Male Preference Research Articles

Perceived stress and its associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in a tertiary level hospital

Background: Stress has been found widely prevalent among women during the time of pregnancy. Researches in different societies indicate a link between prenatal maternal stress and adverse obstetric, fetal, and neonatal outcome. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess perceived stress levels and associated factors with it among pregnant women.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out from November 2022 to March 2023 among 264 pregnant women attending the Obstetrics/Gynaecology outpatient department of Nepal Medical College and Teaching Hospital. Pregnancy Stress Rating Scale (PSRS) was adopted to measure perceived stress levels among pregnant women. Data were collected through face-to-face interview techniques. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used for data analysis.Results: In this study, 11.4% (95% CI= 7.8% - 15.8%) of pregnant women had high levels of stress. Variables such as ethnicity, education of respondents and respondents’ husbands, status of pregnancy (pregnancy intention), and gender preference were associated with high levels of perceived stress in bivariate analysis. While, only those respondents having male gender preference for the upcoming baby was associated with a high level of stress (AOR= 3.07; 95% CI = 1.26 –7.48) in multivariate analysis.Conclusions: Approximately one out of nine pregnant women had a high level of stress in this study. Respondent’s gender preference for male babies was associated with high levels of stress in multivariate analysis. Therefore, early recognition of antenatal stress and its management is crucial.

Female Mate Choice in Wild Kenyan Blue Monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis).

Female mate choice may drive sexual selection, but discerning whether female behaviors reflect free expression of choice or responses to constraints can be difficult. We investigated the efficacy of female choice in wild blue monkeys using 10 years of behavior and paternity data (N = 178 male-female dyads). Although blue monkeys live modally in one-male polygynous groups, where male-biased intersexual power is expected, females can access multiple potential mates during seasonal male influxes and occasional intergroup encounters. Additionally, extra-group males sire offspring. We examined female resistance rates to male-initiated sexual interactions, and unsolicited proceptive behavior that females directed to males (corrected for male availability). Females seldom resisted male solicitation, but initiated sexual interactions more than males. Females generally preferred residents. Those who preferred non-residents tended to have residents with longer tenures, but neither female parity nor rank influenced the tendency to prefer non-residents vs. residents. The male most solicited by a particular female fathered that female's infant 82% of the time; odds of siring were 26 times higher for most vs. nonpreferred males. Female preference predicted paternity even more strongly among non-resident males, with odds of siring 33 times higher for most vs. nonpreferred non-residents. Neither female rank nor parity influenced her likelihood of having her preferred partner as sire. Paternity by preferred males did not affect infant survival. While we cannot fully discount the effect of male-male competition on paternity, these results suggest that blue monkey females can exercise choice successfully, even in a polygynous mating system.

Absence of female preference and the origin of a unisexual species, the Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa)

AbstractThe role of hybridization as a formative process in evolution has received much attention in the past few decades. A particularly fascinating outcome of hybrid speciation is the formation of asexual hybrid species. The Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa) is such a hybrid and originated from a P. mexicana mother and a P. latipinna father. Consequently, a heterospecific mating must have occurred leading to the Amazon molly, indicating a breakdown of any potential prezygotic isolation between parental species. Here we studied the female mate preferences of extant P. mexicana and P. latipinna from several populations using standard binary choice tests with males of both sexual species that were matched for size. Poecilia mexicana and P. latipinna can be crossed in the lab, however, the offspring are not asexual, but sexual F1s. In our study, we generated F1s and tested their mating preferences with sexual males of both P. mexicana and P. latipinna against F1 males. Overall, our results show that in extant P. mexicana and P. latipinna no female preference for conspecific males was detectable. Consequently, heterospecific matings are possible and not hindered by any apparent behavioral prezygotic isolation. If female preferences in these species were comparable around the time the Amazon molly originated as a hybrid species ca. 100,000 years ago, matings leading to hybrids would be very likely. F1 females also have no discernable mating preferences for either sexual males or F1 males. Such lack of prezygotic behavioral isolation could potentially lead to F2 individuals, backcrosses, and introgression.

