Shang Zijuan, Chi Baihui, Liu Ze
School of Marxism, Chang'an University, Xi'an, China.
School of Humanities, Chang'an University, Xi'an, China.
Front Psychol. 2023 Jan 4;13:1051638. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1051638. eCollection 2022.
The gender imbalance in China has a long history, and the consequences have begun to emerge, threatening sustainable population development. Against the backdrop of a persistently high sex ratio at birth, the paper introduces the theory of attitude structure to construct an analytical framework explaining the influencing factors of son preference and re-examining the son preference culture.
Based on the micro-level data from Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Shaanxi Province, this paper adopts a binary logistics model to analyzes the impacts of three cognitive factors on son preference.
The results show that surname inheritance, the utility of elderly care, and the social value in the boy utility evaluation are the main influencing factors in the preference for a son. Social gender assessment, perception of gender imbalance, personal income, education level, health status, and the number of existing children individually correlate with son preference. After comparing the two factors of boy utility evaluation and gender imbalance perception, it is discovered that after China enters a gender-imbalanced society, the perception of gender imbalance effectively reduces the preference for sons, and the son preference is the result of rational choice in people's fertility process.
Based on the above research, the paper proposes policy recommendations at both macro and micro levels from the standpoint of public governance.
中国的性别失衡由来已久，其后果已开始显现，威胁到人口的可持续发展。在出生性别比持续居高不下的背景下，本文引入态度结构理论构建一个分析框架，用以解释重男轻女观念的影响因素并重新审视重男轻女文化。
基于江西、广西、贵州和陕西省的微观层面数据，本文采用二元逻辑模型分析三种认知因素对重男轻女观念的影响。
结果表明，姓氏传承、养老效用以及男孩效用评价中的社会价值是重男轻女观念的主要影响因素。社会性别评价、性别失衡认知、个人收入、教育水平、健康状况以及现有子女数量分别与重男轻女观念相关。在比较男孩效用评价和性别失衡认知这两个因素后发现，中国进入性别失衡社会后，性别失衡认知有效降低了对男孩的偏好，重男轻女观念是人们生育过程中理性选择的结果。
基于上述研究，本文从公共治理的角度提出了宏观和微观层面的政策建议。
