Researchers at Rutgers University have found that fathers of daughters become more attached, supportive and committed partners almost as soon as their child is born, according to a new study examining nearly 1,700 parents.
Fathers who have daughters tend to become more loving, committed and supportive partners than those who have sons, according to new research from Rutgers University. The study, which pooled data from three separate pieces of research involving 1,694 parents from pregnancy through to several years after birth, found that so-called “girl dads” reported greater attachment to their partners and higher relationship satisfaction. The shift appeared to begin almost immediately after birth, researchers said, with the effect strongest while daughters were very young.
What the study found
According to the analysis, fathers of daughters were more likely to report feeling securely attached to their partners and were generally more satisfied in their relationships than fathers of sons. Mothers of daughters, in turn, reported receiving more affection, encouragement, fairness and support from their partners compared with mothers of sons. The researchers also found that fathers of daughters showed higher levels of relationship commitment and trust, alongside a decline in relationship anxiety following their child’s birth. By contrast, fathers of sons tended to report increased anxiety and lower relationship satisfaction during the same postnatal period.
Notably, mothers showed no equivalent shift based on their child’s sex, suggesting the effect is specific to fathers rather than a pattern shared by both parents. To isolate the impact of having a daughter versus a son, researchers examined parents with only one child, removing the influence of additional siblings from their analysis.
Possible explanations
The study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, outlines several possible explanations for the pattern. One is that fathers may instinctively regard a stable, supportive partnership as particularly beneficial for their daughters’ future wellbeing. Another is that having a daughter could trigger biological changes, such as shifts in hormone levels, that encourage nurturing and pair-bonding behaviour in fathers. The researchers also suggested social factors may play a role, with fathers of daughters potentially feeling more protective and developing a heightened sense of responsibility towards their family.
Lead author Dr Krystal Duarte suggested that fathers may become more invested in their relationships because they see themselves as their daughters’ first example of a reliable male partner, a dynamic that could go on to shape how those daughters approach relationships later in life.
A pattern that may shift over time
While the “girl dad” effect appears to be strongest during early childhood, the researchers noted that earlier studies have found couples with teenage daughters have, in some cases, shown higher rates of divorce than parents of teenage sons. This suggests the relationship dynamic linked to having a daughter may not remain constant as children grow older, and could instead evolve significantly through different stages of a child’s upbringing.
