Preferences for sex of children among U.S. couples.
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Adolescent↗
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An evolutionary perspective of sex-typed toy preferences: pink, blue, and the brain.
Large sex differences in children's toy preferences are attributed to gender group identification and social learning. The proposal outlined in this paper is that contemporary conceptual categories of "masculine" or "feminine" toys are also influenced by evolved perceptual categories of male-preferred and female-preferred objects. Research on children exposed prenatally to atypical levels of androgens and research on typically developing infants suggest sex-dimorphic preferences exist for object features, such as movement or color/form. The evolution and neurobiology of mammalian visual processing--and recent findings on sex-dimorphic toy preferences in nonhuman primates--suggest further that an innate bias for processing object movement or color/form may contribute to behaviors with differential adaptive significance for males and females. In this way, preferences for objects such as toys may indicate a biological preparedness for a "masculine" or "feminine" gender role-one that develops more fully as early perceptual preferences are coupled with object experiences imposed by contemporary gender socialization.
Brain↗
Sex differences in dehydroepiandrosterone metabolism in the rat: different plasma levels following ingestion of DHEA-supplemented diet and different metabolite patterns in plasma, bile and urine.
Plasma dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and DHEA sulfate levels were determined by an enzyme immunoassay in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats fed a diet containing 0.6% or 0.3% DHEA. A significant difference in DHEA plasma levels was observed in male and female animals. In male rats, total DHEA plasma concentrations were found in the range of 0.4-1.5 microgram/ml (0.6% DHEA chow) and 0.3-0.5 microgram/ml (0.3% DHEA chow). In female animals several times higher DHEA plasma levels were determined: 17.5-33 micrograms/ml (0.6% DHEA chow) and 8.3-14.8 micrograms/ml (0.3% DHEA chow). DHEA was present in rat plasma of both sexes preferably as the sulfate conjugate. Significant sex differences were also found in the DHEA metabolite patterns obtained by TLC separation of extracts from plasma, bile and urine following administration of 3H-DHEA. In female rats, DHEA is present predominantly as the sulfate conjugate in considerable amounts in all materials investigated, whereas in male rats polar metabolites dominate in the patterns.
Animals↗
Women's preferences for gynecological examiners: sex versus role.
Preferences for gynecological examiners are studied in a cervical cancer screening program. Sex appears to be a more important factor in preference than the professional level of the examiner. Female health professionals were preferred by a majority of patients; the distinction between physicians and nurse practitioners was a much less important factor. Female examiners were particularly important to low-income and Mexican-American participants, and to women who were reluctant to participate in screening programs.
Female↗
[Social analysis of population growth in third world countries].
Population growth in developing countries is analyzed within the context of social development. The study is presented in two sections. "The first section discusses the population growth phenomenon in general and the differences between population growth rates of third world countries and other countries. The second section explores social dimensions of [the] population growth phenomenon in third world countries." Consideration is given to the relationships between fertility and socioeconomic status and to the impact of social class on desired family size and marriage age. The institution of the family, and societal values as they affect the status of women, sex preferences, and male dominance, are also emphasized. (summary in ENG)
Culture↗
Breastfeeding decline in urban China: an exploratory study.
"Retrospective data collected in two urban neighborhoods of Tianjin, People's Republic of China, reveal a decline in the rate and duration of breastfeeding since the mid-1930's.... The evidence indicates that breastfeeding declined as women became involved in work outside the home, as they adopted a form of postmarital residence that separated them from other relatives, as income increased, and as their rural origins decreased. No evidence was found to indicate a relationship between breastfeeding and parity or sex preferences."
Asia↗
Age structure and sex-biased mortality among Herero pastoralists.
Details of the population pyramid of living Herero and Mbanderu of Botswana suggest that infant and childhood mortality of males has been substantially greater than that of females. Direct tests from reproductive histories show that the hazard ratio is approximately 3 to 1 in favor of female survival in infancy and 2 to 1 in childhood. This biased mortality began in about 1960 in concert with recovery from infertility. A model of asymmetric fitness benefits between siblings is weakly supported. Logistic regression shows that heterogeneity among mothers explains much of the mortality of children under 2 years of age. A direct test for heterogeneity provides strong support for the hypothesis. Field methods appropriate for anthropologists are contrasted with those that are standard in demography. Finally, a contrast between these data and those from south Asia suggests that strong sex preferences may exist without being culturally articulated. Cultural norms do not necessarily coincide with behavior.
Age Factors↗
The development of sex role stereotypes in the third year: relationships to gender labeling, gender identity, sex-typed toy preference, and family characteristics.
