Despite its well-known health benefits, most older adults do not commit to undertaking sufficient physical activity (PA). In this study we aimed to examine the perceived benefits of and barriers and enablers to PA from the perspectives of older Caucasian and Chinese adults living in Australia. Individual and group interviews with 17 Caucasian (mean age: 72.8 years) and 47 Chinese adults (mean age: 74.0 years) were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis. Overall, participants knew about the benefits of PA on physical health but had inconsistent views on its benefits on mental and cognitive health. Older Caucasian and Chinese adults reported similar barriers  and enablers  to PA. In comparison, older Chinese adults reported barriers more often, and reported some unique barriers relating to language and culture issues. The findings contribute to developing targeted PA programs for older Caucasian and Chinese adults. Globally, physical inactivity is one of the top ten risk factors for disease burden and contributes to 9% of all deaths . EvidencAustralian data show that 75% of Australians aged 65 years and older are insufficiently active (<150 min of moderate PA/week). This increases to 79% of men and 89% of women aged 85 years and over, respectively  is one of the largest and fastest-growing ethnic minority groups . Within To our knowledge, to date no research has been published that compares barriers and enablers to PA between older Caucasian and Chinese adults living in Australia. Such research would provide evidence to support the development of culturally appropriate PA programs facilitating older adults from different ethnic groups to engage in and benefit from PA. This research would further contribute to reducing public health expenditures associated with chronic diseases caused and exacerbated by physical inactivity.In this qualitative study we aimed to examine and compare perceived benefits of and barriers and enablers to PA in older Caucasian and Chinese adults living in Australia. The research questions are: (1) What are the benefits of PA perceived by older adults? (2) What are the barriers and enablers to PA in older adults? (3) Are there similar and different views on the barriers and enablers to PA between older Caucasian and Chinese adults living in Australia?The Social-Ecological Model (SEM) provides a multi-level factors model which typically focuses on individual, interpersonal, environmental and policy factors. Individual factors are related to individuals' characteristics, experiences, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and skills. Interpersonal factors refer to individuals' social networks and support, and cultural practises. Environmental factors include the weather, and neighbourhood environments such as infrastructure, parks, public transport and safety etc. Lastly, policy factors include guidelines, policies, laws, regulations etc. , 16. ThiIn this qualitative study we employed a phenomenological approach which usually seeks to explore a phenomenon (namely barriers and enablers to PA in this study) from the perspectives of those (namely older Caucasian and Chinese adults in this study) who experience it . The useEthical approval was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Melbourne (Ethics ID: 1750807). We provided each participant with a plain language statement, project flyer and consent form written in English. We communicated the project information to participants in Mandarin or Cantonese verbally, if required. Most participants provided written consent while nine Chinese participants provided verbal consent for cultural reasons. The verbal consent was audio recorded at the beginning of the interview.Participants were community-dwelling, older (≥60 years) Caucasian and Chinese adults living in Australia. Chinese people in this context were defined as of Chinese ancestry, self-identifying as Chinese, and/or speaking Mandarin or Cantonese as a first language.Exclusion criteria reflected characteristics that may significantly influence an individual's ability or motivation to undertake PA. These included self-reported or diagnosed severe medical conditions, such as physical disability, heart disease, stroke, psychosis, major depression, dementia, Parkinson's disease and progressive malignancy.To capture a wide range of views, we used a purposive sampling strategy and considered a number of participant characteristics when recruiting participants. These factors were age, gender, body mass index (BMI), education, marital status, location, years of living in Australia, self-reported health, and self-reported PA level.Our recruitment strategies included advertising the project on the websites of relevant research institutes and community organisations; using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn; seeking assistance from senior clubs, community organisations, libraries, news agencies and radio stations at National and State levels; and giving community talks.via phone in English. For older Chinese adults, we conducted individual interviews via phone, and group interviews at participants' homes or community centres. We used English, Mandarin or Cantonese to interview Chinese participants. EY and CW, both were bilingual researchers, undertook 11 individual interviews with Caucasians and 1 group interview with Chinese adults together in English. For logistic reasons, they conducted the other individual or group interviews independently using English, Mandarin and/or Cantonese.We conducted semi-structured interviews with participants between March and November 2018. The sample size was determined using the data saturation principle, meaning that data collection ceased when no new information emerged from new interviews  and oldeThe duration ranged from 16 to 69 min for individual interviews and from 45 to 60 min for group interviews. We collected information on participant characteristics  prior toWe audio-recorded all interviews with participants' consent. Professional transcriptionists transcribed all English interviews verbatim. CW transcribed the Chinese interviews and EY doubled checked the accuracy of the transcripts. The interview transcripts provided the primary data source which was supplemented by field notes taken during the interviews.We analysed the data at the interview level  using thematic analysis . This daWe used QSR NVivo 11 to store, organise, retrieve and code the data. EY coded the data using an inductive approach and identified potential themes and subthemes concerning the benefits of and barriers and enablers to PA. All co-authors interpreted the themes and subthemes until agreement was reached. We reported the findings according to the themes and subthemes and used exemplar quotes provided by Caucasian (CAU + number) and/or Chinese (CHI + number) participants to support the findings. Where necessary we provided additional information in brackets to ensure the clarity of the quotes.We interviewed in total 64 Caucasian and Chinese adults. These included 17 individual interviews with Caucasians, 10 individual interviews with Chinese adults, and 5 group interviews with 37 Chinese adults. As mentioned above, each group interview was treated as an individual interview for the purpose of data analysis—identifying themes and subthemes.The mean age of the whole study sample was around 74 years (7.8 SD) and the majority were women (62.5%). Compared with Chinese adults, Caucasians on average received more years of education (16 vs. 11 years). Furthermore, higher proportions of Caucasians were married (76.5 vs. 63.8%), self-rated as physically active (82.4 vs. 34.0%), and rated their health as good (82.4 vs. 31.9%) see .Across the interviews, participants used the terms PA and exercise interchangeably. Most participants interpreted PA as a type of body movement that could be structured or unstructured, and gentle or vigorous. Examples of PA included housework, gardening, walking, running, swimming, cycling, yoga, Tai Chi, dancing, Pilates, gym exercise and playing sports. A few participants did not regard housework, gardening or slow walking as PA due to their low level of intensity.Themes and subthemes relating to perceived benefits of PA and multi-level barriers and enablers to PA are described below  once a month, it's no good just doing it once a week, you've got to have a bit of a … nearly every day. CAU015Some participants imagined that PA was beneficial to brain health: “I would imagine it would, don't ask me how, I'm not a doctor, but I would think it's beneficial at every level. I'm sure it helps the brain, I mean, just at a practical level. It would help problem solving.” CAU017. Some participants were not sure:[Interviewer: How about cognitive health?]