Girls make their fathers liberal?

posted at 5:16 pm on May 25, 2009 by Pundette
[ Culture ]   

Fascinating: Why having daughters makes fathers more likely to agree with Left-wing views

The study has yet to be published, but seems to be based on studying politicians’ voting records and correlating them with the births and sexes of their children. The article cites lots of irrelevant anecdotal evidence.

In an unpublished article to be submitted to an economics journal, the researchers wrote: ‘This paper provides evidence that daughters make people more Left-wing, while having sons, by contrast, makes them more Right-wing.’

Professor Oswald said: ‘As men acquire female children, those men gradually shift their political stance and become more sympathetic to the “female” desire for a larger amount for the public good.

I get it. The premise is that men don’t care about “the public good” (unless they’re influenced by daughters). And conservative principles aren’t based on what is good for society. They’re based on a lack of empathy. Ouch.

If the study is valid, I guess it would mean that men’s minds turn to mush when they have daughters.

Updated: Here’s a better post than mine on this story.

h/t: Hot Air

Cross-posted here.

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