This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Children can be hard on a relationship, but some kids can bring parents closer together. Research from Rutgers University has found that often, it is girls who inspire closer parental bonds.
In a study published in Personality and Individual Differences, scholars at Rutgers Business School's Center for Women in Business report that fathers of daughters show higher levels of attachment, commitment, trust and intimacy toward the child's mother than fathers of sons. "Having a daughter appears to be protective of the primary parent relationship," said Kristina Durante, professor and research fellow at the Center for Women in Business and a co-author of the study. "When men have daughters, it alters their psychologies in interesting ways, including, as we found, higher levels of commitment to the mother." Fathers play an important role in the development of girls' self-esteem.
Past research shows that fathers also shape their daughters' broader expectations about men's reliability and availability in long-term relationships. Drawing on this knowledge, the Rutgers team wondered whether having a daughter increases men's tendency to favor long-term commitments, signaling to daughters that male investment is reliable. To test their theory, the scholars conducted three surveys of nearly 1,700 parents throughout the U.S.
In the first survey, they asked fathers of daughters under the age of 18 about the quality of their relationship with the child's mother. In the second survey, the researchers reversed the script, asking mothers of daughters about their perception of the fathers' behaviors. The third survey was designed to rule out pre-existing views about relationships and gender.
Soon-to-be parents were recruited during the last trimester of pregnancy, and questions were phrased to determine whether differences in fathers' behaviors were present before birth or if they emerged after they became fathers. "Fathers of daughters are not necessarily better dads, but they are perceived, both individually and by the child's mother, as better at being there for their partner," said Krystal Duarte, a postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Women in Business and lead author of the study. Why this might be true is unclear, but Duarte and Durante have several theories.
For one, the effect may come down to what fathers are teaching, even unintentionally. "Fathers are often a daughter's first close look at what to expect from a man in a relationship," said Duarte. "If a father is showing up for the child's mother, being attentive, supportive, committed, that becomes the daughter's working model for what a good partner looks like.
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