Multivariate relationships between modernity value orientations and family planning indicators

Using canonical correlation techniques in the analysis of data collected from interviews with 1,737 married women of three Indian states, this paper evaluated three modernity value orientations—subjective efficacy, openness to change, and propensity to plan—as predictors of a set of four family planning indicators. The analysis revealed that, in Haryana, both subjective efficacy and openness to change were related to family planning knowledge and attitudes as well as to favorability toward small family size. Propensity to plan was related to adoption. In rural Tamil Nadu, subjective efficacy and openness to change were related essentially to family planning attitudes, whereas in urban Tamil Nadu they were strongly related to adoption. In the latter area, the best linear association between the modernity variables (predictor set) and the family planning variables (criterion set) resulted when the criterion set was so weighted that it involved a large amount of adoption and a moderate amount of contraceptive knowledge and attitudes. Thus, in urban Tamil Nadu, the four family planning variables seemed to cohere, reflecting cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral consistency. Except in Meghalaya, it appears that married women with higher subjective efficacy, openness to change, and planning tendency may be more likely than others to translate their family planning knowledge and favorability toward small family size into action, under suitable conditions. Some of the implications of the findings are discussed.The author is affiliated with the Council for Social Development, 53 Lodi Estate, New Delhi, 110003, India.