The magnitude of changes in linear growth within Taiwanese families: intrinsic sex‐associated biology, socially mediated behaviors, or both?

Abstract

The hypothesis that females are inherently less capable of responding to growth promoting characteristics of early environments is not supported. Intergenerational declines in male preference combined with rapid but equitable economic growth better account for intergenerational changes reported.

The influence of variation in parental height dimorphism on same‐sex parent‐offspring height differences

“…Young adult offspring in participating families typically experienced much better circumstances than their parents when very young based upon details collected by the author. These experiences are consistent with major changes in health care, housing, sanitation, and diet documented in Taiwan in the years surrounding their births (see Floyd, for further discussion from multiple sources).…”

“…Differences between Taiwanese parents and their young adult offspring of the same sex were considered in two independent groups, 56 families with father–son pairs and 51 families with mother–daughter pairs, each categorized by family background when parents were very young using grandfather's occupation. Comparisons within the parental generation are consistent with ethnographic evidence of male‐biased resource allocation, but also suggest that female growth was better buffered against physiological stressors (Floyd, ). Same‐sex parent‐offspring height differences were consistent with patterns anticipated based upon familial backgrounds and reductions in gender bias.…”

“…As described more fully in Floyd (), developmental circumstances of focal parents as young children were characterized in terms of their own fathers' occupations based upon information about social class structure in Taiwan in years surrounding parents' births (Wang, ). The earliest job reported for a grandfather while their son or daughter (father or mother in this study) were growing up was used.…”

“…This study evaluates the extent to which adjusting for differences in parental height dimorphism influences mean height differences among parents and same‐sex offspring distinguished by parents' early backgrounds. It then considers whether such adjustments alter interpretations of female skeletal growth canalization as presented in a recent, closely related, article (Floyd, ). Do we anticipate that when developmental environments rapidly improve within families across generations that father–son height differences are routinely greater than mother–daughter differences because of greater intrinsic male sensitivity/greater female growth canalization as argued by Bielicki and Charzewski ()?…”

“…Floyd () takes advantage of notable intergenerational declines in gender bias against female offspring (Floyd, ; Freedman, Chang, & Sun,, ; Freedman, Chang, Sun, & Weinstein, ; Lin, ) and well‐documented rapid, but relatively equitable, economic growth and improvements in public health beginning in the 1960s (Dessus, Shea, & Shi, ; Fei, Ranis, & Kuo, ; Galenson, ; Hermalin, Liu, & Freedman, ; Hou, ; Liu, ; Tsai, ) to assess which of the alternatives described above is more plausible. Differences between Taiwanese parents and their young adult offspring of the same sex were considered in two independent groups, 56 families with father–son pairs and 51 families with mother–daughter pairs, each categorized by family background when parents were very young using grandfather's occupation.…”