an uphill battle it's going to be."

“看到這些影響這麼早就出現，真的很令人沮喪。當你看到這些的時候，你會意識到這是一場多麼艱苦的戰鬥。”