Assessing the Social Dimension of Health in Rural India: A Transverse Study

Abstract Introduction: Social health will be formed with the help of a healthy family, a healthy and communicating society, an individual having basic knowledge of good and healthy living practices, an individual giving equal respect to all genders and each age group, and full utilization of his productive time with his own choice of work. Promoting health and active participation of people in social and civic behaviors is considered one of the indicators of youth development. The present study focuses on assessing the social health status of study participants in rural areas in terms of illiteracy, gender discrimination, unemployment, and substance abuse. Objectives: To assess the social health profile of the study population (illiteracy, unemployment, male gender preference, and domestic violence) and to associate the social health profile with the demographic profile of the study participants. Materials and Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional study done at the Rural Demographic Surveillance Site of the Native Institute. A total of 430 individuals in the 15–59 years age group, both male and female, were included in the study. Data are analyzed using percentage, proportion, mean, and standard deviation. The association between social health problems and demographic factors was estimated by confidence interval, significance level. Results: The most prevalent social health problem among the study participants was unemployment (45%), followed by illiteracy (43%), substance abuse (18%), domestic violence (11%), and attitudes favoring male gender preference (7%) in the descending order. On correlation analysis, illiteracy found to be associated with age, gender, marital status, family type, education, occupation, and socioeconomic status (SES). Male gender preference attitude is associated with age, marital status, education while domestic violence is associated with age, gender, marital status, education, occupation, and SES. Unemployment found to be associated with age, gender, marital status, education, occupation, and SES. Substance abuse is associated with age, gender, marital status, and type of family. On multivariate analysis, unemployment was found to be associated with gender, illiteracy was associated with age, gender, and type of family, substance abuse was found to be associated with age, gender, and education level, and attitudes favoring male gender preference were found to be associated with marital status, age, and education level. Conclusion: Various social health problems are prevalent in rural India, and these problems are not only associated with education level but also dependent on various other factors. A targeted approach can help reduce these problems and ultimately improve the social health status of rural populations.

Functional lateralization in social-emotional processing: The influence of sexual orientation and gender identity on cradling preferences

The left-cradling bias (i.e., the motor asymmetry for cradling infants on the left side) has often been associated to the right-hemispheric social-emotional specialization, and it has often been reported to be stronger in females than in males. In this study we explored the effects of sexual orientation and gender identity on this lateral bias by means of a web-based investigation in a sample of adults (485 biological females and 196 biological males) recruited through LGBTQIA+ networks and general university forums. We exploited a cradling imagery task to assess participants' cradling-side preference, and standardized questionnaires to assess participants' homosexuality (Klein Sexual Orientation Grid) and gender nonconformity (Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adults and Adolescents). Results confirmed the expected left-cradling bias across all sexual orientation groups except for heterosexual males. Importantly, higher homosexuality scores were associated with higher proportions of left cradling in males. These results suggest that sexual orientation can influence cradling preference in males, indicating a complex interaction between biological and psychological factors in the laterality of social-emotional processing. Finally, the left-cradling bias seems to confirm its role as a behavioral proxy of social-emotional functional lateralization in humans.

Animal behavior: A tale of two apes

Animal behavior: A tale of two apes

Auditory discrimination learning and acoustic cue weighing in female zebra finches with localized FoxP1 knockdowns.

Rare disruptions of the transcription factor FOXP1 are implicated in a human neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by autism and/or intellectual disability with prominent problems in speech and language abilities. Avian orthologues of this transcription factor are evolutionarily conserved and highly expressed in specific regions of songbird brains, including areas associated with vocal production learning and auditory perception. Here, we investigated possible contributions of FoxP1 to song discrimination and auditory perception in juvenile and adult female zebra finches. They received lentiviral knockdowns of FoxP1 in one of two brain areas involved in auditory stimulus processing, HVC (proper name) or CMM (caudomedial mesopallium). Ninety-six females, distributed over different experimental and control groups were trained to discriminate between two stimulus songs in an operant Go/Nogo paradigm and subsequently tested with an array of stimuli. This made it possible to assess how well they recognized and categorized altered versions of training stimuli and whether localized FoxP1 knockdowns affected the role of different features during discrimination and categorization of song. Although FoxP1 expression was significantly reduced by the knockdowns, neither discrimination of the stimulus songs nor categorization of songs modified in pitch, sequential order of syllables or by reversed playback were affected. Subsequently, we analyzed the full dataset to assess the impact of the different stimulus manipulations for cue weighing in song discrimination. Our findings show that zebra finches rely on multiple parameters for song discrimination, but with relatively more prominent roles for spectral parameters and syllable sequencing as cues for song discrimination.NEW & NOTEWORTHY In humans, mutations of the transcription factor FoxP1 are implicated in speech and language problems. In songbirds, FoxP1 has been linked to male song learning and female preference strength. We found that FoxP1 knockdowns in female HVC and caudomedial mesopallium (CMM) did not alter song discrimination or categorization based on spectral and temporal information. However, this large dataset allowed to validate different cue weights for spectral over temporal information for song recognition.

