Personality and voluntary childlessness

Abstract

This study examined the association between personality and childbearing motivation, with a focus on voluntary childlessness. 780 adults completed an online survey assessing the Big Five personality traits, the trait of Independence, desire for parenthood, motivations for choosing childlessness and various other socio-demographic characteristics. Compared to parents or those desiring children, childfree respondents scored significantly higher in Independence and significantly lower in Agreeableness and Extraversion. They were also less religious and more politically liberal. For non-parents, level of desire for parenthood was negatively correlated with Independence and positively correlated with Agreeableness and religiosity. The ideal number of children desired was positively correlated with Agreeableness and religiosity. Childfree respondents who decided early in life not to have children ('early articulators') were significantly higher in Independence and Openness to Experience than those who decided later in life. Motivations for childlessness loaded onto five factors, four of which correlated significantly with personality traits. The results suggest that personality plays a considerable role in influencing individuals towards, or away from, parenthood.

Religious tolerance among college students: How it’s influenced by religious orientation and personality traits?

“…The results of this study indicated that both religious orientation and personality traits are predictors of religious tolerance among college students. This results in line with a study conducted by Avison & Furnham (2015) that found two personality traits, agreeableness and extraversion personalities are positively correlated with religious tolerance and religious orientation factors are predictor variables for tolerant behavior in religious life.…”

Missing Out on the Parenthood Bonus? Voluntarily Childless in a “Child-friendly” Society

“…Adults that are childless by choice are sometimes understood as a very limited population and therefore politically irrelevant. However, it is estimated that childlessness amongst women born after 1970 is likely to range from 15 to 25 % in industrialised countries (Avison and Furnham 2015). The number of childless men is already close to 25 % in many countries, including Sweden (Persson 2010).…”

“…The selection criteria used in order to recruit interviewees to the two studies can also be criticized for excluding individuals with more ambivalent attitudes towards childlessness and childbearing, the so called ''transitional women,'' ''late articulators,'' ''postponers,'' or ''passive decision makers'' (Avison and Furnham 2015;Houseknecht 1987;Morell 2000;Veevers 1979).…”

“…By doing this the article addresses recent studies' call for more research that take the national context into account when researching voluntary childlessness (cf. Avison and Furnham 2015;Tanaka and Johnson 2014).…”

A wonderful experience or a frightening commitment? An exploration of men's reasons to (not) have children

“…The importance of other life goals and interests, aversion to lifestyle changes and wish for spontaneous mobility are some of the most common reasons given not to have children (Agrillo and Nelini, 2008;Blackstone and Stewart, 2012;Buhr and Huinink, 2017;Statistics Sweden, 2009). Furthermore, reproductive decisionmaking appears to be related to personality traits, and voluntarily childless people have been measured as more politically liberal, less religious and to value independence more highly (Avison and Furnham, 2015). Childlessness has also been related to sociodemographic determinants such as age, education and employment, although they are expressed differently in different countries.…”