The Daughter Effect: Does Raising Daughters Influence Fathers’ Gender-Related Attitudes in the Workplace?

Abstract

Studies published under the term ’daughter effect’ suggest that men’s gender attitudes develop in a more egalitarian direction as
a result of fathering a daughter. In a study with 184 working fathers, the expected daughter effect can only be demonstrated for fathers with a close father-child relationship and only at the level of explicit attitudes. The results question a general daughter effect and argue for the need to consider moderating variables. In a second study, 232 participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions (perspective-taking: daughter vs. son vs. control group) to test whether an experimental production of the daughter effect is possible through a mental perspective-taking manipulation. Consistent with the hypotheses, participants who took the perspective of an imagined daughter showed more egalitarian gender attitudes. Theoretical implications regarding the underlying theoretical mechanism and practical implications for developing diversity training in the corporate context are discussed.

Keywords: daughter effect; diversity; gender stereotypes; perspective-taking