. “Oh, I'm not so sure about that.” CAU004. Other participants were sceptical about the brain health benefits of PA: “The brain … I can't feel it … I don't feel it.” CHI001.We identified specific barriers and enablers to PA (subthemes) and mapped them to individual, interpersonal, environmental, community or organisational, and policy factors according to the Social-Ecological Model (SEM) see .As shown in The key barriers and enablers to PA reported by older Caucasian and Chinese adults are described below. Unless clearly specified through the comparison of the findings, older Caucasian and Chinese adults' views on the barriers and enablers were identified as similar.Most participants from both groups reported having medical issues , which affected their ability to undertake or maintain PA: “If I have pain I would sort of be reluctant to do exercise … that is probably the main barrier for me.” CHI001.Family duties, such as childcare and housework, were barriers to PA. Compared with older Caucasians, older Chinese adults more often reported that caring for grandchildren, part of the Chinese culture, left them no time to do exercise: “For Chinese people in our age, how couldn't we help? As parents, we are making sacrifice for caring for grandchildren. In doing so we really do not have our own time.” CHI003. In contrast, some older Caucasians had different opinions on the impact of family duties on PA. First, doing housework and caring for grandchildren involved PA: “I mean I've got eight grandchildren. I do a lot of exercise when I'm with them, but that's not organised.” CAU008. Second, despite the family duties, they could manage their time to do exercise: “It depends if you can work around it – you can usually work out a schedule of some kind that allows you to get adequate exercise.” CAU012.Lack of motivation was a common barrier for many older adults to do exercise. Some participants reported the lack of motivation to do exercise alone: “Yeah, I haven't got the motivation to really exercise on my own.” CAU002. Some participants reported feeling lazy: “I am lazy, I do not want to do exercise.” CHI010.Older age was reported as a barrier to PA: With age older adults felt physically incapable of or lacking confidence in doing exercise: “When I get on my bicycle I do feel quite self-conscious about how old I am compared to everybody else … so I can see sort of thing, as I get older (it) might be a barrier.” CAU013.Concerns about injuries or harms presented a barrier to older adults to do exercise or do the same exercise as they had done before: “I used to ride bike. No matter how far away the destination was, I would ride there. Now I do not have the courage, I am worried I would fall over.” CHI003Many older adults reported lacking interest to do or maintain specific types of exercise. For example: “I like the walking bit but I find actual exercise really boring, like stretching or weights or something like that.” CAU013.Compared with older Caucasians, older Chinese adults reported some unique barriers to PA. First, lack of fluency in English inhibited some older Chinese adults to obtain information on PA and access PA opportunities: “They don't know English, so they don't know there's this thing (exercise class) so that they can join.” CHI008. Second, from the cultural perspective, being reserved and concerns about inconveniencing people presented barriers to older Chinese adults to attend exercise or social groups: “There's a culture … You don't want to trouble other people, to inconvenience people. The Europeans are different, they're more open-minded about things, they're more outgoing, you see Italian people go dancing, line dancing, and singing and finding all the clubs for activities …” CHI017.Gym exercise and some group exercise such as golf, dancing and yoga involved costs. Older Caucasians had mixed views about paying for exercise. For example, some Caucasians were concerned about costs and therefore avoided doing exercise involving payment: “It (Tai Chi) might have been $7, whatever it was, I decided not to do it because cost is important, I am a pensioner.” CAU009. Some Caucasians thought it was unnecessary to pay to do exercise even though they could afford it: “I can't think of a reason to go to pay to exercise, there are so many things you can do for (paying) nothing.” CAU003. Other Caucasians were willing to pay: “I can afford it and it is in a pool that has to be maintained by somebody.” CAU017.In comparison, older Chinese adults more often expressed concerns about the cost of exercise: “If it (Tai Chi) needs to pay, many people will not learn. Older people do not have money.” CHI004. Therefore, many older Chinese adults preferred free exercise such as walking: “Walking is the best, you do not need to pay.” CHI003.Bad weather, such as being hot, cold, rainy or cloudy, affected older adults' ability, mood or motivation to do exercise: “I guess the weather it prevents you from going out … like going out today when it's cold and wet. You just keep yourself warm at home, so of course you won't exercise when you're home.” CHI006. However, some older adults would still do exercise in bad weather; for example in rainy days some older adults would still go for a walk by wearing appropriate shoes and clothes, and others would do indoor exercise as an alternative.Distant exercise location was a common barrier to PA for many older Chinese adults who relied on public transport to travel: “If it's the right line for wherever the place you want to go to that's fine, but there are a lot of places you have to change from bus to train, or train to train, or something like that.” CHI010. Some older Caucasians who were still driving regarded it as unnecessary to waste time travelling a long distance to do exercise: “You know, you don't want to be travelling for three-quarters of an hour to get somewhere to be able to start your exercise.” CAU016.Participants raised a few other environment related barriers to PA including the lack of exercise facilities nearby, poor natural environment , and neighbourhood safety. For example:I feel because there are fewer people in Australia (compared with China), so they have fewer exercise facilities. I hope they can provide more facilities. CHI011We have unmade roads because that's what we want but they're safe because there's not a lot of traffic. That would be one of the barriers to me, if I didn't feel safe I wouldn't do it. CAU017Almost all participants reported that maintaining or improving health  motivated them to do exercise: “I want to do it (exercise), I like to feel healthy, feel well.” CAU002. One older Chinese adult reported that her motivation of doing exercise included preventing dementia: “I do exercise for the purpose of preventing this (dementia). If I got dementia, my children would live miserable lives. ”CHI013.Self-motivation was an important factor, driving many older adults to do exercise: “The motivation is important, people want to do it (exercise) for themselves, that's all I say ….” CHI017. With self-motivation some older adults could overcome barriers to PA: “I don't feel that there are any barriers to it, no. You just push yourself to go and do what you want to do.” CAU002.In contrast with the lack of interest as a barrier to PA, enjoyment or interest motivated older adults to do exercise. This factor also affected some older adults' choice of doing or maintaining specific types of PA. For example: “You know I have always