Sexual segregation is a common phenomenon observed during the interaction between children in different cultures and social groups. The present work studied sexual segregation under an ethological view aiming to understand the role of situational variables over the regulation of that behavior during play interactions. A group of 8-9 years old children from the Scout movement of Colatina/ES, Brazil, had their behaviors registered in a video cassette. Due to the possible changes in the numbers of participants during data collecting period (among 9 and 18), the analysis focused on the expressed behaviors in different contexts. The results showed that boys had a more agitated behavior pattern than girls. Girls showed up calmer during the contact between themselves and more agitated in some interactions with boys. Despite the differences, many kinds of contexts in which a closer contact between boys and girls, such as maintenance of non-agonistic interactions between both, were observed. Situational variables are discussed in the analysis of different behavioral categories, showing the importance of play style in the determination of sexual segregation.
Children; development; social interaction among children; sex-differences
