Poster Beitrag

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).