title: Intention versus behaviour in parental sex preferences among the Mukogodo of Kenya.
abstract: The relationship between parents' stated sex preferences for children and actual parental behaviour towards sons and daughters is examined among the Mukogodo, a group of traditional pastoralists in rural Kenya. Although their cultural values are male-centered and they tend to express a preference for sons, Mukogodo parents actually appear to be more solicitous of daughters, and the Mukogodo have a strongly female-biased childhood sex ratio. Studies of stated sex preferences should therefore be coupled with attempts to assess actual parental investment in sons and daughters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Texas A & M University, College Station.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cronk
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011247:Pregnancy; D012423:Rural Health; D012737:Sex Factors