University Students’ Perceptions of Childless Couples and Parents in Ankara, Turkey

Changing perceptions of childlessness have been documented in the United States, but little is known about perceptions in developing countries undergoing rapid social changes and globalization, including Turkey. This project uses a survey and hypothetical vignettes about childless couples and parent...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of family issues 2010-11, Vol.31 (11), p.1481-1506
Main Authors: Çopur, Zeynep, Koropeckyj-Cox, Tanya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Affective Behavior
Childlessness
College Students
Consciousness
Couples
Developing countries
Family Income
Family Work Relationship
Females
Foreign Countries
Gender Differences
Global Approach
Globalization
Income
Interpersonal relations
LDCs
Marital Satisfaction
Mothers
Parents
Parents & parenting
Perceptions
Quality
Rural areas
Rural urban differences
Sex Differences
Social Change
Stress Variables
Student Attitudes
Surveys
Turkey
University students
Vignettes
Women
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Changing perceptions of childlessness have been documented in the United States, but little is known about perceptions in developing countries undergoing rapid social changes and globalization, including Turkey. This project uses a survey and hypothetical vignettes about childless couples and parents to assess university students’ perceptions of childlessness (N = 850). The authors find that parents are rated higher on interpersonal warmth and marital relationship quality, but mothers are seen as more stressed. Childless men and women are perceived as more driven but also as more emotionally troubled. The results indicate the continued importance of parenthood among Turkish students but also an understanding of women’s stresses in combining work and motherhood. The authors find relatively few rural and urban differences, whereas gender and income differences may reflect greater awareness of work—family concerns and acceptance of childlessness among women and higher income students.
ISSN:0192-513X
1552-5481
DOI:10.1177/0192513X10361577