just enjoyed that thing about going out and exercising hard and coming home and being tired from exercising.” CAU006.A strong theme for older Caucasians but not for older Chinese adults was that maintaining a habit  was a reason why they continued to do exercise. As one participant expressed: “I think if you start exercising as a teenager, then it's really, it's kind of part of your lifestyle, then you, I guess you just keep on going.” CAU004.Participants, in particular older Caucasians reported that having a fulfilling life  motivated them to do exercise. For example: “I suppose we (my friend and I) are both of the same mind that, you know, that you've got to sort of keep moving to make sure that you function as well as you can. And then you enjoy life more, that's the whole point.” CAU005.In contrast with the lack of time reported as a barrier to PA, having more time after retirement enabled some older adults to do more exercise, choose exercise that was enjoyable, and maintain an exercise routine. For example:I am a retiree, so I have my set of routine each day. When I get up, I have the time, that certain time that I get up, and I do my exercise, and then I have a shower and whatever. CHI016I used to do swimming regularly once just because I could but I didn't like it that much … Now because I can choose to do things that are much more enjoyable I wouldn't bother because I haven't got the time worries. CAU005Support or influence of peers (such as partners and friends) facilitated older adults to do exercise. First, peers provided older adults with motivation, support and encouragement to do exercise: “If I have a company, I will have the motivation to play it (Tai Chi).” CHI003. Second, older adults felt the commitment to their peers to do exercise: “I can do that tomorrow or the day after that, but it's a group, you're committed.” CAU011. Third, the opportunity to socialise with peers motivated older adults to do and maintain exercise: “That is part of this group exercise thing as well, it's a friendship. You make friends and get to know people and you're more inclined to keep going.” CAU010.As opposed to some environment barriers to PA described above, availability of exercise facilities, adequate and walkable spaces, and good natural environment facilitated older adults to do exercise. For example: “When you live near a quiet street and there are parks around, it's a good place to exercise.” CHI008.Lastly, a pro-exercise culture (namely community or society's emphasis on PA) facilitated some older adults to do exercise: “I think in our town we created our own facilities, we create our own activities because that's what we are.” CAU002. To this end, some older Chinese adults mentioned the positive societal change from emphasising surviving to living a good life that included doing exercise: “In our generation, due to the poor economy, everyone thought about making a living, we had no time to do exercise… Now the economy has improved, people can change their lives, such as doing exercise to improve their health.” CHI014.Since participants rarely discussed barriers or enablers to PA at the level of the health system, community or government, we prompted them to think about whether they needed support from these sectors to do PA.Participants had mixed views about the role of health care professionals in particular general practitioners (GPs) in supporting older adults to do exercise. First, GPs either provided general advice or had no time to provide advice on PA: “They've only got so many minutes so they really don't have time to promote this sort of thing.” CHI008. Second, it was not necessary to seek advice from GPs: “No, I don't think it's necessary to get that advice from a doctor to exercise.” CAU015. Third, GPs should provide exercise advice because older people saw them very often and trusted them: “They should encourage, because they play an important part, the GP, for the older people.” CHI017.Participants commented that community and government should support older adults to participate in PA. This could involve providing information on the benefits of PA and PA opportunities, free or cheap public transport, exercise facilities and classes, and funding. For example: “It's just a matter of council sort of supporting these things by making sure there is publicity for them and they've got the occasional sort of grant money or something.” CAU005.This study examined perceived benefits of and barriers and enablers to PA in older Caucasian and Chinese adults living in Australia. Most participants reported knowing the benefits of PA for physical health and some understood its benefits for mental and cognitive health. However, many participants attributed the mental health benefits of PA to the opportunity to socialise with people rather than PA itself. Moreover, many participants were not sure or suspected whether PA could benefit cognitive health.As described in the section Results and US Healthy Brain Initiative, revealed that older adults believed in the cognitive health benefits of PA  affect their views on the study topic. Fifth, for logistic reasons, it was not possible for the two bilingual researchers to conduct all interviews together. However, the two researchers' using the same interview guide and exchanging ideas and strategies of conducting the interviews during this process have ensured a good level of consistency in the data collection. Lastly, only one researcher was involved in coding the data and coming up with the initial themes and subthemes. However, all co-authors interpreted these themes and subthemes until agreement was reached.In conclusion, our findings suggest that there are similarities and differences in perceived barriers and enablers to PA between older Caucasian and Chinese adults. In general, older Caucasians more often report enablers to PA while older Chinese adults more often report barriers to PA. In addition, older Chinese adults face language and culture related barriers to PA. While many barriers and enablers identified in our study can be related to previous literature, some newly identified barriers and enablers need to be confirmed by further research. Our findings about the multi-level barriers and enablers highlight that the community, health care system and governments all have an important role in promoting the uptake and maintenance of PA in the older population.viachuanmei.you@unimelb.edu.au.The datasets presented in this article are not readily available because the raw data are transcripts of individual interviews and group discussions, and without participants' consent these transcripts are not meant to be shared. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to Emily You Ethical approval was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Melbourne (Ethics ID: 1750807). We provided each participant with a plain language statement, project flyer and consent form written in English. We communicated the project information to participants in Mandarin or Cantonese verbally, if required. Most participants provided written consent while nine Chinese participants provided verbal consent for cultural reasons. The verbal consent was audio recorded at the beginning of the interview.EY, KE, and NL designed the original research study. EY took the lead to conduct the research study and drafted the manuscript. KE and NL provided expert advice on undertaking the research study. CW made important contributions to undertaking the study, including data collection, and transcription. AG, EC, and TC assisted with participant recruitment and provided advice on undertaking the research study. All authors interpreted the findings (including reaching agreement on the themes and subthemes identified from the interview/focus group data). All co-authors NL, CW, AG, EC, TC, KA, FH, and KE provided important feedback.The authors wish to thank the funding support of the University of Melbourne Early Career Researcher Grant Scheme (502642), and the support of the Centre of Research Excellence in Cognitive Health (1100579) from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.


