Kristina Becvar, Data Analytics and Computational Social Science '23, and her coauthors at Human Security Lab released a new study titled "The 'First daughter' effect: Human rights advocacy and attitudes toward gender equality in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan" in PLOS ONE. Using findings from a randomized controlled survey experiment, Becvar and her coauthors found that Afghan fathers with first-born daughters are significantly more likely believe in gender equality, especially when they are primed to think about gender. The findings could have implications for how human rights organizations frame advocacy efforts.
Becvar, who graduated from DACSS in 2023, coauthored the study with Charli Carpenter, political science and Human Security Lab director, Kevin Young, economics, and Bernhard Leidner, Psychology and Brain Sciences. It is the first publication from the lab's Afghan Voices Project.