Underestimating others’ fertility attitudes and behaviors hinders the fertility intentions of childless individuals in Gen Z

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00759

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CHEN Sijing, SHEN Jiahui, JIANG Qiaojie, YANG Shasha. (2024). Underestimating others’ fertility attitudes and behaviors hinders the fertility intentions of childless individuals in Gen Z. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 56(6), 759-776.

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URL: https://journal.psych.ac.cn/acps/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00759

https://journal.psych.ac.cn/acps/EN/Y2024/V56/I6/759

Figures/Tables 5

Table 1 Descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients of the key variables of Study 1

Variable	M	SD	1	2	3	4
1 Actual DFS	1.80	0.54
2 Perceived DFS	1.71	0.53	0.44^***[0.38, 0.50]
3 Perceived change	−10.92	16.46	0.19^***[0.13, 0.25]	0.19^***[0.13, 0.25]
4 FI (childless)	3.65	1.07	0.35^***[0.28, 0.42]	0.22^***[0.14, 0.29]	0.24^***[0.16, 0.31]
5 FI (childbearing)	3.99	0.92	0.32^***[0.15, 0.48]	0.14 [−0.08, 0.33]	0.26^***[0.13, 0.37]	—

Table 1 Descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients of the key variables of Study 1

Variable	M	SD	1	2	3	4
1 Actual DFS	1.80	0.54
2 Perceived DFS	1.71	0.53	0.44^***[0.38, 0.50]
3 Perceived change	−10.92	16.46	0.19^***[0.13, 0.25]	0.19^***[0.13, 0.25]
4 FI (childless)	3.65	1.07	0.35^***[0.28, 0.42]	0.22^***[0.14, 0.29]	0.24^***[0.16, 0.31]
5 FI (childbearing)	3.99	0.92	0.32^***[0.15, 0.48]	0.14 [−0.08, 0.33]	0.26^***[0.13, 0.37]	—

Table 2 Regression analysis of the perceived desired family size and the magnitude of changes in total fertility rate on fertility intentions

Variable	Fertility intentions (childless)				Fertility intentions (childbearing)
Variable	β	t	LLCI	ULCI	β	t	LLCI	ULCI
Predictor
Perceived DFS	0.15^***	4.57	0.17	0.43	0.08	0.97	−0.19	0.56
Perceived change	0.17^***	4.99	0.01	0.02	0.24^**	3.06	0.005	0.02
Control
Gender	−0.23^***	−6.74	−0.69	−0.38	−0.08	−1.10	−0.44	0.13
Age	0.04	0.96	−0.02	0.05	−0.02	−0.22	−0.11	0.09
Education	−0.06	−1.90	−0.25	0.004	0.06	0.70	−0.17	0.36
Income	0.01	0.33	−0.08	0.11	0.06	0.75	−0.08	0.19
In a relationship	0.19^***	5.44	0.26	0.56	0.06	0.56	−0.90	1.61
Married	0.19^***	4.94	0.41	0.96	0.14	1.23	−0.35	1.53
Number of siblings	0.04	1.28	−0.03	0.12	0.15	1.94	−0.003	0.26
Number of children					−0.05	−0.62	−0.48	0.25
Adj-R²	0.21				0.07

Table 2 Regression analysis of the perceived desired family size and the magnitude of changes in total fertility rate on fertility intentions

Variable	Fertility intentions (childless)				Fertility intentions (childbearing)
Variable	β	t	LLCI	ULCI	β	t	LLCI	ULCI
Predictor
Perceived DFS	0.15^***	4.57	0.17	0.43	0.08	0.97	−0.19	0.56
Perceived change	0.17^***	4.99	0.01	0.02	0.24^**	3.06	0.005	0.02
Control
Gender	−0.23^***	−6.74	−0.69	−0.38	−0.08	−1.10	−0.44	0.13
Age	0.04	0.96	−0.02	0.05	−0.02	−0.22	−0.11	0.09
Education	−0.06	−1.90	−0.25	0.004	0.06	0.70	−0.17	0.36
Income	0.01	0.33	−0.08	0.11	0.06	0.75	−0.08	0.19
In a relationship	0.19^***	5.44	0.26	0.56	0.06	0.56	−0.90	1.61
Married	0.19^***	4.94	0.41	0.96	0.14	1.23	−0.35	1.53
Number of siblings	0.04	1.28	−0.03	0.12	0.15	1.94	−0.003	0.26
Number of children					−0.05	−0.62	−0.48	0.25
Adj-R²	0.21				0.07