The aim of this study was to explore the experience of women who take care of their children in postpartum and who desire to be understood by society, with no judgements. For this purpose, a qualitative methodology was followed. In-depth interviews, discussion groups, and an online forum were used for data collection. The participants were Spanish women that had given birth in the past 6 months, and their partners. Healthcare specialists with experience in the topic were also included. Results showed three main categories: lack of priority, self-demand, and self-esteem changes. As a conclusion, the concept of motherhood needs to be redefined, as women feel that they are living under the pressure of being a “perfect mother”. It is important that mothers allow themselves to fail in reaching the imposed requirements. Simple acceptance of motherhood boundaries could help in this transition. Maternity and motherhood are experienced in different ways by women. Moreover, these experiences are, in many cases, hidden from a society that silences and invisibilizes women . The socMotherhood has been idealized, and in many cases is not a fully accepted choice for the mother herself, but a response to a sociocultural pressure that has held women responsible for children care . Data coSociety has built the ideal concept of “perfect mother” based on a dominant motherhood model, culturally approved, that expects mothers to devote themselves to their children, scarifying their own needs ,7,8. HayDi Quinzio (1999) labeled the term “essential motherhood”. The mother focuses exclusively and selflessly on childcare . In thisIn this “intensive motherhood” discussion, the role of parents in the neuropsychological development of their children is pointed out . Most stData from a qualitative study carried out in the UK, showed that new mothers were confident that, due to their stimulation, their children would acquire extra in their learning and development process. In this study, participants share their concerns about the fact that “just take care of the baby” was not enough . This deProviding care and being the facilitator of the child’s development have become motherhood-intrinsic requests, having a deep impact on the mother’s experience, especially in new mothers who struggle to adjust their practices in order to satisfy the perceived demands. In many cases, these mothers feel that they are not up to these high self-expectations, which brings on a feeling of guilt .Therefore, mothers are under the pressure of becoming the “perfect mother”, a quite unrealistic expectation, as the requirements of “intensive motherhood” are far too demanding. This has a negative impact on mental wellbeing, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, generating guilty feelings, anxiety, and stress ,5,14. GuThe aim of this study is to know the experiences, emotions, and feelings related to new motherhood in Spanish women who would like to be understood by society without any judgement.This is a qualitative phenomenological study with descriptive perspective ,17 that The participants were women in their postpartum period, their partners, and healthcare professionals. Recruitment was carried out through the physical therapy clinics. Inclusion criteria were women who have given birth in the past 6 months and their partners, aged over 18, with physical and psychological ability to understand and participate in the study, and understand and speak Spanish. Type of childbirth and the presence or absence of perineal lesion during labor, previous births, or lactation type were not considered for this study. Exclusion criteria were women and their partners that did not sign informed consent, presence of any systemic disease, neurological problems, and/or cognitive problems, and mother or baby hospitalization/perinatal death in the immediate postpartum. Healthcare professionals were recruited through the snowball method. Professionals with women’s health expertise that were currently attending women in their postpartum period  were included. Each participant was asked to sign the informed consent form prior to the study.The members of the research team were five physical therapists, three specialized in women’s health and two specialized in qualitative research. Data collection was achieved through two interview techniques (in-depth interview and discussion groups) and an observational technique (online forum) in which only the mothers participated. For the development of these, the researcher (EDP) was supported by a semistructured interview guide  that wasEvery interview was recorded and fully transcribed. Coding and categorization of the interviews was performed by three members of the research group, individually. For the coding of the fragments, the qualitative analysis software MAXQDA in its 2018 version was used, which facilitated the interactive process .After an in-depth reading, three members of the research team  carried out an open, axial, and selective coding . All repData collection included 28 interviews, 5 focus groups, and one online forum. Thirty-six women and eight partners participated in the study. The mean age of the participant women was 34 years (27–39 rank); the mean age of 8 partners was 38 years (32–48 rank). The mean age of their babies was 4 months and 2 weeks (ranking from 1 month 1 week to 6 months). A total of 50% of participants were new parents, 41% had one more child, and 9% had two more. All the partners were men. Fifteen healthcare professionals participated: six midwives, five physical therapists, and four gynecologists, with an experience mean of 15 years (2–35 rank) .The term “new motherhood” was selected to label the category, and 399 fragments were identified, which were grouped into three main topics: lack of self-priority, self-demand, and self-esteem .Lack of Self-priorityLack of self-priority describes how women prioritize baby’s, partner’s, or family’s wellbeing, disregarding their own needs. This concept shows how they give more importance to baby, partner, and family wellbeing than to their own needs. It is organized in three subconcepts: baby caring, care for their partners, and lack of self-care.“Well, I didn’t manage to get time to make some exercise, I didn’t manage to get time to do anything but being with him (the baby), but neither I wanted to, nor I want to, yet. That is why I am considering whether return to my job or not.” .partner’s care. In many cases, women describe that, in order to keep their partners satisfied, they yield to sexual demands.They also prioritize “[…] is a little more the part in which you think that you have to take care of your partner in that way, because, of course, they don’t experience so many changes in their bodies nor so much hormonal changes” .Motherhood demands prevent them from having available time for self-care. When searching for this time, women feel guilty. These emotions are common between the participant mothers, and the health professional themselves are aware of them:“I do feel wrong sometimes, when I leave her, like, Damn it! And it is only for an hour, I know it is not a long time….but still…” .“Of course, nobody tells them so. Everybody tells them to give everything to the baby, right? And they feel they are better mothers if they look untidy while taking care of their baby, so maybe is that precisely what is expected from them, right? Then if, if they tell their own mother or their mother-in-law to take the baby for a little while to have a shower, to sleep for a while, they feel like bad mothers.” .Self-demandThis topic shows how mothers feel about higher level of demands in order to be up to their expectations. They narrate how they find themselves in a highly demanding stage, as can be found in the following subtopics: “being a supermom”, “frustration”, and “women duties”.Being a Supermom“being a supermom”. They intend to achieve maximum performance, wishing to be their best, disregarding if they are beyond their limits or their abilities. In the phase they are living, the requirements are higher than in other stages of their lifespan. Feelings such as frustration or resignation arouse, causing further stress.Women explain how they feel the duty of “But I have days when is absolutely exhausting. So, when they arrive at 8 pm, I go into the bathroom and cry a little, saying: “I can’t any more, today I can’t take any more…today I am overwhelmed, I am overcome by the situation.” Because you want to cope with everything…and you feel that you are coping with nothing. And that, for me, is the most complicated issue.” .These self-demanding feelings are perceived by their partners and the healthcare professionals assisting them.