Industrialization,family and fertility: A structural-psychological analysis of the Brazilian case

This paper addresses itself to some linkages between macro-social structure (industrialization, social class), social psychological variables (husband-wife decision making), psychological variables (attitudes), and fertility. A total of 726 currently mated women with proven fertility in five Brazilian communities were interviewed to determine various attitudes, their work experience, their participation in family decisions, their fertility ideals, and actual fertility. The five communities were selected along a rural-urban-industrialization continuum to include a village, two non-industrial cities, and two industrial cities (one of which was Sao Paulo). Family size in the industrial cities was small in all social strata, while in the non-industrial cities family size was large in the lower strata and declined in the upper strata. Further analysis revealed that smaller family size is associated with generally higher levels of status among women—higher educational levels, greater social contacts and more skilled employment, and equality in family decision making. Our analysis supports the hypotheses that industrialization influences fertility through shifts in the social status of women, both in their work and at home. New education and work opportunities facilitate the emergence of modern conceptions of the role of women in society and egalitarian decision making in the family. These attitudes and patterns of husband-wife interaction are related to smaller family size ideals and lower fertility.     

Educational Differences in Desired Family Size and Attitudes Toward Childbearing in Latina Women

Attitudes toward childbearing and desired family size influence women's reproductive choices. This may be especially true in the Latina culture, where motherhood and large families are valued highly. To determine whether these attitudes differ by educational status, Latina women in an OB/GYN clinic (N=351) completed a survey assessing attitudes toward childbearing and desired family size. Attitudes of women with and without a high school education were compared. Respondents without a high school education desired a mean of 3.1 children, while those with a high school education desired a mean of 2.7. Women without a high school education endorsed more attitudes favoring large families. Among women without a high school education, those who wished to have a son to carry on the family name tended to desire larger families. Results suggest that the desire for large families among Latina women with low education may result from traditional cultural attitudes.     

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.     

Toward a general theory of fertility: A causal modeling approach

A general theory of fertility is derived hypothesizing that the demand for children is primarily an outcome of social psychological processes within the family, subject to certain socioeconomic constraints. Two broad social psychological processes are posited as determinants of fertility. The first suggests that the attitudes or tastes of family members influence the demand for children. The second maintains that the nature of the husband-wife interaction (in terms of power, conflict, decision making, and marital satisfaction) determines family size. Socioeconomic variables, in the form of the normative social structure and social stratification, and economic constraints, such as income and price, are hypothesized to influence fertility through their impact on social psychological processes within the family. The overall theory is tested on two independent samples—one in Ankara, Turkey, the second in Mexico City, Mexico—using a structural equation methodology.     

Sex-role attitudes and employment status as predictors of perceived life satisfaction among married women in Korea

The focus of this exploratory study is on reexamining the relationship between sex role attitudes and the employment status of married women in Korea, and exploring the nature and extent of women's sex role attitudes and employment status on their life satisfaction (marriage, family, work). Multicluster sampling was used to select 418 women from the city of Seoul. The Attitudes toward Women Scale (AWS) (Spence and Helmreich) was used to measure the concept of sex role attitudes. Life satisfaction was measured by 3 questions: ALLSAT, a general feeling; IGA for the general effect based on Osgood's semantic differential scales; and work status and voluntariness. Background characteristics are given. The results revealed that there was an independent relationship between sex role attitudes and employment status. Based on willingness to work groups (4), those who worked involuntarily had the most conservative sex role attitudes, and those involuntarily nonworking had the most liberal attitudes. When education background was controlled for, there were no significant differences between working and nonworking women and sex role attitudes. There was little relationship observed between sex role attitudes and overall satisfaction. When controlling for employment status, however, sex role attitudes and the relationship to work satisfaction was statistically significant among fulltime housewives, who had conservative attitudes. In fact, fulltime housewives reported greater satisfaction with their role as homemaker than those with liberal sex role attitudes. Women's attitudes and their actual roles has a greater influence on women's life satisfaction than sex role attitudes. Overall, working women are more satisfied with work and overall life than are nonworking women, when the mean satisfaction scored all 6 indicators are used in a 1 way analysis of variance. There were no significant differences in satisfaction with marriage or family life between working and nonworking women. When the intervening variable willingness to work is introduced, this plus employment status affects life satisfaction. The discrepancy between women's sex role attitudes and their work status produces the greatest dissatisfaction. The multiple regression of background variables affecting sex role attitudes shows that parent's encouragement for a woman to work has the strongest effect. Educational attainment has a positive effect on sex role attitudes, and among less well education has a negative effect and positive effect among those well educated, Husband's income is significantly higher than that for working women. Another model expressing reciprocal relations between marriage, family and work satisfaction was generated. Improvements are suggested for future research.     

