Motivation For Parenthood: A Factor Analytic Study of Attitudes Towards Having Children

Abstract

This study uses a 77 item questionnaire to measure motivation for parenthood. A behavioral test its 2 scales probe the perceived advantages and disadvantages or costs of having children. For example in the 1st scale children may be seen as adding joy to the family unit while strong responses in the 2nd scale may indicate a feeling that children are a source of stress or a hindrance to personal development or to the marital relationship. Subjects were 33 United Kingdom of British descent from 3 clinics in Edinburgh Scotland. The 3 groups were composed of 50 married couples from an infertility clinic 50 from a family planning clinic and 50 from an antenatal clinic with those women in their 3rd trimester of pregnancy with their 1st child. Questionnaire responses were evaluated through factor analysis using orthogonal rotation. Male versus female responses showed no significant differences. Infertility clinic patients stressed the advantages of having children while deemphasizing the disadvantages. As might be expected the opposite results were obtained from the family planning group. An item by item factor analysis revealed that most of the subjects did not hold extreme views: for example most rejected the notion that the only function of marriage was propagation. While the authors feel their data supports an attitudinal or behavioral model for fertility decision making they also suggest an economic model of cost benefit evaluation may be operative.