“[…] I think that the hardest issue for my wife, if I have to say, more than the hormones, more than any change of these type, was the fact that, having a baby, no matter how good she is, she has not enough time to do everything she wants to do along the day. That is, clearly, more than clearly, the hardest issue for her, above all.” .Returning to work is a new change to face. Handing over their baby’s care increases negative feelings, as does the self-demand to be equally efficient in their jobs and their new personal lives:“Everything has been quite normal, until she returned to work. It is then, when I have seen like a little sensation that everything is overwhelming to her, right? She has returned like, with her issues, her two jobs. Then it has been really, really hard for her. Then, regarding that, I have seen her a little more shaken. To feel that she has not, she cannot do things that she did so easily before, now it is hard for her“. .Frustrationfrustration about real motherhood.The ideal of motherhood to which woman are exposed arouses feelings that are shared through their narrations. They especially show their “Because people tell you that it is wonderful and they’re super happy, then, why I don’t feel like that. Then you punish yourself, “I want to be ok, and I am not”. But that is because they have told you a reality that is not like that” .“Well… sometimes motherhood is a little…stressing, depending on the expectations that you had before, or not.” .Women Dutywomen duty.Self-demanding present in mothers expands itself to their intimate and sexual relationships. Once again, they feel the duty of resuming and maintaining sexual relations with their partners, as a part of their “Awkward, I felt awkward. I felt….I don’t mean obliged, because, my poor thing, on the contrary, he has respected me a lot. But it was for me, like a duty that….” .Self-esteemcorporal image, fear of not being likeable, and personal transformation.Fragments linked to corporal image, and its impact on their experience as mothers and women were found. Three subtopics were identified: Corporal Imagecorporal image perception. Frequently, they show difficulties in assimilating these changes, and on many occasions, it affects their self-esteem.Some of the changes associated with motherhood focus on the change of “It is like, everything, it is that you no longer recognize yourself, I do not recognize myself, at least […] I cannot look at myself directly in the mirror…” .For them, these changes have an impact on their relationships with their partners, on the closeness and sexual relations, which adds to their concerns about their corporal image changes.“Well, then….well…wrong. Honestly, wrong. Because, also, him…He expected me to be the same lioness in bed, you know? And…No, I do not any longer.” .Fear of Not Being Likeablefear of not being likeable to their partners as they were before childbirth.The influence of these changes in sexual or simple couple relationships brings feelings of insecurity, arousing the “And I am, like, afraid of, as I know that he liked me a lot like I was before, I am afraid that he doesn’t like me as I am now, you know? Then, sometimes…” .Personal TransformationBesides negative emotions arising in the participants, some of them showed positive feelings about changes associated to puerperium. These new feelings are generated from an adaptative, coherent perspective towards changes at this stage. It is a personal transformation that would imply the beginning of self-recognition as mothers, women, and partners, empowering their image and self-esteem.“This reveals to us unconditional love, it is a unique chance for learning how to love ourselves in an unconditional way, the same as we love the baby. The power of healing our self-esteem and self-love that will surely get us to a good shore in the future.” “Well, I think so, I think that it has an impact on her for good […], If this has changed her, it is a good change, for sure.” .There was a desire to focus the importance of having more real information about postpartum from the healthcare area. Participants stated that this could assist them in normalizing mothers’ experiences and soothe the aroused feelings, avoiding guilt and improving self-care, promoting the concept that, to take care of another being, it is necessary to take care of oneself.“And it seems that you even feel guilty and a bad mom about feeling the way you feel or thinking the way you think…I don’t know, I think that maybe it would be necessary to have better information about postpartum and the…the emotional changes that you’re going to suffer or may suffer.” .The aim of the present study was to explore how women face motherhood in a high-demanding society. Participants showed their beliefs following the “intensive motherhood” model , revealiFollowing Swigart’s (1991) point of view, the “good mother” puts her children’s care first, considering motherhood as a source of satisfaction and not requiring any sacrifice . MothersData from several studies reveal a personal discrepancy between the ideal of motherhood and real motherhood, which leads mothers to feelings of frustration and guilt ,5,7,13. Returning to work is possibly a fact that, again, increases self-demanding in mothers. Re-entry to employment becomes a further stress source. Some studies describe that mothers believe that they are not covering the needs and wishes of their children , and somAnother important fact that raises dissatisfaction and stress level is related to the experienced body changes. DeMaria (2019) describes mothers perceiving their own bodies as “strange” . This isFinally, some of the participants described motherhood from a global acceptance and personal transformation perspective. Those are woman that choose to experience motherhood following their own beliefs, and, despite describing motherhood as a complex phase, they could face it. This transformation is also perceived by their partners, who refer to a positive change. Some evidence supports this statement, from changes achieved through challenging experiences ; describIt is important to highlight that motherhood models can be rebuilt, becoming a plural concept. Women should choose how to experience their motherhood, ignoring social, religious, or cultural concepts. In order to achieve that, it is essential to deconstruct the “perfect mother” image, supporting and reinforcing the strengths women have in order to empower their self-esteem in the motherhood task . If mothEven though, in this study, validity was controlled through triangulation, it is necessary to assume that the results may be not appliable beyond the study’s sample. Participants were Spanish Caucasic women without economic difficulties. It would have been of interest to spread the sample to adolescents, single mothers, low-income families, or homosexual couples, as it is plausible that their experiences could differ according to their particular characteristics.Motherhood implies a natural change in the mother’s priorities, highlighting baby and family care. The motherhood role carries high demands that women and society normalize. Women try to reach an ideal motherhood that raises feelings of frustration. Self-esteem is also affected, influencing physical acceptance and couples’ relationships, bringing further insecure feelings.Regarding the motherhood process, women who had accepted and experienced it from their own internal reference had undergone a transformation beyond physical or emotional aspects, discovering a new, empowering phase.Motherhood should be redefined, due to the possibility of women presenting mixed feelings about the experience. It is important that mothers allow themselves to not reach the requirements imposed by society. Acceptance of their limitations would help women during this phase.


