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Preference For Male Children In Japanese And American Society, Joyce Aschenbrenner

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

Is a preference for children of a given sex in a society primarily a result of cultural values, of social requirements or of individual needs? Although it is impossible completely to separate these types of influence, since social change may modify cultural traditions, and social interaction and cultural values influence individual needs. perhaps some assessment of the relative importance of various social and cultural phenomena involved in sex preference in a society can be attempted.

The present study is an exploratory treatment of the nature and degree of sex preference in two societies - Japanese and American - and a …