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Children make life better or worse? : Does relationship status matter?
Slonim, Gal; Schütz, Astrid (2015): Children make life better or worse? : Does relationship status matter?, in: Bamberg: opus.
Faculty/Chair:
Author:
Corporate Body:
15th Meeting of the Social Psychology Section, University of Potsdam
Publisher Information:
Year of publication:
2015
Pages:
Language:
English
Remark:
Poster Beitrag
Licence:
Abstract:
Past research has found substantial differences between cuopled individuals and groups of singles in terms of their perceptions of the costs and benefits of romantic relationships (Slonim& Schütz, 2015). Coupled people see more benefits and less costs in romantic relationships, while singles, especially those who are currently not looking for a relationship, perceive romantic relationships as more costly and less beneficial. We investigated whether the three groups (coupled individuals, singles by choice and singles by circumstance) also differ in terms of their perceptions of the costs and benefits of having children. We had two competing hypothesis: on the one hand, singles by choice may value having freedom and so they will try to avoid what might limit their independence. Therefore they may perceive having children as less beneficial and more costly, similar to their attitudes towards being part of a romantic couple. On the other hand, it is possible that the differences between the groups are small (if any), since wanting children and wanting a partner no longer necessarily have to be related to each other. In the past, people who wanted children had to first find a romantic partner. However, nowadays, advances in medicine offer various ways to become a parent - even without the need to have sex. In addition, sociological changes made non-traditional households and lifestyles, such as being a single parent, more acceptable (Lamana, Riedmann& Stewart, 2015).
Keywords:
relationship status; costs and benefits of having children
Type:
Conferenceobject
Activation date:
November 6, 2015
Permalink
https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/39771