We appreciate Boudreau and colleagues’  thoughtfWe understand and affirm the underlying spirit of Boudreau et al’s  recommenHowever, in pursuing a comprehensive research agenda around social media, it is critical that researchers not lose sight of the consumer perspective. We agree that promoting and affirming accuracy “at the source” is critical, but so too is understanding which sources of health information consumers encounter, trust, and rely on. Unfortunately, recent studies have noted declining trust in science among many Americans, including the Institution of Medicine ,6. This


The experimental group consisted of a gender equality curriculum including script relationship training for two months, while the control group continued their regular curriculum. The picture classification task (PCT) was measured before and after the intervention to assess gender stereotypes. Before interventions, 87.50% of the children chose a gender stereotypic relationship, while 12.50% chose script/other relationships in PCT. After the interventions, the gender stereotypic relationship dropped to 73.22% in the experimental group. Children in the control group were more likely to maintain their gender stereotypic relationship choices in PCTs. Our findings suggest that cognitive-based interventions, such as a gender equality curriculum, have the potential to break gender stereotypes in kindergarten children.Despite the growing recognition of gender equality worldwide, plausible strategies that reduce young children’s gender stereotypes remain limited. Cognitive-based interventions have been widely used in school settings and have been suggested to play important roles in children’s gender stereotyping and in their processing of counter-stereotypic information. We aimed to determine whether exposure to counter-stereotypical information could break gender stereotypes in kindergarten children. Fifty-four children (61–79 months old) from two public kindergarten classes in northern Taiwan participated in this study. One of the two classes was randomly selected as the experimental group ( Humans have a natural tendency to classify things. Human beings possess necessary classification abilities from infancy, which develops gradually with cognitive ability and learning experience . ChildreSocial categorization involves two processes. One is to emphasize the characteristics shared within a group and to reduce individual differences among group members, thus generating stereotypes; the other is to strengthen and concentrate on the differences among different groups . Social Gender is one of the most important social categories. Infants and young children quickly develop gender-related concepts that lead them to engage in specific activities, to discover exciting things, and to achieve goals in the process . StudiesChildren continuously learn about the differences between male and female behaviors and objects of use in a specific culture through observation. Around the age of three, children learn about gender stability and show gender stereotyping similar to adults regarding toys, clothes, activities, games, colors, and even specific personality descriptions . By arouFrom an ecological perspective, young children’s socialization of gender stereotypes comes from their family and school and from more distant systems, including cultural values . NeverthTo measure the gender stereotyping of children, Edelbrock and Sugawara  developeOverall, preschool children already have stable concepts of gender, and these become essential prior knowledge. From this prior knowledge, our brains naturally collect and extract relevant information to make classification learning faster and easier when responding to a stimulus . HoweverMost previous studies have used picture classification tasks (PCT) to investigate whether children’s gender conceptual schema changed. The premise of such test tools is that children have multiple conceptual systems such as adults . Common Evidence suggests that even a one-year-old infant makes classifications based on the taxonomic system . ChildrePast studies have demonstrated that children can generate new classification concepts inconsistent with their prior knowledge through observation and cognitive training ,34. TherThe first social environment that children experience is their family, which is also the most influential environment for children, where parents play an extremely important role. Psychoanalysts believe that young children eventually identify with the same-gender parents and learn their behavior; social learning theorists think that parents are one of the models for children’s behavioral imitation learning; cognitivists believe that young children learn to behave similar to a same-gender adult . The so-Even if parents support children playing with opposite-gender toys, children still believe that parents actually support them playing with toys of their own gender , and thePast research about young children’s ideas of gender focused more on the development, influential factors, and effects of gender stereotyping. Less research aimed to improve young children’s gender stereotype flexibility, let alone interventions based on children’s cognitive characteristics. According to the review by Lenton et al. , most reThe current study investigated the effects of cognitive training on loosening young children’s gender stereotyping and the differential role of children’s background variables. The plan for analysis was to first present quantitative data on children’s classification choices after the intervention and then to supplement it with qualitative data from children’s discourse to provide the context of their cognitive rationale. n = 28), and the other was the control group (n = 26). The average age of the children was 72.39 months (61–79 months). All households had two parents. A total of 33 fathers (61.10%) and 24 mothers (44.44%) had a degree above junior college. A total of 28 fathers (51.9%) and 16 mothers (29.6%) were white-collar professionals, and 26 fathers (48.1%) and 38 mothers (70.4%) were blue-collar workers.From two public kindergarten classes, 54 children (30 boys and 24 girls) in northern Taiwan participated in this study. One of the two classes was randomly selected as the experimental group  one by one and asked, “What is this?” to ensure that the children understood the content of the pictures. If the children gave wrong answers or no answer, the assessor gave them the correct answers. The children were then asked, The worksheets were then collected to calculate the scores. Circling stimulus picture A received 1 point while circling stimulus picture B received 0 points. The scores of each child ranged from 0 to 8, and the higher the score, the more stable the children’s gender stereotyping. The purpose of the task was to assure the children were in stable gender stereotyping before intervention. The PCT was assessed before (pretest) and after (posttest) the intervention. One week after the pretest, the 8-week intervention curriculum was implemented in the experimental group.Oliver Button is a sissy; The paper bag princess; William’s Doll; Fox hatches an egg; Rawr! You look delicious; Where’s our mama?; Piggybook; and Sara wants to join the circus. All books were trade books of high literary quality and covered various gender issues, including gender roles, gender bias, gender stereotypes, etc. We developed 16 lesson plans according to the picture books. The teacher read one picture book and engaged the children in discussions and extended activities for 30–40 min each session, two times per week. For example, William’s Doll was the book chosen for week 3. The story follows William, a young boy who wishes for a doll to care for. William’s father is unhappy with his request, instead giving William toys that he considers to be more gender appropriate. Finally, William’s grandmother fulfills William’s request, explaining to William’s father that the doll allows for William to practice good parenting [William’s Doll and asked more questions about why people did not like the same thing; how would they feel when others did not like what they liked; when others mocked what they liked; and what would they do if they were William’s brother, classmates, or father. During the discussions, the teacher asked open questions and encouraged children to share their experiences, to reflect, and to express opinions. The intervention lasted for eight weeks, and all conversations and activities were video-recorded. The researcher led the experimental class to carry out the eight-week curriculum on gender equality, while the control group carried out their regular curriculum. The PCT was conducted one week after the intervention.Eight picture books on the theme of gender equality suitable for kindergarten children were selected, including arenting . In the 2χ = 0.06, df = 1, p = 0.808), father’s educational background , mother’s educational background , father’s job , and mother’s job . Homogeneity testing also showed no significant difference between the groups before intervention   .In the pretest PCT, there were 432 paired choices made by the children, of which 378 were the gender stereotypic