Parental preference for boys ‘can damage girls psychologically’

A new study has highlighted the potentially serious impact a parental preference for boys can have on the wellbeing of their female offspring.

Led by the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman in Malaysia, the research targeted the Chinese community in Malaysia, as there is an ingrained male preference within this demographic that has resulted in an imbalanced gender ratio at birth.

Speaking to more than 800 Chinese Malaysian children, it was shown that perceived parental sex discrimination, happiness and self-esteem were negatively and significantly related.

Daughters who felt their parents preferred sons were less happy and generally had lower self-esteem, whereas no such effect was seen among males. This is a potentially significant issue, as girls in many parts of the world are living in cultures where sons are preferred.

Poh-Chua Siah, from the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, said: "This report suggests that parental preference for sons did have a significant psychological impact on daughters, so more effort should be invested to analyse the consequences of the cultural preference for sons."

Further studies could potentially take interviews, observations and input from parents into account, as well as speaking to children in greater depth.