Replication Data for: Do Daughters Change Their Fathers? Evidence from the First-Daughter Effect in Japan

Family experiences—especially the gender of one’s children—can reshape parents’ political attitudes, challenging traditional models of political socialization. Existing research in advanced democracies documents the “first-daughter effect,” whereby fathers of first-born daughters express more egalitarian views on gender roles. However, evidence from more conservative or non-Western contexts remains scarce and inconclusive. This study examines whether the first-daughter effect occurs in Japan, a country characterized by stable democratic institutions but enduring gender inequality. Using nationally representative survey data from 2000 to 2018 and leveraging the quasi-random assignment of first-child sex, we show that Japanese fathers with first-born daughters exhibit more gender-egalitarian attitudes. They also express greater support for gender-equality policy reforms, such as dual-surname legislation. These effects are confined to gender-related domains and do not extend to broader political ideology or non-gender-related policy preferences. Our findings contribute to research on reverse political socialization by demonstrating that raising daughters can reshape core political attitudes, even within culturally conservative settings. This suggests that private family dynamics may serve as an underrecognized but powerful mechanism for promoting gender equality in public opinion.家庭经历——尤其是子女的性别——能够重塑父母的政治态度，这对传统政治社会化模型构成了挑战。现有针对发达民主国家的研究已证实了首胎女儿效应（first-daughter effect）：即首胎为女儿的父亲会在性别角色议题上持有更平等的观点。然而，来自更为保守或非西方语境的相关证据仍较为匮乏且尚无定论。本研究考察首胎女儿效应是否在日本存在——日本虽拥有稳定的民主制度，但仍长期存在性别不平等问题。本研究借助2000年至2018年的全国代表性调查数据，并利用首胎性别准随机分配的研究设计，证实首胎为女儿的日本父亲会持有更具性别平等取向的态度，同时也对性别平等政策改革（如双姓立法）表现出更高的支持度。此类效应仅局限于性别相关领域，并未延伸至更广泛的政治意识形态或非性别相关的政策偏好。本研究通过证实即便在文化保守的社会环境中，养育女儿也能重塑父母的核心政治态度，为反向政治社会化（reverse political socialization）领域的研究作出了贡献。本研究结果表明，家庭内部的私人互动机制或许是一种尚未得到充分认知但却极具影响力的途径，能够有效推动公众舆论中的性别平等观念普及。