Table 3 Descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients of the key variables of Study 3

Variable	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5
1 Perceived DFS	1.72	0.61
2 Actual DFS	1.61	0.65	0.47^***[0.34, 0.59]
3 Perceived change	−14.58	18.39	0.23^***[0.11, 0.35]	0.16^*[0.02, 0.29]
4 Perceived responsibility	3.72	1.72	0.41^***[0.29, 0.51]	0.24^***[0.10, 0.36]	0.27^***[0.15, 0.39]
5 Fertility efficacy	2.74	0.73	0.31^***[0.15, 0.45]	0.29^***[0.15, 0.43]	0.27^***[0.16, 0.38]	0.71^***[0.63, 0.78]
6 Fertility intentions	3.60	1.13	0.38^***[0.23, 0.52]	0.23^***[0.08, 0.38]	0.25^***[0.13, 0.37]	0.73^***[0.66, 0.79]	0.77^***[0.69, 0.83]

Table 3 Descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients of the key variables of Study 3

Variable	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5
1 Perceived DFS	1.72	0.61
2 Actual DFS	1.61	0.65	0.47^***[0.34, 0.59]
3 Perceived change	−14.58	18.39	0.23^***[0.11, 0.35]	0.16^*[0.02, 0.29]
4 Perceived responsibility	3.72	1.72	0.41^***[0.29, 0.51]	0.24^***[0.10, 0.36]	0.27^***[0.15, 0.39]
5 Fertility efficacy	2.74	0.73	0.31^***[0.15, 0.45]	0.29^***[0.15, 0.43]	0.27^***[0.16, 0.38]	0.71^***[0.63, 0.78]
6 Fertility intentions	3.60	1.13	0.38^***[0.23, 0.52]	0.23^***[0.08, 0.38]	0.25^***[0.13, 0.37]	0.73^***[0.66, 0.79]	0.77^***[0.69, 0.83]

Table 4 Total, direct, and indirect effects

Predictor	Type	Effect	SE	LLCI	ULCI
Perceived others’ fertility attitude (0.19^**)	Direct	0.005	0.04	−0.07	0.08
	Indirect (perceived responsibility)	0.05^*	0.02	0.02	0.09
	Indirect (fertility efficacy)	0.13^**	0.04	0.07	0.20
Perceived others’ fertility behavior (0.19^***)	Direct	0.004	0.04	−0.06	0.07
	Indirect (perceived responsibility)	0.07^**	0.03	0.03	0.12
	Indirect (fertility efficacy)	0.12^**	0.04	0.06	0.18

Table 4 Total, direct, and indirect effects

Predictor	Type	Effect	SE	LLCI	ULCI
Perceived others’ fertility attitude (0.19^**)	Direct	0.005	0.04	−0.07	0.08
	Indirect (perceived responsibility)	0.05^*	0.02	0.02	0.09
	Indirect (fertility efficacy)	0.13^**	0.04	0.07	0.20
Perceived others’ fertility behavior (0.19^***)	Direct	0.004	0.04	−0.06	0.07
	Indirect (perceived responsibility)	0.07^**	0.03	0.03	0.12
	Indirect (fertility efficacy)	0.12^**	0.04	0.06	0.18

Figure 1. The mediation model.
Note. POFA = perceived others’ fertility attitudes, POFB = perceived others’ fertility behavior, PR = perceived responsibility, FE = fertility efficacy, FI = fertility intentions.^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001.

Figure 1. The mediation model. Note. POFA = perceived others’ fertility attitudes, POFB = perceived others’ fertility behavior, PR = perceived responsibility, FE = fertility efficacy, FI = fertility intentions. ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.

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