Why do women interact with their parents more often than men? The demonstration effect vs. the biological effect

•Neuroscientists have shown that females are biologically more caring than males.•Single females visit their parents more often than single males do.•Females do not evaluate old-age security as more important than males do.•The conclusions do not support the demonstration effect.

Neuroscientists have shown that females are biologically more caring than males. In this paper, two empirical strategies are applied to examine the validity of using gender difference as the evidence for the argument. The first approach is to compare visits to parents between single females and single males. The second approach is to investigate whether females evaluate children as old-age security to render them more important in their lives. The conclusions of these two approaches do not support the position.