Why do boys prefer to play with their fathers rather than with their mothers?

Previous studies carried out in Western countries on mother-infant and father-infant interactions in play activities revealed the following tendencies. (1) Play activities between fathers and their children are physical and unusual, whereas, play between mothers and their children are conventional and moderate. (2) Boys prefer to play with their fathers, whereas, girls prefer to play with their mothers.

Ethological analysis of children-parent interaction in outdoor play.

Previous studies clarified more affinity toward fathers by boys and toward mothers by girls (FB&MG tendency) in indoor play interactions between infants (a few years old) and parents of Western countries. In the present study, behavioral interactions by Japanese parents and children including infants and elementary school pupils were examined in a naturalisitic outdoor park. The results indicated that the FB&MG tendency is also seen in infants of a non-Western country (Japan), in outdoor play interaction, and in older children.

Gender differences in memory for film of pigmies' hunting-gathering activities among Japanese children and adults.

Although adaptation to hunting-gathering life is a main hypothesis for understanding of the nature of humans, studies directly examining the hypothesis have not been done. In the present study, we used the method of showing a film depicting hunting and housework by African hunter-gatherers to elementary pupils and university students to examine their memories. In pupils and students, males showed higher percentage of correct answers than females for hunting-related questions, and female showed higher percentage for housework-related questions.