Some roots of preference: Roles,activities and familial values

This paper examines some of the connecting links between modernization in a developing society, particularly urbanization and increased education for women, and preferences for number of children. Using 1973 Taiwan data, preferences for smaller families are found to be consistently related to modern attitudes and behavior in the three domains examined: intrafamilial husband-wife role relationships, extrafamilial activities of the wife, and familial and religious values relating the family to the larger institutional setting. Modernization of these attitudes, behaviors, and values has an impact on reproductive goals independent of their association with structural variables. The wife's outside activities and exposure to modern influences through the mass media are especially important linkages, having a particularly strong mediating effect in the education effect on preferences. Intrafamilial relations appear to be of less importance. Modernization of familial and religious values mediates between urbanization and family size preferences. The measure of preference used is a scale value which has been found in other research to be more predictive of reproductive behavior than the conventional single-valued statement of number of children wanted. As the level of contraceptive use rises in developing societies, family size preferences increasingly become a factor in birth rates, and understanding the sources of change in these preferences takes on added importance. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Constraints,Satisfaction and Residential Mobility: Speare’s Model Reconsidered

Our study has shown that the stress threshold model, as formulated by Speare, only works partially. Consistent with Speare's model, we have found that subjective satisfaction is a strong predictor of thoughts about moving. Thoughts about moving is a good predictor of actual mobility. There are, however, three major problems with the model: stress as measured by satisfaction is not a particularly good predictor of actual mobility, although it does have some indirect influence through thoughts about moving; the "structural" variables have a strong independent impact on the mobility process beyond satisfaction; the satisfaction variables have little influence in mediating the effects of structural variables on mobility thoughts and behavior. The question of why our results differ from Speare's cannot be definitively answered here. We believe that our research has certain virtues in its direct measurement of satisfaction with home and community and also its much larger sample of movers. Speare's sample may have the virtue of being more representative of a large urban population since it was drawn from all segments of Rhode Island. Yet, while our sample is selective of areas within Seattle, we believe it provides a good representation of a wide variety of residential environments. Overall, our results are more consistent with the other studies which have addressed these issues (Bach and Smith, 1977; Lee, 1978; Michelson, 1977; Newman and Duncan, 1979), although the methods and approaches are not identical. Some of these studies were reviewed in the first part of the paper. We believe that understanding of the attitudinal predictors of changing residence is roughly at the same stage as research in the early post-World War II period on the attitudinal correlates of fertility behavior among American women. Research such as the Princeton study (Westoff et al., 1961; 1963) demonstrated that a variety of social attitudes about home, family, work and childbearing correlated poorly with levels of fertility. In contrast, such variables as objective religious affiliation, educational attainment, and race were clear correlates of fertility behavior. We still do not fully understand why these structural variables are important but we know that they are key predictors of behavior.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Family size and expectations about housing in the later nineteenth century: three Yorkshire towns

This article illustrates how cultural history can deepen the understanding of demographic change, presenting evidence about ways in which rising working-class expectations about appropriate living standards may have created additional pressures on the perceived costs of child-rearing. Among the key areas of family consumption, housing costs are selected for examination. It is shown that higher expectations about appropriate housing quality put pressure on family budgets, augmented by the rising cost of like-for-like housing. The discussion considers expectations about the size of the dwelling and attitudes to furnishing the home, and suggests that these rising expectations helped encourage family limitation. Existing accounts of the fertility decline which stress the role of rising expectations are often too generalised: this article illustrates what can be gained by adding detail and geographical variation.     

