Abstract

Background. The relevance of the study stems from the parents' need for navigating the rapidly changing children's toy market, which has evolved significantly over recent decades. This research focuses on the parents' attitudes toward the psychological and pedagogical expertise of children's toys and the types of labeling they consider when making purchase decisions.

Objectives. The study aims to determine whether parents' attitudes toward the psychological and pedagogical expertise of toys differ depending on their education level and age. It also investigates whether parents who pay attention to toy labeling consider psychological and pedagogical expertise to be necessary.

Study Participants. The study involved 42,864 parents: 41,551 women and 1,313 men from various regions of the Russian Federation.

Methods. The data was collected using a questionnaire survey of parents of preschoolers. Mathematical processing was carried out by means of Jamovi statistical program, using Chi-square criterion and z-criterion for independent samples.

Results. The analysis revealed that 70% of parents pay attention to toy labeling: the most important indicators for them are recommended age, environmental safety, and information about developmental qualities, whereas specialists' approval and country of origin are rated as least important. Approximately 65% of parents consider psychological and pedagogical toy expertise to be a necessary procedure, with the majority favoring mandatory forms of expertise. Interest in specific types of labels correlates with support for different expertise models: parents who focus on "specialist's approval" or "country of origin" are more likely to support mandatory and prohibitive expertise, while interest in "developmental qualities" correlates with support for a recommendatory form of expertise.

Conclusions. The study highlights the growing importance of toy labeling and psychological-pedagogical expertise for parents and underscores the need for further development of criteria and procedures of toy expertise in the contemporary socio-cultural context.