In our study, we found that the gender effect was
greatest for the observation items ‘‘begin to show interest
in using the potty/loo’’ (L1.3) and ‘‘gives notice when they
need to go to the loo’’ (L2.2.). The high level of coping
skills demonstrated by the girls for these observation items
may be influenced by both environmental factors (pedagogical
methods, the expectations of parents and kindergarten
teachers) and by physiological maturity (Schum
et al. 2002). According to Hessen (2005), the biological
differences between the genders cannot be excluded. He
regarded the differences between the skills of girls and
boys as a result of genetic dispositions that operate in
concert with the external environmental factors. In the
present study, the girls’ advanced mastery may stem from
the fact that they mature physically earlier than the boys, as
Schum et al. (2002) had claimed. Hessen argued that the
physiological aspect was difficult to separate from the
environmental factors that influence children’s development
and that the physical and the psychological aspects
are connected.