Attitudes toward family size in some East European countries

Summary The paper is a review of published materials on attitudes toward family size derived from nationwide family planning studies conducted in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and the USSR around 1970. Priority is given to the findings on expected family size, though other attitudinal variables such as the ideal number of children and/or the number planned at marriage are also discussed. The paper shows that the majority of women in all the countries surveyed tend to have a limited number of children. Although the trend is especially striking among better-educated and gainfully employed women, it is also spreading fast, particularly among the younger generations, through the whole urban and rural population. The average expected family size is generally close to, and for a sizeable group of women below, replacement level. The trend toward a small family size is only partially a reflection of real desires. Various factors, most of them apparently of an economic nature, prompt many women to have fewer children than they would wish. If the average expected fertility were equal to that considered as ideal or to that planned at marriage there would be no danger that births would fall below replacement level. In contrast to the situation in the countries as a whole, women in the Asian Republics of the USSR not only expect but also tend to regard as ideal a family with larger numbers of children.     

Positive Affect Between Adult Women and Their Mothers and Mothers-in-Law

This study investigated and compared the influence of selected factors on the affective aualities of mother-daughter and mother-in-lawldaughter-in-law relaAonships. The sample ionsisted of 229 nonorofessional and 250 orofessional women from two uni- - - - ~ . versity campuses; they were selected with a stratified, random sampling procedure. Filial responsibility attitudes, health of older dyad members, and social support influenced positive affect in both relationships. Contrary to expectations, geographic distance, adult women's age, race, nonprofessional/professional work status, and older dyad member's marital status were not predictors. Contact and health of the adult women were predictors of positive affect toward mothers but not mothers-in-law. This study underscores the importance of focusing on specific dyadic relationships when conducting intergenerational family research.     

A meta-analysis of research on adolescent contraceptive use

Meta-analysis was used to summarize the results of 134 studies of adolescent contraceptive use in relation to two major explanatory models, the career model and the decision model. There was evidence in support of both models, although there has been less research conducted on variables related to the decision model. The major variables found to affect young women's contraceptive use were partner influence to use contraception, acceptance of one's sexuality, future orientation, positive attitudes toward contraception, an exclusive sexual relationship, and frequency of intercourse. The major variables affecting young men's contraceptive use were partner influence, frequency of intercourse, and positive attitudes toward contraception; however, there was relatively little research on young men compared to young women. A number of possible future directions for research are noted.We would like to thank Nancy Adler and Catherine Chilman for their comments on an earlier version of this article. Portions of this research were presented at the 1984 meeting of the American Psychological Association.Requests for reprints should be addressed to Bernard E. Whitley, Jr., Department of Psychological Science, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, 47306.     

Can we believe recent data on birth expectations in the United States?

A share of the recent decline in birth expectations of young American wives may be due to the historically unique stimulus of intense public attention to population growth and family size. Data on whites from numerous national surveys provide at least four types of evidence favoring this thesis: a sudden massing of responses in the two-child category (the ZPG formula); a tolerance for the large family; an aversion to childlessness and the one-child family; and an inconsistency between respondents’ evaluations of the family cycle and childspacing, on the one hand, and their personal acceptance of the two-child norm, on the other. The lack of congruence in American reproductive attitudes at present suggests that some conservatism might be wise in accepting current birth expectations as valid indicators of the long-run intentions of youthful cohorts.     

