Fertility dependence or fertility autonomy? The impact of husbands’ traditional gender role conceptions on wives’ fertility intentions

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.1661

Abstract

Abstract:

Existing literature has extensively examined the relationship between gender role conceptions and fertility intentions, reaching a relatively stable conclusion that more traditional gender role conceptions are associated with stronger fertility intentions. A notable limitation in this body of research, however, is its predominant focus on individuals’ own gender role conceptions, while largely neglecting the influence of their spouses’ beliefs and attitudes. Overlooking this relational aspect may lead to incomplete conclusions. Diverging from previous studies, this paper investigates the relationship between spouses’ gender role conceptions and individuals’ fertility intentions, with particular emphasis on the influence of husbands’ gender role conceptions on wives’ fertility intentions, given that women are primarily engaged in fertility behaviors. The central question of this study is whether fertility dependency exists among married women in China. Specifically, it examines whether husbands’ gender role conceptions exert a stronger influence on their wives’ fertility intentions than the wives’ own conceptions. If this is the case, the study further explores the factors contributing to this dependency and seeks to provide a theoretical explanation for these dynamics.

This study utilized data from the 2014 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). After data cleaning, a total of 7, 089 valid participants remained. Core variables were constructed as follows: the outcome variable, representing the wife’s fertility intention, was measured by the desired family size (an integer between 0 and 10). The primary predictor variable, representing the couple’s gender role conceptions, was assessed through four items, such as “Men are career-oriented, and women are family-oriented.” The mean score of these four items served as an indicator of gender role conceptions, with higher scores reflecting more traditional perspectives. Results indicate that fertility dependency is significant, and this finding remains consistent regardless of the different measurement approaches and regression models we employed. Specifically, husbands’ gender role conceptions exert a stronger influence on their wives’ fertility intentions than the wives’ own conceptions; notably, this effect does not occur in the opposite direction. Using data from the CFPS 2022 (N = 555), we further investigated the relationship between husbands’ and wives’ gender role conceptions in 2014 and wives’ near-term fertility plans in 2022. The findings indicate that fertility dependency persists; specifically, husbands’ gender role conceptions in 2014 exhibit a stronger correlation with their wives’ fertility plans in 2022 than the wives’ own gender role conceptions.

Furthermore, we examined fertility dependency across different distributions of household decision-making power. The results indicate that fertility dependency is more pronounced among married women whose husbands hold greater authority in five key domains: household expenditures, savings and investments, real estate purchases, child discipline, and major acquisitions. In contrast, when wives have greater decision-making power, fertility dependency diminishes or shifts toward fertility autonomy, highlighting the critical role of household decision-making power in shaping fertility outcomes. Moreover, fertility dependency is not uniformly distributed across time and space. It is particularly evident among women from earlier generations, those with lower educational attainment, rural hukou holders, and residents of central and western China. By contrast, women from later generations, with higher education, non-rural hukou, and living in eastern China exhibit weaker fertility dependency or even fertility autonomy.

The findings of this study carry significant theoretical and practical implications. First, the results indicate that a substantial number of married women in China are influenced by their husbands’ gender role conceptions in fertility decision-making. Neglecting the role of husbands’ beliefs may lead to an incomplete understanding of wives’ fertility decisions. Second, this study offers a psychological perspective on gender equality based on gender role conceptions. It suggests that gender inequality is not only reflected in the unequal distribution of economic resources but also in the asymmetric psychological dependence between spouses. Enhancing women’s decision-making power in household affairs can mitigate fertility dependency and promote fertility autonomy. This, in turn, may contribute to broader social progress and support the development of a more harmonious and sustainable society.

Key words: fertility intentions, fertility dependency, fertility autonomy, gender role conceptions

CHEN Sijing, WANG Zhen, YANG Shasha, ZHENG Peng, HE Quan. (2025). Fertility dependence or fertility autonomy? The impact of husbands’ traditional gender role conceptions on wives’ fertility intentions. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 57(9), 1661-1676.

Figures/Tables 21

References 72

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Variable	M	SD	1	2
1 INC (wife)	2.08	0.76
2 GRC (husband)	3.87	0.89	0.14^***[0.13, 0.18]
3 GRC (wife)	3.97	0.87	0.15^***[0.14, 0.18]	0.35^***[0.34, 0.38]

Variable	M	SD	1	2
1 INC (wife)	2.08	0.76
2 GRC (husband)	3.87	0.89	0.14^***[0.13, 0.18]
3 GRC (wife)	3.97	0.87	0.15^***[0.14, 0.18]	0.35^***[0.34, 0.38]

Variable	M	SD	Min	Max
Income	3.02	3.95	0	12.08
Education	5.63	4.60	0	19
Health	3.20	1.26	1	5
No. of children	2.04	1.10	0	10
Age	49.3	12.85	16	93
Ethnicity	0.92	0.27	0	1
Hukou	0.78	0.41	0	1
Medical insurance	0.93	0.25	0	1
Total housing assets	11.2	3.08	0	16.52
Financial assets	5.67	5.23	0	15.04
Household size	4.42	1.90	2	17

Variable	M	SD	Min	Max
Income	3.02	3.95	0	12.08
Education	5.63	4.60	0	19
Health	3.20	1.26	1	5
No. of children	2.04	1.10	0	10
Age	49.3	12.85	16	93
Ethnicity	0.92	0.27	0	1
Hukou	0.78	0.41	0	1
Medical insurance	0.93	0.25	0	1
Total housing assets	11.2	3.08	0	16.52
Financial assets	5.67	5.23	0	15.04
Household size	4.42	1.90	2	17

Variable	B	z	LLCI	ULCI
Predictor
Gender role conceptions (husband)	0.014^**	3.121	0.005	0.023
Gender role conceptions (wife)	0.008	1.270	−0.004	0.021
Control
Income	0.001	0.636	−0.002	0.003
Education	−0.005^*	−2.024	−0.009	−0.0001
Health	−0.004	−1.270	−0.011	0.002
No. of children	0.089^***	7.305	0.065	0.113
Age	0.001	1.078	−0.001	0.003
Ethnicity	−0.155	−1.630	−0.341	0.031
Hukou	0.010	0.439	−0.034	0.054
Medical insurance	0.016	1.004	−0.015	0.048
Total housing assets	−0.001	−0.671	−0.004	0.002
Financial assets	0.0002	0.429	−0.001	0.001
Household size	0.009	1.825	−0.001	0.019
Province fixed effects	Controlled
N	7089
Pseudo R²	0.021