| Abstract: | Data from the 1973-74 Growth of Alberta Family Study were used to determine whether women who express a preference for sons versus daughters differ from each other in terms of selected characteristics. 67% of the 599 women surveyed indicated a preference for at least 1 child of each sex. However, the majority of those who wanted 3 children desired 2 sons and 1 daughter, indicating a slight son preference. Discriminant function analysis indicated the pull toward son preference was greater the higher the woman's education, the more sisters the wife has, and the higher the current family size and number of additional children expected. While the number of wife's sisters makes the greatest contribution to daughter preference among adolescent mothers, birth place (Canada) was most important among older women. Finally, it was shown that acceptance of traditional female roles was a significant discriminator among women with a strong sex preference and those with no sex preference at all. These findings suggest that sex preference may become an important factor in fertility decisions as family size continues to decrease. If sex predetermination were to become possible, an imbalance in the sex ratio is a likely result. |