Officers and men and fallen heroes: The discursive construction of regimented masculinity in the Nigerian Army

This paper examines the use of gendered language in the Nigerian Army's community of practice through the application of insights from language ideology and theory of masculinity. Data were generated by means of participant observation and semi-structured interviews in a one-year fieldwork involving representative sample of 18 personnel of the 6 Battalion, Ibawa and 2 Brigade, Uyo, both in Akwa Ibom State in South-eastern Nigeria. The findings show that the Nigerian Army maintains institutional gendered language practices used among its personnel in regimented functions and social events. The gendered registers occur in the soldiers' generic use of male address terms, adaptation to male-coded voice pattern in parades, masculinisation of Army's workout songs, and the subordination of femininity in institutional associations, all combined to construct the regimented and performative masculinisation of the profession. This practice is observed to be informed by the numerical domination of men in the profession that was originally perceived as males'; a conception that has shaped the linguistic ideology and performance of the Nigerian Army to rehearse masculine orientations. It is however recommended that the Army's language practices should capture modern ideals of a gender sensitive world that connect to the clamour for gender equality and equal social belonging through the inclusion of feminine linguistic markers in workplaces.

Enhanced Novel Object Recognition and Spatial Memory in Rats Selectively Bred for High Nicotine Preference.

This study examined the influence of genetic background on cognitive performance in a selectively bred high nicotine-preferring (NP) rat line. Using the novel object recognition (NOR), novel location recognition (NLR), and Morris water maze (MWM) tests, we evaluated object memory, spatial memory, and spatial navigation in nicotine-naive NP rats compared to controls. Our results demonstrate that in the NOR test, both male and female NP rats spent more time exploring the novel object (higher discrimination index) compared to sex-matched controls. In the NLR, the discrimination index differed significantly from zero chance (no preference) in both NP males and females but not in controls, indicating enhanced spatial memory in the NP line. During MWM acquisition, the NP groups and control males took a shorter path to reach the platform compared to control females. On the probe trial, the distance traveled in the target quadrant was longer for NP males and females compared to their respective controls, suggesting enhanced spatial navigation and learning in the NP rats. The interesting preference for novel objects and locations displayed by NP rats may indicate a potential novelty-seeking phenotype in this line. These results highlight the complex interplay between genetic factors, cognitive function, and nicotine preference.

Have a Woman’s Heart but a Man’s Face: Perceptions of Gay Relationships in Greek Gay Men

AbstractIn this qualitative study, we build upon the findings of previous research by investigating the perceptions and attitudes of 10 self-identified gay men in Greece, toward gay relationships, the influence of Greek society upon them, masculinity, partner preferences, and self-disclosure. A critical thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews revealed that most participants held negative views regarding same-sex relationships among gay men possibly due to internalizing the homonegativity of Greek society which was consistently acknowledged. They further expressed preference for masculine partners and tended to avoid feminine gay men, preferring to befriend them rather than pursue a romantic relationship with them. Although many participants described masculine gay men as reserved, distant, and emotionally restricted, they still preferred them as partners. Furthermore, most participants expressed negative opinions about self-disclosure, possibly due to the identity confusion caused by the rejection for their sexual orientation Greek social environment. Similarly, when it came to LGBTIQ + rights activism, participants were opposed, contending that it caused more confusion and discord within the younger generation of gays rather than fostered positive change. This research makes a unique contribution by presenting a realistic account of gay men’s contradicting views of their selfhood, a disbelief in gay relationships, an outright preference for masculinity in partnerships, a disdain for gay rights activism, and fear of self-disclosure. These perceptions and attitudes appear to be due to the long history of societal marginalization and rejection and may be subject to change as Greece moves toward a more accepting environment for LGBTIQ + rights.

