Peculiarities of psychological boundaries of boys and girls of older preschool age

Abstract

Psychological boundaries, understood as a set of implicit and explicit rules and emotional and behavioral markers that separate the private domains of different individuals, provide variability in social interaction in older preschool children. The individualization of educational and caregiving practices requires considering gender differences; therefore, an exploratory study was conducted to examine psychological boundaries in boys and girls and to compare children’s and parents’ views on these boundaries. The study was carried out within a qualitative research framework using a projective technique and semi-structured interviews with parents and children. The “Your Home” method makes it possible to describe psychological boundaries according to different environmental states (calm, threat, interaction), boundary regulation, and the presence of internal and external supports (parents, peers, moral categories). It also enables the identification of individual boundary characteristics (openness, independence) and allows researchers to “materialize” the phenomenon, revealing qualitative gender-specific patterns. For boys, psychological boundaries tend to function as a stimulus to be challenged or overcome; they prefer visible and clearly marked boundaries. For girls, boundaries primarily serve to protect an already mastered space and are more closely tied to moral and behavioral norms. Metaphorically, boys “conquer the world,” whereas girls “inhabit the world.” Parents tend to evaluate children’s psychological boundaries in terms of their effectiveness – whether the child was able to defend their territory or viewpoint. Adults also note that boys’ boundaries appear more active and aggressive, whereas girls’ boundaries tend to be more passive and flexible.