Children’s Numerical Estimation Is Biased by Male Informants More Than Female Informants

Sep 29, 2026

Numerical estimation is a foundational early math skill that forecasts later math achievement, yet children need years to connect nonsymbolic number representations with symbolic numbers. This study examines whether children’s social beliefs shape how they use numerical information from others, focusing on gender stereotypes linking men to better math. Using a numerical estimation task, 5–7-year-olds (N=198) favored male informants, even when female informants were accurate, in a domain-specific manner. Repeated exposure to inaccurate male estimates produced lasting changes after informants left.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages13

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Introduction

Gender Stereotypes Are Early-Emerging and Could Impact Children’s Learning

Summary

Developmental Science RESEARCH ARTICLE Children’s Numerical Estimation Is Biased by Male Informants More Than Female Informants Kathleen Cracknell1, 2 Julia Hauss1, 2 Miaofan Chen3 Robert Sierp2 Lin Bian4 Jinjing Wang (Jenny)1, 2 1 Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA 2 Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA 3 Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA 4 Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA Correspondence: Kathleen Cracknell ([kathleen.cracknell@rutgers.edu](kathleen.cracknell@rutgers.edu)) Julia Hauss (jmh616@scarletmail.rutgers.edu) Received: 1 August 2024 Revised: 24 October 2025 Accepted: 11 December 2025 Keywords:Approximate Number System | epistemic trust | estimation | gender bias | gender stereotype | numerical processing ABSTRACT Numerical estimation is one of the key early math skills and predicts children’s long-term math achievement. While children are born with an intuitive “number sense,” they do not form a mapping between nonverbal numerical representations and symbolic numbers until about 5 years of age. This protracted learning process is embedded in children’s interactions with other people, although little is known about how children’s existing social beliefs may influence how they receive numerical information from other people. Meanwhile, children in the United States develop a stereotype to associate men with being better at math at around 6 years of age. Does this gender stereotype influence how children receive numerical information from other people? Using a numerical estimation task, we showed 5-to 7-year-old children (N = 198; 93 girls; United States) competing answers from a male and a female informant before asking children to provide their own answer. We found that children’s answers were biased by the male informant more than the female, even when the female was accurate. This bias was domain-specific, as there was no difference in children’s performance on a memory control task. Furthermore, repeated exposure to inaccurate answers from a male informant (in contrast to accurate answers from a female informant) induced changes in children’s estimation even when the informants were no longer present. Therefore, gender stereotypes may have profound impacts on how children acquire and process numerical information. 1 Introduction Accurate acquisition and processing of numerical information is essential for success in the modern world, from understanding financial statements (Park and Cho 2019) to interpreting health statistics (Reyna et al. 2009) . While children are born with an intuitive “number sense”to process numerical information (Izard et al. 2009), they have to acquire the ability to map nonverbal numerical representations to symbolic numbers (Le Corre and Carey 2007), a process that is embedded in the social world and largely shaped by surrounding social agents (Silver and Libertus 2022) . Thus, sociocultural beliefs, such as cultural stereotypes, may affect children’s acquisition and processing of numerical information. In a series of studies, we tested whether informant gender impacts 5- to 7-year-old children’s (N = 198) acquisition and processing of numerical information. 1.1 Gender Stereotypes Are Early-Emerging and Could Impact Children’s Learning As early as age six, girls are less likely to attribute high intelligence to their own gender than boys (Bian et al. 2017) . At this same age, children are more likely to associate math abilities with boys This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2026 The Author(s). Developmental Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Developmental Scie

FAQs

What question does the study investigate about children’s numerical estimation?

The study tests whether gender stereotypes influence how children receive and use numerical information from male versus female informants.

How were the children’s estimates measured in the research?

Children completed a numerical estimation task while first competing answers from a male and a female informant, before providing their own answer.

What did the researchers find about bias from male versus female informants?

Children’s answers were biased toward the male informant more than the female informant, even when the female informant was accurate, and this effect was domain-specific.

Do effects persist after the informants are no longer present?

Yes. Repeated exposure to inaccurate answers from a male informant (relative to accurate answers from a female informant) changed children’s estimation performance even when the informants were absent.

Sep 29, 2026

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