relationship (87.50%), 36 were the script relationship (8.30%), and 18 were other relationships (4.20%), as shown in The reasons why the children choose the gender stereotypic relationship mostly echo the thematic system; that is, the association was formed because gender and an object often appear together or because gender and an ability trait are often mentioned at the same time. Further analysis showed that there were two subtypes of children’s responses. The first was to emphasize that one gender is more suitable for or likes a particular object, or is more capable of doing something, such as “long hair goes better with skirts,” “fathers are better at fixing things,” and “girls all like to keep things neat.” These responses reflected the children’s stereotypic knowledge about genders. The second was to connect a gender with particular objects or abilities, such as “this is his (father’s) hammer,” “soldiers need to drive for fighting,” “girls’ clothes have bows,” and “dads cannot feed milk to babies.” These answers show that children have a clear demarcation of gender and that their views are rigid and inflexible.Although most children chose the gender stereotypic relationship, a few children choose the script relationship. The reasons for choosing the script relationship were not limited to the script system discussed in training but also included the taxonomic and thematic systems. For example, children answered that “these two (toy car and toy kitchen) are toys,” “skirts are for girls, but girls can also wear trousers, because skirts and trousers are the same kinds,” and “they are both made of cloth (bow tie and tie).” The above responses demonstrate that children categorize the relationship between two objects at the same level or even give it a name explicitly, representing their understanding of the taxonomic system. Examples of responses with the thematic system include, “parents will have babies after getting married because they (father and mother) can chat with each other,” that is, the association is formed according to characteristics that appear together. Examples of responses with the script system include, “you should wear skirts and trousers when you go out, or others will see you (naked),” “both (razor and lipstick) are available in department stores,” and “because both (brooms and heavy box) are needed when we have to work and sweep the floor,” meaning they regard different objects that appear in recurring events as being of the same category. The above supports that children have multiple conceptual systems. χ2 = 11.31, df = 2, p = 0.004).Homogeneity testing was used to investigate the distribution of gender in children’s classification choices, and the results were shown in r = −0.06, p = 0.656), script relationship , and other relationships .The Pearson product–moment correlation was used to analyze the relationship between children’s age in months and the counts of the three classification choices. Children’s age was not correlated with the gender stereotypic relationship : Do you think William can get the doll?Student Shu (Shu): Yes, because he likes it very much.T: How would you feel if everyone laughed at you and call you sissy?Student Fu (Fu): Terrible.Student Yu (Yu): Sad.Student Ting (Ting): Lonely.Student Yen (Yen): Unhappy.T: So, do you think toys should be divided into girl toys and boy toys?Class: No.Student Lin (Lin): No, no need! Robots are not necessarily for boys, and dolls are not necessarily for girls.Student Li (Li): No, it does not matter.PiggybookT: Would you be angry if you were Mrs. Piggott? What would you do? What should boys do?Shu: Boys should help!Lin: (Mrs. Piggott) Do not do anything! (Angry)Ting: I’ll be angry, but I would not run away from home.Student Chun: Boys should help with housework.Student Ching: Boys should practice doing housework.Fu: Boys will become pigs if they don’t do housework!During the intervention, children in the experimental group, regardless of gender, could empathize with the protagonist’s problems and troubles in the picture book. Additionally, they expressed flexible opinions about the appearance, personality traits, toys, occupation, and housework division of labor for specific genders, which was quite different from the gender stereotypic thoughts in the pretest.χ2 = 45.67, df = 2, p < 0.001). Compared with children in the control group, children in the experimental group were less likely to choose the gender stereotypic relationship but more likely to choose the script and other relationships.Although the gender stereotypic relationship was still the most common choice, the percentage in the experimental group was lower than from the pretest (from 87.5% to 73.21%) in B = 0.405, Wald(1) = 7.764, p = 0.005, odds ratio (OR) = 1.499. In other words, for children who chose the gender stereotypic relationship both before and after the study, his/her father’s educational level was 1.499 times more likely to be above junior college. When father’s educational level was controlled for the groups  as the dependent variable, only AA reached a significant level, B = 0.438, Wald(1) = 5.124, p = 0.024, odds ratio (OR) = 1.55. That is to say, children who chose the gender stereotypic relationship are 1.55 times more likely to be from the control group and had less chance to alter his/her own stereotype patterns.To understand whether the change in children’s classification choice is related to the group or other background factors, we re-coded each question according to the choices before (pretest) and after (posttest) intervention, with the gender stereotypic relationship as A, the script relationship as B, and other relationships as C. If A in pretest and B in posttest were chosen, then the code was AB. In this way, nine new variables  were generated. We also examined the correlations with background variables such as parents’ educational level and job because they might be factors to control for in the regression analysis. The results showed that there were no significant differences in mother’s educational level and parents’ job. However, in father’s educational level, when binary logistic regression was used to analyze the nine new variables’ predictive effect with father’s educational level  as the dependent variable, AA reached a significant level, Classification of the gender stereotypic relationship. Of the 208 paired choices made by the children in the control group, 96.15% were the gender stereotypic relationship, which was higher than that of children in both groups (87.5%) before intervention. The reasons given by the children in the control group reflected gender stereotypic knowledge, such as “girls are suitable for sweeping the floor and boys like to play King Kong.” Only eight paired choices were not of the gender stereotypic relationship. Six out of these eight responses were from the same girl, whose responses showed that she remembered the script relationship before intervention, such as “both (toy car and toy kitchen) can be found in toy stores,” and “they (brooms and heavy box) are all sweeping supplies.” The girl’s mum left home, then her dad went to work, and her brother went to school, so only she was left at home. Then, her brother told her to stay at home and take care of the house. However, the house was messy. He asked her to clean it, and then she did. (Girl and Broom)Compared with children in the control group, those in the experimental group chose the gender stereotypic relationship (73.21%) for more diversified reasons, such as explaining the relationship between gender and objects with narrations rich in plot:Alternatively, they may admit that both genders can be associated with the object, showing better gender stereotype flexibility, but choose a gender stereotypic relationship because a gender is more commonly associated with the object. For example, one girl paired Boy and Robot and told the assessor, “Because boys can also play with dolls, but boys more often play with robots.”Classification of the script and other relationships. Of the 224 responses given by children in the experimental group, 60 were not the gender stereotypic relationship, accounting for about 1/4. Some children quoted the discussion content in classroom activities to explain their classification reasons.Because in The Paper Bag Princess, she... She found the paper bag that was not burned by the fire dragon. Then, she put it on. However, the prince did not like her. She still went home happily. (T: Why?) Because some people can also use (pointing to tie), like you did last time, right? (Doll + Tie)The GEC intervention showed that at least 10 out of 28 children in the experimental group changed their perspectives about genders. The following are the reasons stated by several children on the same task item before and after the second session of the intervention.Girls like to sweep the floor. (Girl + Brooms)In that... Uh... because sometimes the girl will use that (heavy box) to carry things. (Girl + Heavy Box)Mothers give birth to babies. Because fathers are at work, and mothers are on vacation so that they can stay with their babies. (Baby + Mother)Dad does not have to go to the company; he can also... sometimes