Explaining son preference in rural India: the independent role of structural versus individual factors

Much research has been done on demographic manifestations of son preference, particularly girls’ excess mortality; however, there is less research that focuses on son preference itself. This paper analyzes the determinants of son preference in rural India. We separate the independent, relative effects of characteristics of individual women and their households, village opportunities for women and village development, and social norms. We look at both socioeconomic and sociocultural variables. Finally, we examine whether predictors of son preference differ by desired family size. Our data come from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) India, 1992–1993. We use an ordered logit model, with dummy variables for state of residence. Our analysis shows that women’s education, particularly at secondary and higher levels, is consistently and significantly associated with weaker son preference, regardless of desired family size. Once factors measuring social norms, such as marriage customs, caste and religion, are included, economic wealth and women’s employment at household or village levels are not significant. Media access remains significant, suggesting an influence of “modernizing” ideas. Among social factors, caste and religion are associated with son preference but, once state of residence is controlled for, marriage patterns and cultivation patterns are insignificant. The strength and significance for son preference of many determinants differs by desired family size. Our results suggest that policy makers seeking to influence son preference need to identify and target different policy levers to women in different fertility and social contexts, rather than try an approach of one size that fits all.     

Epidurals during normal labour and birth — Midwives’ attitudes and experiences

BackgroundMidwives have their own beliefs and values regarding pain during childbirth. Their preferences concerning labour pain management may influence women’s choices.AimTo gain a deeper understanding of midwives’ attitudes and experiences regarding the use of an epidural during normal labour.MethodsA qualitative approach was chosen for data collection. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted with midwives working in three different obstetric units in Norway. The transcribed interviews were analysed using Malterud’s systematic text condensation.FindingsThe analysis provided two main themes: “Normal childbirth as the goal” and “Challenges to the practice, knowledge, philosophy and experience of midwives”. Distinctive differences in experiences and attitudes were found. The workplace culture in the obstetric units affected the midwives’ attitudes and their midwifery practice. How they attended to women with epidural also differed. An epidural was often used as a substitute for continuous support when the obstetric unit was busy.DiscussionMidwives estimate labour pain differently, and this might impact the midwifery care. However, midwives’ interests and preferences concerning labour pain management should not influence women’s choices. Midwives are affected by the setting where they work, and research highlights that an epidural might lead to a focus on medical procedures instead of the normality of labour.ConclusionMidwives should be aware of how powerful their position is and how the workplace culture might influence their attitudes. The focus should be on “working with” women to promote a normal birth process, even with an epidural.     

Determinants of short- and long-term mobility expectations for home owners and renters

Confusion about the role of residential satisfaction vis-à-vis structural factors in the mobility process stems from the failure to examine the determinants of mobility over varying time frames and housing tenures. Using survey data for a random sample of 580 Phoenix-area households, we test models of short-term (1 year) and long-term (5 years) mobility expectations for home owners and renters. The results show that residential satisfaction mediates the effects of structural variables on mobility expectations in the short term for home owners. In the long-term model for home owners and the short-term model for renters, the role of satisfaction as an intervening force declines in relative importance. Among renters, structural variables operate directly on long-term mobility expectations.     

Assessing the Predictive Value of Fertility Expectations Through a Cognitive–Social Model

This paper grounds its analysis in a novel model (Bachrach and Morgan in Popul Dev Rev, 39:459–485, 2013) that suggests that responses to questions about fertility intentions may reflect distinct phenomena at distinct points in the life course. The model suggests that women form "true" intentions when their circumstances make the issue of childbearing salient and urgent enough to draw the cognitive resources needed to make a conscious plan; before this, women report intentions based on cognitive images of family and self. We test the implications of this model for reported fertility expectations using NLSY79 data that measure expectations throughout the life course. We find that early in the life course, before marriage and parenthood, women’s fertility expectations are associated with family background and cognitive images of family and future self. Later in the life course, as women experience life course transitions that confer statuses normatively associated with childbearing—such as marriage—and parenthood itself, their reported expectations are better predictors of their fertility than before they passed these life course milestones. Our empirical results provide support for a model which has important implications for both the measurement and conceptualization of women’s intended and expected fertility.     

Attitudes toward family size and family planning in nairobi

In Nairobi, 352 married African adults, 152 men and 200 women, were interviewed on their attitudes toward family size and family planning. The respondents had, on the average, slightly less than three children at the time of interview and hoped to add slightly more than three children to this total. There was little difference in desired family size by sex.About one-half of both men and women had some knowledge of family planning methods, and there was a general interest (75 percent of the men and 90 percent of the women) in learning more. In addition, two out of every three men, and nine out of every ten women, approved of family planning, and even greater majorities of both sexes were willing to have the government of Kenya provide such services.In spite of their approval, however, only 13 percent of the men, and 2 percent of the women, had ever practiced family planning. These findings are broadly comparable to those found in other emerging nations and suggest that knowledge, interest, and approval generally precede use.     

Reproductive goals and achieved fertility: A fifteen-year perspective

A measure of underlying family size preference obtained for a sample of Detroit married women in 1962 is related to their fertility over a 15-year follow-up period. The data represent completed fertility. The I-scale preference measure used differs from the conventional single-valued statement of number of children wanted; it is a more fine-grained measure reflecting the respondent's utility for children as evidenced by her entire preference order. The scales are found to be consistently predictive of fertility over the 15-year prospective period, net of other variables usually associated with differential fertility. The results for the just-married sample, in which preferences and expectations are not confounded with the number of children already born, are particularly striking, with underlying preference much better than expected family size as a predictor of fertility over the entire reproductive cycle. The question of prediction for continuous and discontinuous marriages is discussed.     

Fertility and desired fertility: Longitudinal evidence from Thailand

Summary The validity and usefulness of 'desired additional children' and 'ideal family size' as predictors of fertility are analysed in this paper on the basis of longitudinal survey data from Thailand. First, the extent of measurement error in these variables is considered, and it is concluded that the error variance and the true variance are of similar orders of magnitude. Secondly, the changes in attitudes subsequent to births and deaths of children are investigated. It is found that the number of additional children desired is decreased by births and increased by deaths, but less than would be expected if 'desired additional children' represented an unchanging target family size. 'Ideal family size' is almost unaffected by births and deaths. Thirdly, the contribution of attitudinal variables to behavioural models is examined. It is found that desired fertility is explained no better than fertility in a standard economic model. A birth function separating desired children from identifiable physiological factors as explanatory variables indicated that the former was just significant. A model of contraceptive acceptance also found desired fertility to be a significant determinant. Thus, desired fertility can be successfully integrated into behavioural models. But on the whole, its explanatory power was weak, and it was concluded that the independent use of this variable does not significantly improve on models which relate fertility to socio-economic variables directly.     

Japanese women's experiences of pharmacological pain relief in New Zealand

BackgroundIn Japan, most women manage labour pain without pharmacological interventions. However, New Zealand statistics show a high percentage of epidural use amongst Asian women. Entonox (a gas mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen) and pethidine are also available to women in New Zealand. This article investigates how Japanese women in New Zealand respond to the use of pharmacological pain relief in labour.QuestionsThe study was guided by two research questions: (1) How do Japanese women experience and manage labour pain in New Zealand? (2) How do they feel about the use of pharmacological pain relief?MethodsThirteen Japanese women who had given birth in New Zealand were interviewed individually or in a focus group. The conversations were analysed using thematic analysis.FindingsAlthough in Japan very few women use pain relief, nine women received epidural and/or Entonox out of 11 women who experienced labour pain. The contrast between their Japanese cultural expectations and their birth experiences caused some of the women subsequent personal conflict.ConclusionJapanese women's cultural perspectives and passive attitudes were demonstrated to influence the decision-making process concerning pain relief. It was concluded that understanding Japanese cultural worldviews and approaches to the role of pain in labour would help maternity providers in their provision of appropriate care for Japanese women.