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.