spend time with the baby. (Baby + Father)Boys love playing with toy robots. (Boy+ Robot)Because you have talked about William’s Doll, and then it is okay for a little boy to want a doll! (Boy + Doll)From the children’s responses, we can see that some children’s gender stereotyping was changed after intervention, indicating that they started to have more flexible views on the appearance and preferences of a particular gender. For example, “girls do not necessarily need to wear skirts, they can also wear trousers,” “boys can also play with dolls,” or “girls also look beautiful with neckties.” The intervention had the same effect on changing the stereotype of the division of labor between males and females, for example, “mom can also work,” “dad can also take care of the baby,” or “because mom can also help with (hammer).” They believe that men and women should share housework. r = −0.345, p = 0.072).We used a binary logistic regression to examine the relation between AA and the children’s genders  in the experimental group. The results showed that there was no correlation between the children’s genders and their classification choices. A Pearson product–moment correlation analysis of the relationship between children’s age in months and their classification choice of AA showed that there was a negative but not significant correlation (We examined the effects of cognitive-based interventions, GEC, on loosening children’s gender stereotyping. The results show that, after the GEC intervention, the gender stereotypic relationship was chosen less although it was still the primary classification choice of the children, which shows that gender stereotyping is a vital classification basis for preschool children. As Banse et al. concluded, individuals gradually shape their views on genders, and corresponding abilities and characteristics through observation and socialization from birth . TherefoWhen analyzing children’s reasons for their gender stereotypic relationship choice, two subtypes emerged to echo the concepts of stereotype knowledge and stereotype flexibility. The first subtype is the inclination to associate gender with specific behavior, traits, and activity tendency, which shows that children have high gender stereotyping knowledge. The second is the restrictive views of gender and behavioral ability, which shows that children have low gender stereotyping flexibility. As previously suggested, gender stereotypic knowledge is at high levels, and gender stereotype flexibility just begins to show at kindergarten age . Oliver Button is a Sissy; William’s Doll; Piggybook; and Paper Bag Princess. When discussing these picture books, children could emphasize the feelings of the protagonists and put forward more flexible views on gender roles and behavior. Especially for the male characters, dresses and activities that were initially attributed to being exclusive to men were loosened. Children gradually accepted the ideas that men can wear long hair, wear makeup, tie bows, play with dolls, and do housework. The proportion of children in the experimental group choosing the gender stereotypic relationship decreased after the GEC intervention. On the contrary, the proportion of children in the control group choosing the gender stereotypic relationship increased to more than 95%. Statistical analysis shows that those who chose the gender stereotypic relationship were mostly children in the control group. That being said, the GEC intervention has a direct influence on breaking children’s gender stereotyping. The GEC intervention was carried out for eight weeks in classroom activities with gender equality picture books, intending to provide gender views different from children’s life experiences, including their observations of parents’ roles in the home. The open questions about the stories provide opportunities for children to share, discuss, and reflect their views. During the intervention, children were especially sensitive to the plots about gender-based bullying or unequal treatment on the protagonists in the picture books, such as The effect of the GEC intervention can also be seen in the reasons given by children for choosing the gender stereotypic relationship, which is different between the two groups. The answers of the children in the control group show more rigid gender stereotyping. However, children in the experimental group seemed to be implicitly influenced by the picture books, and they needed to emphasize the rationality of their choices through laborious and complex narratives or admitted that these behaviors can be seen in both genders but are just more familiar with a particular gender. While children in the experimental group expressed gender equality views in the discussion process, 75% still chose the gender stereotypic relationship. The dissociation between children’s knowledge of versus the belief in a social stereotype is best explained in dual-process models of social cognition. These models consider that the activation of associative knowledge structures in memory is independent of the propositional validation of activated information . Thus, cOverall, the proportion of children in the experimental group choosing the script or other relationships increased to 1/4, reflecting the direct influence of the GEC intervention. Children in the experimental group quoted picture books to explain the reasons for their classification or engaged in more flexible discussions with various expressions, such as “boys can also…” and “girls can also…,” which reflects their changes of gender stereotyping. The remarked effect of the GEC intervention was probably achieved from the prolonged and active engagement in discussion of gender issues, with which children were able to reconstruct their gender cognition. This study further explored the relationship between children’s classification choice and background factors, including children’s gender and age in months. Three types of classification choices were compared, and the classification choice of AA was used for comparison.Children’s gender was significantly correlated with the three classification choices. The proportion of girls choosing the gender stereotypic relationship was more than 90%, which was higher than that of boys. The finding may be because girls have an understanding of gender earlier than boys ; thus, gThere were no significant correlations between children’s age in months and their classification choices. These results may be due to the small range in participants’ age and the small sample size. According to a meta-analysis of Signorella et al. , childreThe participants in the present study were kindergarten children, and picture pairing was used to facilitate children’s understanding and operation. However, the picture content design was limited to explicit features that were easily visualized, such as toys, professional work, and family affairs. In future research, measurement tools containing implicit aspects, such as personality traits, can be developed to gain a more in-depth and comprehensive understanding of children’s gender stereotyping. We also found that, although the experimental group children were enthusiastically engaged in gender equality conversations, less than one-third of them made different choices after the GEC intervention. The limited impact may be related to the fact that the intervention period lasted not long enough to overturn their gender views learned from their family experiences. Therefore, in addition to prolonging the intervention time, discussions can also be extended from picture book stories to children’s original family situations, which may help young children connect gender equality views with their real family life experience.The GEC intervention had a significant effect on loosening children’s gender stereotyping. Not only did the children introspectively assess the appropriateness of a gender stereotype during the discussion after shared reading of picture books but also they chose less gender stereotypic relationship than that of the control group. Even if the children in the experimental group chose gender stereotypic classifications, their reasons were quite different from those in the control group, including taxonomic, thematic, and script systems. Some children used laborious and complicated narratives to emphasize their choice’s appropriateness. Others said both genders could match, but they still chose the pairs in line with the gender stereotype according to their life experiences. Our results indicated that, the higher the paternal education level, the stronger the children’s gender stereotypes. We speculated that social desirability tendencies appear to be strongest among people with higher levels of education because of their greater awareness of what are appropriate responses . FathersThe current study provides evidence that kindergarten children can learn new gender concepts from various cognitive training even though this age of children is in the most stable period of gender stereotyping. The GEC implemented by script relationship training seems to entice children to rethink about the correlation between pictures from a perspective other than gender stereotyping.