Where qualitative research meets demography: interdisciplinary explorations of conceptions on fatherhood in an extremely low fertility context

Holger von der Lippe and Urs Fuhrer
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Holger von der Lippe: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

No WP-2002-028, MPIDR Working Papers from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

Abstract: Recent demands to include psychological theories of decision-making and intention-formation in research on family formation coincide with calls for improving research on male fertility and fatherhood. In this paper, we address these notions and present findings from in-depth interviews with 30-year-old childless men from Eastern Germany on their desire for children. Our research is embedded in the societal situation of contemporary Eastern Germany, where birth rates have faced a historical low - the lowest in more than 10 years. We analyze fourteen interviews, using an analytical paradigm, which we derive from 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 to men´s intentions for parenthood.In conclusion, we compare our results with explanations that the Theory of Symbolic Self-Completion and the Theory of Reasoned Action give. We argue for the need to bring together psychological and sociological theorizing in this field.

Keywords: Germany (Neue Bundesländer); fertility decline; men; social psychology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2002
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2002-028

DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2002-028

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