The onset and development of preschoolers' awareness of sex role stereotypes, gender labeling, gender identity, and sex-typed toy preference were explored in 26-, 31-, and 36-month-old children. Gender labeling, gender identity, sex-typed toy preferences, and awareness of adult sex role differences were observed in significantly more 26-month-old children than would have been expected by chance. Verbal gender labeling was observed in a majority of 26-month-olds, while verbal and nonverbal gender identity were observed in a majority of 31-month-olds. Nonverbal gender labeling and awareness of adult sex role differences were observed in a majority of children by 36 months. No evidence of awareness of sex differences in children's toys was found in the majority of children at any age. Awareness of sex role differences in children's toys was not related to awareness of adult sex role differences. Brighter children were more aware of adult sex role differences. Sex-typed toy preference was not related to awareness of sex role differences but was related to gender identity. Predictors of sex role development included the mothers' employment, and the father's personality traits, attitudes toward women, and sex-typed activities in the home. Implications for theories of early sex role development are discussed.
Awareness↗
Socioeconomic determinants of fertility in China: a microeconometric analysis.
"This paper reports the first set of estimates of the socioeconomic determinants of fertility in China using micro-data available from China's 1985 In-Depth Fertility Survey. Based on existing microeconomic theories of fertility, an econometric model was specified and estimated. The results indicate that even after age, marriage duration and child mortality are taken into account, education level of the woman, occupational status of the husband, the place of former and current residence, sex preference for boys, durable goods ownership, and family structure affect fertility."
Age Factors↗
Patient preference for genders of health professionals.
Preferences for physicians' gender is an obvious and well documented example of considerations of patients' attitudes. But research carried out in this field is rather limited to the domain of family medicine. This article describes preferences for 13 different health professions: surgeons, neurologists, anaesthetists, internists, general practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, hospital and district nurses, home helps, gynaecologists and midwives. Our investigation also concerns the reasons for people's preferences. In February 1993 a self-administered survey was completed and returned by 961 out of 1113 (response 86%) participants of the Dutch Health Care Consumers Panel, a panel resulting from a random sample of Dutch households. On a range of different health professions a varying minority of patients prefer a care provider of a particular gender. There are virtually no sex preferences for the more "instrumental" health professions (e.g. surgeons, anaesthetists). Gender preferences are stronger for those health professions more likely engaged in intimate and psychosocial health problems (e.g. gynaecologists and GPs). Preferences expressed do not relate to sex stereotypes of gender differences in instrumentality, expertise, efficiency, consultation length, and personal interest. The majority of persons who prefer female health professionals indicate that they talk more easily to females than to males, and feel more at ease during (internal) examination by females than by males. Persons who prefer male health professionals use the same reasons in favour of males. The discussion relates to gender differences in the communication style of male and female physicians.
Choice Behavior↗
Pedophilia and heterosexuality vs. homosexuality.
In the context of a search for testable etiological theories of pedophilia, the relationship of pedophilia to partner sex preference was investigated. The proportional prevalences of gynephilia and androphilia were compared with the proportional prevalences of sexual offenders victimizing female children and of such offenders against male children. Since pedophilia either does not exist at all in women, or is extremely rare, only men were included in the study. We derived the proportional prevalence of androphilia from a review of the main pertinent studies, including Gebhard's reassessment of the study by Kinsey et al. particularly of the section on gynephilia vs. androphilia. The numbers of heterosexual vs. homosexual offenders against children were derived from the studies by Mohr et al., by Gebhard et al., and from a group of 457 sex offenders against children seen in the course of several years at the Department of Behavioural Sexology of the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry. There was a large difference between the proportion of prevalences of heterosexual vs. homosexual offenders against children on the one hand and the proportional prevalences of gynephilia vs. androphilia, on the other. This difference suggests that the development of erotically preferred partner sex and partner age are not independent of each other and that in pedophilia, the development of heterosexuality or homosexuality is brought about by factors different from those operative in the development of androphilia or gynephilia.
Adult↗
Attitudes of men towards family planning in Mbeya region, Tanzania: a rural-urban comparison of qualitative data.
Family planning programmes in Tanzania date back to the 1950s. By the early 1990s, however, only 5-10% of women of childbearing age used contraceptives in the country. Low contraceptive prevalence in Tanzania is reportedly attributable to men's opposition to family planning. This paper employs focus groups to explore the role of Tanzanian men in family planning. More specifically, it presents a rural-urban comparison of the attitudes of men in Mbeya region, Tanzania, to family size preference, sex composition, partners' communication on family planning matters and contraceptive behavior. Findings indicate that men express positive attitudes towards fertility-regulating methods. There is, moreover, little rural-urban variation in male attitudes towards family planning in the study area. Possible reasons for this normative convergence (including structural similarities and rural-urban migration between the two communities) are discussed.