Aesthetic preference for artificially selected color variant affects mate choice copying behavior in female Poecilia latipinna.

Three experiments were conducted examining whether an artificially selected "gold" color variant in female "models" affects mate choice copying behavior in sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna). Experiment I consisted of a pair of female preference assays, first assessing preference for male body size, followed by a mate choice copying assay that paired a model female with the smaller, non-preferred male from the initial preference test. Female subjects were divided into three groups that used either a wildtype female model, an artificially selected "gold" variant (cultivated within the aquarium fish trade) model, or control wherein no model was presented. Results showed females consistently copied the model's choice, switching preferences from the larger to smaller male when paired with a model regardless of color. In the second experiment wildtype females were presented with a pair of size-matched dummy males both of which paired with model females (one gold and the other wild type). Subjects consistently preferred the male previously paired with the gold- over the male with the wildtype-model, suggesting pre-existing sensory/perceptual biases may have affected their mate choice copying behavior. Previous studies have offered evidence for the spread of novel traits in males via sensory exploitation. However, these results indicate such biases may influence courtship behavior in circumstances where the novel trait is expressed in females as well. For the third experiment, wildtype females were presented with a choice between gold vs wildtype dummy males, the results of which revealing significant preferences for gold. In a follow-up assay pairing a wild type model with the non-preferred wildtype male, females maintained their preference for gold males despite the conflicting social driver of mate choice copying. These data offer evidence for the existence of a perceptual/cognitive bias in the context of mate choice copying, favoring the gold phenotype and/or novelty in general.

Odour preferred males led to a higher offspring number in the common vole

Very recently, an interesting phenomenon was described in the common vole; vole parents with similar locomotor ability produced significantly larger litters. Positive assortative mating is a tendency to prefer individuals with similar phenotypes. We tested whether this also applies to smell similarity. Odour preference was tested in a T-maze, where each female was presented with two male odours, i.e. shavings together with feces and urine from home boxes. After female preference was established, the female was either paired with a preferred male (chosen) or paired with a non-preferred male (opposite choice). For analysis of the relationship to odour preference, genotyping of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Class II DRB was done using amplicon sequencing. In the set of 45 individuals from two populations, we recovered 38 nucleotide haplotypes (alleles). Similarity of alleles in parent pairs according to the indexes of Sørensen–Dice (S–D) and Jaccard were calculated. Values of these indexes in parental pairs with preferred males were significantly higher (more similar) than in not preferred. The number of offspring in parental pairs with preferred males were significantly higher than in not preferred males. However, there is no correlation between the mentioned indexes and the number of offspring. The relationship between the success of reproduction and alleles is not clear-cut, this may be influenced by the measure of similarity we used, or by something that we could not detect.

Reasons for Male gender preference among Pregnant Women in Chipata District- Zambia

Reasons for Male gender preference among Pregnant Women in Chipata District- Zambia

Testing Fraternal Birth Order Effects and Antagonistic Effects for Homosexual Men: Power Comparison of Various Methods.

Research on the biological determinants of male homosexual preference has long realized that the older brother effect (FBOE, i.e., a higher fraternal birth rank of homosexuals) and the antagonist effect (AE, i.e., more fertile women have a higher chance of having a homosexual son) can both generate family data where homosexual men have more siblings and more older siblings than heterosexual men. Various statistical approaches were proposed in the recent literature to evaluate whether the action of FBOE or AE could be discriminated from empirical data, by controlling for the other effect. Here, we used simulated data to formally compare all the approaches that we could find in the relevant literature for their ability to reject the null hypothesis in the presence of a specified alternative hypothesis (tests based on regression, Bayesian modeling, or contingency tables). When testing for the FBOE, the relative performance of the different tests was different depending on the specific function generating the older brother effect. Even if no tests were found to always perform better than the others, some tests performed systematically poorly, and some tests displayed a systematic high rate of type-I error. For testing the AE, the relative performance of the tests was generally not changed across all parameter values assayed, providing a clear ranking of the various proposed approaches. Pros and cons for each candidate test are discussed, taking into consideration power and the rate of type-I error but also practicability, the possibility to control for confounding variables, and to consider alternative hypotheses.

