Where Qualitative Research Meets Demography: Interdisciplinary Explorations of Conceptions of Fatherhood in an Extremely Low Fertility Context

Abstract

Recent calls to include psychological theories of decisionmaking and intention-formation in research on family formation coincide with calls for improving research on male fertility and fatherhood. In this article we address these notions and present findings from in-depth interviews with 30-year-old childless men from Eastern Germany on their desire to become parents. The context for this research is the societal situation of contemporary Eastern Germany, where birth rates have faced a historical low - the lowest in more than 10 years. Our innovative analytical paradigm draws on the contemporary social cognitive theory of intention-formation. The focus lies on the examination of male attitudes, values, motives, interests, goals, action beliefs and self-concepts, and their connection with men’s intentions for parenthood. We compare our results with explanations given by the Theory of Symbolic Self-Completion and the Theory of Reasoned Action. We argue for the need to bring together psychological and sociological theorizing in this field.

Hazy Transition to Fatherhood: The Experiences of Czech Fathers

“…Nascent fathers revealed somewhat vague plans and expectations concerning approaching fatherhood. Similar findings were advanced by Von Der Lippe and Fuhrer (2004), who concluded that many 30-year-old childless East German men had difficulties both anticipating fatherhood and forming detailed impressions before the event. This approach was evident with respect to the sample of fathers-to-be described in this study.…”

Couples’ decisions on having a first child

“…Studies on the decision to have children usually only included either women (Den Bandt 1982;Gerson 1985;Van Luijn 1996;Wijsen 2002;Bernardi 2003;Sevón 2005) or, to a much lesser extent, men (Jacobs 1995;Von der Lippe and Fuhrer 2004;Knijn, Ostner, and Schmitt 2006). We included both partners in this study by having in-depth interviews with couples.…”