Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
According to the Trivers-Willard (T-W) hypothesis there is an interaction between individual status and investment in offspring such that high-status individuals invest more in boys, and low-status individuals invest more in girls. Parental investment may be both physiological and affect the sex ratio of offspring, or it may be psychological and affect resource allocation to offspring. I test both components of the hypothesis using cumulative U.S. General Social Survey (GSS) data and find results that support T-W. Using years of education attained as an indirect measure of parental investment, I find that sons of high-status fathers attain more education than daughters and that the daughters of low-status fathers attain more education than sons. Supporting the sex ratio component of T-W, I find that high-status men have more sons.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Rosemary L. Hopcroft (2005) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: