Abstract
This research was supported by NICHD Center for Population Research Contract No. HD52807 and Research Scientist Development Award No. AA00002 from NIAAA to the author. The important contributions of Philip Bardsley to this research and to earlier drafts of this paper are gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are also due to Tom Day and Linda Moody Chilingar for their data analytic and statistical skills and to Cathey Heron for her assistance throughout the course of this project.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beckman, L. J. The relative rewards and costs of parenthood and employment for employed women.Psychology of Women Quarterly 1978,2 (3), 215–234.
Beckman, L. J.The process of couples' fertility decision-making. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association meetings, New York, September, 1979.
Beckman, L. J. Communication, power, and the influence of social networks in couple decisions on fertility. In R. Leeet al. (Eds.),Determinants of fertility in developing countries: A summary of knowledge. Washington: Committee on Population and Demography, National Research Council, 1983a and b.
Beckman, L. J. Changes in motivation for parenthood among young married couples. Manuscript submitted toPopulation and Environment, 1983.
Beckman, L. J., & Houser, B. B. Perceived statisfactions and costs of motherhood and employment among married women.Journal of Population 1979,2 (4), 306–327.
Beckman, L. J., Aizenberg, R., Forsythe, A. B., and Day, T. A theoretical analysis of antecedents of young couples' fertility decisions and outcomes.Demography 1983,20 (4), 519–533.
Blake, J. Is zero preferred? American attitudes toward childlessness in the 1970s.Journal of Marriage and the Family 1979,41 245–257.
Brody, E. B., Ottey, F., and LaGranade, J. Couple communication in the contraceptive decision-making of Jamaican women.Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 1974,159 (6), 407–412.
Browner, C.Poor women's fertility decisions: Illegal abortion in Cali, Colombia. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1976.
Chamie, M. J. W.Middle Eastern marriages and contraceptive decisions: Toward a sociopsychological understanding of fertility behavior. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, 1978.
Coombs, L. C., and Chang, M. C. Do husbands and wives agree? Fertility attitudes and later behavior.Population and Environment 1981,4 (2), 109–127.
Fried, E. S., & Udry, J. R. Wives' and husbands' expected costs and benefits of childbearing as predictors of pregnancy.Social Biology 1979,26 265–274.
Fried, E. S., Hofferth, S. L., and Udry, J. R. Parity-specific and two-sex utility models of reproductive intentions.Demography 1980,17 (1), 1–11.
Hill, R., Stycos, J. M., and Back, K. W.The family and population control. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1959.
Hofferth, S. L., and Udry, J. R.The contribution of marital outcomes to explaining the reproductive behavior of couples. Paper presented at the American Sociological Association meetings, New York, August–September, 1976.
Kim, C. H., and Lee, S. J. Role of husband in family planning behavior.Psychological studies in population/family planning (Vol. 1, No. 5). Seoul: Korean Institute for Research in the Behavioral Sciences, 1973.
LoScuito, L., Peterson, J. and Ausetts, M. A.Fertility-related decision-making among married couples. Unpublished manuscript, Institute for Survey Research, Temple University, 1978.
Marciano, T. D. Male influences on fertility: Needs for Research.Family Coordinator 1979,28 561–568.
Mitchell, R. E. Husband-wife relations and family-planning practices in urban Hong Kong.Journal of Marriage and the Family 1972,37 655–667.
Neal, A. G., and Groat, H. T. Alienation and fertility in the marital dyad.Social Forces 1977,56 (1), 77–85.
PROFAM-PIACT de Mexico.Family planning in Mexico. New York: The Population Council, 1979.
Ridley, J. C. The changing position of American women: Education, labor force participation, and fertility. In M. Campbellet al. (Eds.),The family in transition. Fogerty International Center Proceedings #3. Bethesda, Md: National Institutes of Health, 1971.
Scanzoni, J.Sex roles, life styles, and childbearing. New York: Free Press, 1975.
Scanzoni, J. Gender roles and the process of fertility control.Journal of Marriage and the Family 1976,38 677–691.
Shedlin, M. G., and Hollerbach, P. E. Modern and traditional fertility regulation in a Mexican community: Factors in the process of decision-making. Studies in Family Planning, 1981,12 (6/7), 278–296.
Terry, G. B. Rival explanations in the work-fertility relationship.Population Studies 1975,29 191–205.
Townes, B. D., Beach, L. R., Campbell, F. L., and Martin, D. C. Birth planning values and decisions: The prediction of fertility.Journal of Applied Social Psychology 1977,7 73–88.
Udry, J. R. The effect of normative pressures on fertility.Population and Environment 1982,5 (2), 109–122.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
When couples were in conflict about short-term fertility, wives had the same or somewhat greater influence over actual outcomes than did husbands, especially when the wife was the one who did not desire a child. Antecedent wife demographic, attitudinal and couple interactional variables had more influence on short-term fertility decisions made than did antecedent husband variables. However, inclusion of husband data as well as wife data increased discrimination between those deciding to have or not have a child.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Beckman, L.J. Husbands' and wives' relative influence on fertility decisions and outcomes. Popul Environ 7, 182–197 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01255488
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01255488