Does having daughters affect political preferences? A high-powered meta-analysis of many surveys

Abstract

This study examines whether having daughters affects political preferences and if effects vary across European countries. We estimate effect sizes for 39 countries in the European Social Survey (n = 156,236) and aggregate estimates using random-effects meta-analysis, following a preregistered analysis plan. We find significant evidence that having daughters increases the preferences for gender equality and homosexual rights. However, the meta-analytic effect size estimates are small, with 2.6% (95% CI [1.0%, 4.3%]) and 1.9% (95% CI [0.8%, 3.0%]) of a standard deviation, respectively. The meta-analytic effects of having daughters on left-right political preferences and preferences for reduced income inequality are statistically indistinguishable from zero. The heterogeneity in the effects of having daughters across countries is low, with zero to small heterogeneity for three outcome measures and small to moderate heterogeneity for left-right political preferences, suggesting high generalizability of results across the included countries.