A core component of the maternal dominance hypothesis is that a woman’s
personality is an indicator of whether she will conceive a boy or a girl.
Thus for any particular woman the sex of the infant may not be a matter of
chance, but may depend on which sex she is more suited to raise. The
particular aspect of personality that appears to be relevant is dominance:
the more dominant a woman is, compared with other women, the more
likely it is that she will conceive a male infant.
If dominance makes the difference, it is important to define exactly what
is meant by the word ‘dominance’ in this context. What differentiates a
dominant woman from one who is not dominant, and how can it be
measured? To answer these questions it is necessary to describe several
aspects of definition and measurement in personality.