New research claims that you can be a mama's boy or a daddy's girl all day long, but in reality, fathers prefer sons and mothers prefer daughters.
While they praise particular characteristics in their sons – seeing them as being "funny", "cheeky" and "playful" – mothers admit that they are likely to denigrate their daughters for showing similar attributes, referring to them instead as "stroppy", or "argumentative".
Gender inequality starts even before birth. Across the world, would-be parents tend to prefer their first (or their only) child to be a boy rather than a girl or to have more sons than daughters (1–8). This results in millions of “missing girls” at birth due to sex-selective abortions (9–11).
Whilst parents may not intend to treat sons and daughters differently, research shows that they do. Sons appear to get preferential treatment in that they receive more helpful praise, more time is invested in them, and their abilities are often thought of in higher regard.
Gallup surveyed Americans 10 times from 1941 to 2011, and their answers remained virtually unchanged: If they could have one child, 40 percent would prefer a boy and 28 percent a girl (the rest showed no preference).
However, a 2018 Gallup poll found that 54% of Americans said boys were easier to raise than girls, while only 27% said girls were easier, and 14% said there was no difference. Some research suggests girls are better communicators in the younger years, but this may change later on.
Statistically speaking, daughters win the day, but sons win dad by a nose. These findings are somewhat surprising, given the prevailing theory that preference for sons or daughters is based less on the sex of the parents than on their socioeconomic status.
A recent study has found that it's not the youngest child that's liked the most. It's actually the eldest! While eldest children around the world have had to be the example for their younger siblings and parents being extra strict on them, it looks like there was a good reason.
WASHINGTON — Fathers with toddler daughters are more attentive and responsive to those daughters' needs than fathers with toddler sons are to the needs of those sons, according to brain scans and recordings of the parents' daily interactions with their kids.
According to a survey conducted by British parenting website Bounty, two girls are considered the best combination for parents to have a happy and harmonious family life. In their study, they surveyed 2,116 parents who had children aged 16 and under.
RESULTS: There was a significant offspring gender preference in all cases, and the direction of the bias depended on the respondent's gender. That is, men on average preferred sons while women preferred daughters.
“Parents tend to favour a child that is most like them, reminds them of themselves, or represents what they view as a success of parenting,” she says. “Younger children are most likely to have been raised by a parent who, over time and experience, is more confident and skilled in their child-raising.”
Emotionally absent or cold mothers can be unresponsive to their children's needs. They may act distracted and uninterested during interactions, or they could actively reject any attempts of the child to get close. They may continue acting this way with adult children.
Mothers are more critical of their daughters than their sons, according to a 2,500-strong survey by parenting website Netmums.
The findings show that mothers are twice as likely to be critical of their daughters than their sons (21% compared to 11.5%). And over a fifth (21.5%) said they let their sons get away with more, compared to 17.8% who said the same about their daughters.
Predivorce family dynamics: In most intact families, sons and daughters are closer to their mothers than to their fathers. This does not mean the children and their fathers love one another less.
Right from the age of innocence, she becomes her perfect partner who tags along and commits even those things that you both know could incur your wife's and her mom's wrath. She even becomes your favourite person while watching sports, playing games, going on adventures, repairing your bike/car and even partying.
Of course it has its ups and downs (ahem, the teenage years), but there's no denying that the mother-daughter bond is something special. And now, scientists agree. According to a study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, the relationship between mothers and daughters is the strongest of all parent-child bonds.
Parents with two children who admit to having a favourite overwhelmingly (62%) prefer the youngest. Only 30% say they prefer the eldest.
While the youngest sibling is usually the funniest kid, mom and dad favor the youngest for a reason that might surprise you. According to a new study conducted by Brigham Young University's School of Family Life, the youngest sibling of the family tends to be mom and dad's favorite child because of perception.
However, there is increasing evidence that the father-child relationship is just as strong as the mother-child bond, as long as there is enough interaction between dads and their kids from an early age.
About 40% of parents, across the decades, have told researchers that if they could only have one child, they would want a boy. Only a consistent 20% to 30% has chosen a girl or no preference.
A subsequent body of research, building over the years in the journal Evolution & Human Behavior, has delivered results in conflict with the 1995 paper, indicating that young children resemble both parents equally. Some studies have even found that newborns tend to resemble their mothers more than their fathers.
Younger adults, and those with less education, are more inclined toward boys, but the main distinction is between men and women. Women are split — 31 percent want a girl, 30 percent a boy — but 43 percent of men prefer a son, to 24 percent who prefer a daughter.