Extrinsic and Existential Mortality Risk in Reproductive Decision-Making: Examining the Effects of COVID-19 Experience and Climate Change Beliefs

Abstract

While the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an immediate risk to human life around the world, climate change poses an arguably greater—although less immediate—threat to our species’ survival. Within the framework of life-history theory (LHT), this pre-registered study investigated whether extrinsic risk (i.e., external factors that pose a risk to an individual’s life, e.g., COVID-19) and existential risk (i.e., risks with outcomes that threaten the existence of humans as a species, e.g., climate change) had similar or different relationships with reproductive decision-making. A UK representative sample of 325 participants between 18 and 35 years of age was asked to indicate their ideal number of children, ideal age to start having children, and whether their desire for a child had recently changed. Participants were asked about their experiences of COVID-19 and given a series of scales with which to assess their beliefs about climate change. In support of LHT, the study found evidence that knowing people who had been hospitalized with or died of COVID-19 was associated with a greater ideal number of children. Conversely, there was no clear evidence of a relationship between climate change beliefs and reproductive decision-making. The repercussions for understanding how we interpret and respond to different forms of mortality risk are discussed.

Reproductive motivation in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic: Is there evidence for accelerated life history dynamics?

“…Our main hypothesis in this analysis is that epidemic-related experiences and reproductive motivation are positively associated. We took into account previous results that mortality cues lead to an earlier desired age of first reproduction only in individuals originating from lower SES environments (Griskevicius et al, 2011) by analyzing the characteristics of childhood environments as well (Gordon, 2021).…”

Are Environmental Concerns Deterring People from Having Children?

“…Using the same data, Schneider-Mayerson (2021) concludes that the evidence suggests it is now necessary to add "reproductive plans and choices to the range of ways in which individuals conceive of themselves and act as environmental political actors." Gordon (2021) investigates whether extrinsic risk (i.e., external factors that pose a risk to an individual's life, e.g., and existential risk (i.e., risks with outcomes that threaten the existence of humans as a species, e.g., climate change) have similar or different relationships with reproductive decision-making. In that study, approximately 300 young UK adults are asked to indicate their ideal number of children, ideal age to start having children, and whether their desire for a child has recently changed.…”