The relations of boys' and girls' interest with their mothers' art and science talk: The case of visiting the Chihuly's Firework of Glass exhibit

The current study investigated the interplay of the child’s gender and interest on parents’ talk about topics in two gender stereotyped domains during their visits to a museum exhibit. One hundred and thirteen children (age four to ten) and their mothers participated in the current study. Mothers were asked to report their children’s interest in art and science. Each mother’s talk about artistic/aesthetic and science topics and the quality of talk about these two topics during their visits to the Chihuly’s Firework of Glass exhibit were coded. Results revealed that children’s interest in art played a mediating role in the relation between the child’s gender and the quality of their mother’s talk about art but not the overall quantity. Children’s interest in science played a moderating role in the relation between the child’s gender and the quality of their mother’s talk about science but not the quantity. Children were also asked to report their interests in these two domains. Results indicated that self-reports and maternal reports of children’s interest had similar patterns in relation to mothers’ talk in art and science domains. In conclusion, children’s early interest maybe an important factor in influencing how parents talk about topics related to museum exhibits between boys and girls