The Study of Gender Preference for Offspring in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Chen Wan-Chen, 陳婉珍
• Other Authors: Chiueh Ya-wen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/53463779856845803303

碩士 === 國立新竹教育大學 === 社會科教育學系碩士班 === 101 === Every individual has his/her own value system, which is formed in a gradual, imperceptible way over a course of time. Therefore, the influence of an individual’s value system is stable, everlasting, and not prone to change (co-translated by Li, Li, and Chao, 1995) This study regards the preference over the gender of one’s offspring as a type of value, of which the formation process can be affected by factors such as society, culture and character. To measure the extent of influence that the social, cultural, and characteristic factors may bring to one’s preference over the gender of their offspring and whether this preference may change over time, this study cited samples from the questionnaires delivered in Phase 5 of the 2006 Taiwan Social Change Survey (2nd Family Group), and Phase 6 of the 2011 Taiwan Social Change Survey (2nd Family Group), with the software Limdep9.0 as statistical tool, in the hope of conducting empirical analysis through descriptive statistics and Binary Probit Model. It was discovered that those who more easily accept traditional concepts such as gender stereotypes, family values and filial cultural ideas are inclined to have preference over the gender of their offspring. People of this type are mostly older, married at a younger age, with lower educational and urbanization levels, having religious beliefs, and a larger number of sons. Yet among the aforementioned three factors discussed in this paper (social, cultural, characteristic), relevant variances of personal factor were insignificant; hence, this study concludes that the preference over the gender of their offspring is mainly affected by social and cultural factors, and personality is not a pivotal variable in this preference. In addition, it was found via empirical analysis that in the two questionnaires, except for the change of variables of “urbanization level” and “religious beliefs” from insignificant in 2006 to significant in 2011, and the change of variable of “giving up one’s dream to realize the wish of one’s parents” from insignificant in 2006 to insignificant in 2011, the influence of independent variable (including the 3 aforementioned variables) was consistent, with no structural alterations in the two empirical analytical results. In summation, the Taiwanese people’s preference over the gender of their offspring tends to be stable and unalterable; hence it requires long-time governmental promotion and educational power from schools to change this long-standing preference over the gender of our citizens’ offspring.