Do Men Care about Childcare? Women’s Relative Resources and Men’s Preferences for Work–Family Reconciliation Policies

Abstract Existing literature on the politics of work–family reconciliation policies focuses primarily on women and their policy preferences as the main driver of recent policy expansions. But what do we know about male preferences? This article explores this question in an innovative way by integrating insights from economic and sociological studies of division of labor and bargaining within the household. It investigates the link between women’s relative resources within the household and their male partners’ preferences for different types of reconciliation policies. Drawing on regression analysis of nineteen OECD countries using the International Social Survey Program data (Family and Changing Gender Roles IV), we find that: (1) men in dual-earner households, men in college-educated educational homogamy, and men in educational hypogamy (the woman is better educated) are more likely to support reconciliation policies; and (2) women’s earnings and education have different effects on men’s preferences.

Future Prospects of the Human Familial Frame

Families composed of a male and a female that breed and jointly raise children is the consensual living frame of human societies during thousands of years. However, there are other frames among mammals, that enable breeding and multiplication without preservation of a familial unit. For example, males that fertilize females and do not participate in raising the newborns (e.g., hyenas, leopards, certain humans), or males having a few females and raising a larger number of children (the Arabic tradition), or on a broader scale in the animal kingdom, males that fertilize eggs outside of the female body (e.g., various fish species among vertebrates and many invertebrate species) without any considerable responsibility thereafter. Although females raise instinctively their offspring׳s among most animals, we witness in recent years different human versions of familial frames, such as two males, who either adopt children, or provide sperm to an anonymous woman that is paid for her pregnancy and birth of a child handled to the sperm contributor. Likewise are familial frames of two women, in which one gets pregnant from a sperm contribution, and after birth, both raise the child. These new trends show how deviation from the traditional familial frame may enable women to give birth and raise children without the involvement of males, as well as lead to ‘in vitro-fertilization’ and ‘production’ of ‘tube-babies’ (outside of the female uterus). Further attempts to control the required gender (e.g., preference of males in China), or even specific traits (e.g., blond hair, blue eyes) using genetic engineering techniques, might replace the customary familial frame.

Sex-Specific Behavioural Deficits in Adulthood following Acute Activation of the GABAA Receptor in the Neonatal Mouse

Introduction: Sex differences exist in the prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Part of the aetiology of NDDs has been proposed to be alterations in the balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission, leading to the question of whether males and females respond differently to altered neurotransmitter balance. We investigated whether pharmacological alteration of GABAA signalling in early development results in sex-dependent changes in adult behaviours associated with NDDs. Methods: Male and female C57BL/6J mice received intraperitoneal injections of 0.5 mg/kg muscimol or saline on postnatal days (P) 3–5 and were subjected to behavioural testing, specifically open field, light/dark box, marble-burying, sucralose preference, social interaction, and olfactory habituation/dishabituation tests between P60 and P90. Results: Early postnatal administration of muscimol resulted in reduced anxiety in the light/dark box test in both male and female adult mice. Muscimol reduced sucralose preference in males, but not females, whereas female mice showed reduced social behaviours. Regional alterations in cortical thickness were observed in the weeks following GABAA receptor activation, pointing to an evolving structural difference in the brain underlying adult behaviour. Conclusions: We conclude that activation of the GABAA receptor in the first week of life resulted in long-lasting changes in a range of behaviours in adulthood following altered neurodevelopment. Sex of the individual affected the nature and severity of these abnormalities, explaining part of the varied pathophysiology and neurodevelopmental diagnosis that derive from excitatory/inhibitory imbalance.

(353) Gender-Specific Variations in Perception of Normal Genital Anatomy and Function

