Reproductive Behavior and Personality Traits of the Five Factor Model

Jokela, Markus; Alvergne, Alexandra; Pollet, Thomas V.; Lummaa, Virpi

doi:10.1002/per.822

Cited by 122 publications

(185 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…Silka and Kiesler (1977) observed that couples who were intending childlessness or were unsure, expressed greater preference for being alone, were less interested in interaction with people and tended to have more solitary occupations. Extraversion has been positively associated with greater probability of parenthood, earlier parenthood, greater likelihood of non-planned pregnancy, and higher number of children overall (Berg et al 2013;Jokela et al 2011;Tavares 2008;Skirbekk and Blekesaune 2013). The related trait of Sociability (Buss and Plomin 1984) has also been positively associated with the probability of having children (Jokela et al 2009).…”

Section: Extraversionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Personality and voluntary childlessness

Avison

Furnham

2015

J Pop Research

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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.

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Section: Extraversionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Personality and voluntary childlessness

Avison

Furnham

2015

J Pop Research

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“…Openness to experience (intellect; creativity) was negatively related to fertility in British women, partly because it positively predicted educational uptake and fertility postponement [94]. This has been echoed in males [94] and increasingly in younger birth cohorts for both sexes [95], though inconsistently [96]. Agreeableness (cooperativeness; empathy) predicts higher fertility at least in females [95], also including reproductive acceleration [94].…”

Section: (D) Personalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolved psychological mechanisms of fertility motivation: hunting for causation in a sea of correlation

McAllister

Pepper

Virgo

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Cultural, ecological, familial and physiological factors consistently influence fertility behaviours, however, the proximate psychological mechanisms underlying fertility decisions in humans are poorly understood. Understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying human fertility may illuminate the final processes by which some of these known predictors have their influence. To date, research into the psychological mechanisms underlying fertility has been fragmented. Aspects of reproductive psychology have been examined by researchers in a range of fields, but the findings have not been systematically integrated in one review. We provide such a review, examining current theories and research on psychological mechanisms of fertility. We examine the methods and populations used in the research, as well as the disciplines and theoretical perspectives from which the work has come. Much of the work that has been done to date is methodologically limited to examining correlations between ecological, social and economic factors and fertility. We propose, and support with examples, the use of experimental methods to differentiate causal factors from correlates. We also discuss weaknesses in the experimental research, including limited work with non-WEIRD (western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) populations.

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“…For example, in a large U.S. sample, higher extraversion was associated with earlier transition to parenthood and with having a larger number of children (Jokela, Alvergne, Pollet, & Lummaa, 2011). High openness to experience and high neuroticism had the opposite effect.…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

Birth-Cohort Effects in the Association Between Personality and Fertility

Jokela

2012

Psychol Sci

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The present study investigated whether associations between individuals' personality traits and whether they have children have been modified by birth-cohort effects in the 20th-century United States. Participants were from the Midlife Development in the United States study (n = 6,259) and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (n = 3,994) and were born between 1914 and 1974. Data on personality traits of the Five Factor model and fertility history were collected in adulthood. Higher levels of openness to experience in both sexes and higher levels of conscientiousness in women were associated with lower fertility, and these associations strengthened linearly as birth cohorts became younger. In the total sample, high extraversion, low neuroticism, and women's high agreeableness were associated with high fertility rate, but there were no systematic cohort effects. The fertility decisions of people with certain personality traits may be influenced by prevailing societal and cultural circumstances.

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Reproductive Behavior and Personality Traits of the Five Factor Model

Cited by 122 publications

References 97 publications

Personality and voluntary childlessness

Personality and voluntary childlessness

The evolved psychological mechanisms of fertility motivation: hunting for causation in a sea of correlation

Birth-Cohort Effects in the Association Between Personality and Fertility

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