Desires and intentions for fatherhood: A comparison of childless gay and heterosexual men in Germany.

Abstract

The present study explores the motivation for fatherhood in a sample of childless German gay and heterosexual men aged 18 to 40 years (N = 628 + 638). Referring to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), three potential predictors were considered: the individual's attitude toward having children, perceived attitudes of significant others toward fatherhood, and anticipated parental self-efficacy. Regarding fathering motivation, the general desire to become a father was differentiated from the more concrete fathering intention. Level- and structure-oriented analyses were combined in an innovative way. Consistent with previous research, gay participants reported weaker fathering desires and intentions than their heterosexual counterparts; however, there was no wider desire-intention gap among gay than among heterosexual participants (level-oriented analysis). As expected, associations between TPB predictors and fathering motivation were independent of sexual orientation (structure-oriented analysis). Participants' appreciation of children and their self-attribution of parental self-efficacy were strongly associated with fathering intentions; these associations were substantially mediated by fathering desires. However, the association between significant others' attitudes toward fatherhood and participants' fathering motivation was comparably weak. Demographics were controlled for in each analysis. Results are discussed from both an individual and a societal perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record

Understanding Parenting Intentions Among Childfree Gay Men: A Comparison With Lesbian Women and Heterosexual Men and Women

“…There has been limited research using the TPB among sexual minority childfree people. In a study of childfree heterosexual and gay men researchers found that attitudes and perceived behavioral control, but not subjective norms, were strong predictors of future parenting intentions among men regardless of sexual orientation (Kranz et al, 2018). In this study, the perceived benefits and costs of parenthood (attitudes), the attitudes of others toward future parenthood (subjective norms), and parenthood self-efficacy were directly associated with fathering intentions of gay men and heterosexual men.…”

“…According to the TPB (Ajzen, 1991), an individual's attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control or self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997) are important factors in all decision-making processes. Previous studies have demonstrated the TPB could be useful in understanding parenting intentions generally not necessarily in terms of gender or sexual orientation (Ajzen and Klobas, 2013) and among gay and heterosexual men (Kranz et al, 2018). Based on the TPB, parenting intentions would be predicted by an individual's perceived life changes of future parenthood (attitudes), along with his or her personal desire to conform to these social expectations (subjective norms), and perceived control or belief that he or she can become a parent in the future (self-efficacy; Ajzen and Klobas, 2013).…”

“…Previous studies using the TPB as a model to examine future parenthood have focused on whether or not people intend to become parents (Billari et al, 2009;Ajzen and Klobas, 2013;Kranz et al, 2018), both in the short term and longer term (Dommermuth et al, 2011). A Bulgarian representative study suggested that attitudes and subjective norms, but not perceived behavioral control, predict whether men and women intend to become parents within two years (Billari et al, 2009).…”

“…In order to understand the relevance of the TPB across gender and sexual orientation among those who intend to becoming parents, the present study focuses on the strength of parenting intentions among childfree gay men, lesbian women, and heterosexual men and women who want to become parents in the future. Similar to Kranz et al (2018), we combined a leveloriented (comparing variables across groups) with a structureoriented approach (comparing associations across groups) to investigate whether associations between variables differed based on gender and sexual orientation. Unique to this study, we also investigated the TPB among lesbian and heterosexual women.…”

“…In some of the studies discussed, the effect of the TPB predictors has been examined in separate models for groups based on gender (see e.g., Billari et al, 2009) or sexual orientation (Kranz et al, 2018). Such an analytic strategy is limited in that the comparison of two effects should be accompanied by a report of the statistical significance of their difference (Nieuwenhuis et al, 2011).…”