Abstract Introduction Understanding perceptions of “normal” genitalia and function can explain and predict trends in cosmetic and sexual health treatments. Previous studies reported male preferences for female genitalia appearance, but female opinion remains understudied. Objective We aimed to assess gender-specific variations in perceptions of “normal” genital anatomy and function. Methods A 54-item survey was developed using RedCap and distributed to volunteers aged ≥18 years through the ResearchMatch database from January to March 2023. We collected data on public perceptions of "normal" genital anatomy and function and sexual activity. Analysis was performed using JMP Pro 16. Results 649 participants initiated and 558 completed the survey (86% completion rate). 27.9% of respondents identified as male and 72.1% as female (Table 1). Compared to men, women believed men had larger testicles (24.5% vs. 10.3% believed one testicle was 60.1-90 mL, p<0.01), smaller breasts (45.5% vs. 35.9% felt “none” was normal, p<0.04), and shorter orgasms (55.0% vs. 44.9% felt orgasms lasted 2.6-5.0 seconds, p=0.03) (Table 2). 73.0% women vs. 56.4% men felt labia were darker than surrounding skin (p=0.01). More men than women felt the average woman required no supplementary vaginal lubrication (p=0.02) and that female orgasms lasted longer (12.2% vs. 5.7% believed orgasms lasted >12.5 seconds, p<0.01). Fewer men than women considered their genitals normal (75.0% vs. 89.4%, p<0.01). Conclusions Our results reveal gender-specific variations in perceptions of “normal” genital anatomy and function. Variations in perceived female sexual function were striking, with more men than women expecting spontaneous vaginal lubrication during sexual encounters and longer female orgasms. These differences have important implications for counseling patients on sexual health. Disclosure No.

Little evidence for color- or size-based mating preferences by male strawberry poison frogs (Oophaga pumilio)

While there are many studies documenting female mating preferences across taxa, male mate choice remains relatively understudied. Male mate choice often develops when there is variation in female quality and thus the fitness benefits of mating with particular females. Specifically, males tend to prefer females with traits that confer direct fitness benefits such as large body size, which may be linked with high fecundity. Prior work has shown that females of the strawberry poison frog, Oophaga pumilio, prefer males bearing certain coloration (most often the female’s own color), and that this preference can be learned through maternal imprinting. Females have been shown to prefer larger males as well. Here we test whether similar mate preferences for color and size exist in males of this species using two-way choice tests on captive bred male O. pumilio. In each test focal males were placed in an arena with two stimulus females: either both of the same size but differing in color, or both of the same color but differing in size. We found only weak evidence for behavioral biases toward particular colors and no evidence for biases toward larger females, suggesting that males of O. pumilio do not predictably choose mates based on these female traits. Despite several aspects of their natural history that suggest males have reasons to be choosy, our findings suggest that the cost of mate rejection may outweigh any fitness benefits derived from being selective of mates. Studies of additional populations, ideally conducted on wild individuals, are needed to better understand the range of conditions under which males may exhibit mate choice and the types of traits on which they base these choices.Significance statementTo fully understand the fitness landscapes and evolutionary trajectories that result from sexual selection, we need to understand when and how the mate preferences of the two sexes act and interact. While female mate choice has been widely studied, male mate choice remains poorly understood. To help bridge this gap, we studied male mate preferences in the strawberry poison frog Oophaga pumilio, a small brightly colored frog for which female preferences for male color and size have been well-documented. We found no evidence that male O. pumilio exhibit mate preferences based on female size and little evidence for male mate preferences based on female color. This is surprising given that larger females are often more fecund, male O. pumilio are known to exhibit color-based behavioral biases in the context of male-male competition, and both sexes provide parental care.

Association of Antenatal Gender Preference with Perceived Stress among Pregnant Women

Background: Antenatal stress is the stress experienced by a pregnant mother as a result of stressful life circumstances. Gender preference for male children and dislike for female children prevails in many regions of the world. Therefore, this study aimed to determine how gender preferences during pregnancy, influenced by cultural and sociodemographic factors, contribute to perceived maternal stress. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the association between stress and gender preference in pregnant women. A total of 363 healthy pregnant females recruited from tertiary care hospitals of Karachi and Lahore via purposive sampling technique were first interviewed for demographic information. The self-structured questionnaire comprises items based on preferences in pregnancies and antenatal or postnatal psychological health, was then asked to be filled to determine the association between antenatal gender preference and perceived stress among the participants. Results: Male child preferences were significantly linked to antenatal stress (32.8%, p<0.05). Gender scans were performed in around 33.1% and 64.6%of mothers desired male children. The rationale behind it is that a male offspring will be able to support them in their later years. Conclusion: It was concluded that a significant association wasfoundbetween male child preferences and antenatal stress. Moreover, antenatal stress was also associated with younger mother age, low self-esteem, low socioeconomic position, and a strong familial desire for sons. Premature birth, low birth weight, and inadequate prenatal care are all possible outcomes of stress during pregnancy. Keywords: Gender Identity, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care, Psychological Factors.