Adolescent↗
Age preferences for same- and opposite-sex partners.
Preferences for age of partners of heterosexual and homosexual men and women were investigated. Personal advertisements were collected from newspapers in the United States and analyzed for the difference between the age of the advertiser and the age of the preferred partner. Heterosexual men tended to seek women younger than themselves, whereas women sought partners near their own age or older. The preferences of homosexual men and women were similar to those of heterosexuals, although more homosexuals stated a preference for a partner younger than themselves.
Adolescent↗
Dog paw preference shows lability and sex differences.
Paw preferences in domestic dogs were studied using three different behavioural tests, recording frequency, duration and latency of paw use. No overall population tendency to right- or left-paw preference was seen on any of the tests, nor could a sub-population of handed dogs be detected. This failure to replicate previous reports that male dogs tend to use their left paws while females use their right was counterbalanced by a significant tendency for male dogs to use their left paw when initially presented with one test, and for the latency of left paw use to be significantly shorter than that for right paw use on these initial presentations. This significant effect disappeared with repeated presentation of the test, and was not present in females. We conclude that behavioural lateralisation appears to be a labile category in dogs, and may be related to brain hemispheric effects in responding to novel stimuli.
Animals↗
What factors are associated with parents' desire to know the sex of their unborn child?
BACKGROUND: Parents feel strongly about whether or not to learn the sex of their fetus. We sought to determine which factors are significantly associated with parents' desire to know or not to know the fetal sex during a prenatal ultrasound. METHODS: All women undergoing prenatal ultrasound examinations, except for those with suspected failed pregnancies, were invited to answer a questionnaire at an outpatient referral center for diagnostic ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology in Boston, Massachusetts. The survey asked about demographic factors, current pregnancy, and past pregnancies, and an open-ended question about whether and why the parents wished to learn, or did not learn, the sex of their fetus. Factors significantly associated with parents' desire to learn the fetal sex prenatally were determined and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 1,340 questionnaires were completed. Overall, 761/1,302 (58%) of mothers and 747/1,295 (58%) of fathers learned or planned to learn the fetal sex before delivery. Factors most associated with wanting to learn the fetal sex were conceiving accidentally, finding out the sex in a previous pregnancy, not planning to breastfeed, influence of sex on future childbearing plans, planning a move or renovation dependent on sex, and specific parental sex preference. Demographic factors most associated with wanting to learn the fetal sex were father without full-time job, lower household income, unwed mother, maternal age less than 22 or greater than 40 years, no college degree, race other than white, and religion other than Catholic. CONCLUSIONS: Specific demographic and socioeconomic characteristics predicted whether or not parents chose to know the sex of their unborn child. Families in which the pregnancy was unplanned, those in which fetal sex would influence living arrangements or future childbearing plans, and those of lower socioeconomic status wished to know the sex more frequently. Further study is needed to understand parents' motivations underlying the desire to know or not know fetal sex before delivery.
Adult↗
Sex guilt and preferences for illegal drugs among drug abusers.
This study investigated the relationship between sex guilt and drug preferences. Seventy polydrug users completed a drug preference inventory and the Mosher Forced-Choice Sex Guilt Subscale. Results indicated that individuals who prefer sedatives are higher in sex guilt than either individuals who prefer stimulants or individuals with no definite preference.
Adolescent↗
Patient sex role and preference for a male or female physician.
A study was undertaken to test whether a patient's sex role, as measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory, is associated with preference for a male or female physician. One hundred ninety-three patients completed a physician preference survey and the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Thirty-six percent of patients preferred a physician of a specific sex. For women, sex role was associated with preference for a female physician (chi 2 = 16.14, P less than .01). Women with an androgynous sex role who gave a preference always chose a female physician; three fourths of women with an undifferentiated sex role who gave a preference always chose a female physician. Regardless of sex role, men who gave a preference always chose a male physician. For women, these findings support the hypothesis that sex role is associated with preference for a female physician.
Adult↗
Sex differences in color preferences among an elderly sample.
The purpose of the study was to assess differences in color preferences between the sexes. A sample of 193 retirees were asked to report their favorite colors. The pattern of frequencies for preferred color differed as a function of sex. Blue was chosen as the most preferred color by both sexes. Women preferred black and purple more than men did. Moreover, the men preferred red over pink, whereas the women preferred red and pink equally. The rank order of color preferences for this elderly group were very similar to the findings of Silver, et al. who sampled young adults in 1988.
Aged↗