1. MAYBE BABY? A LATENT CLASS ANALYSIS OF COUPLE-LEVEL DESIRE TO HAVE A BABY.
- Author
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HARCEY, SELA R., RAY, COLLEEN M., MCQUILLAN, JULIA, GIBBS, LARRY, and GREIL, ARTHUR L.
- Subjects
PSYCHOLOGY of couples ,SOCIAL perception ,COGNITIVE ability ,LATENT class analysis (Statistics) ,THEORY of knowledge - Abstract
Generally, having a baby is a couple level phenomenon, yet most fertility studies focus on women. Guided by Cognitive-Social and Life Course theories, we use the couple-level data in the first wave of the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (NSFB) to explore the relationship of desire for a baby among partners. The analytical sample includes 337 zero parity heterosexual couples. Three parallel questions measure desire for a child: her, his, and hers of his. These three variables create 64 potential couple types. We used theoretical and empirical approaches to create fewer meaningful categories. It was not obvious whether perceptions or agreement held more importance when creating theoretical groups. Given the uncertainty of the theoretical grouping, we used Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to empirically classify the groups of couples that exist based upon the desire to have a child. Of the 64 potential categories of couple desire for a baby, three latent groups emerged. We compared the latent groups to the theoretical groups based upon agreement, perception, and knowledge. The comparison revealed that although two of the latent classes mapped onto two of the theoretical groups, the third latent group revealed a more complex group not purely disagreement. Ambiguity in desire stems from the third latent group capturing both those that disagreed but also those that appear as unsure or ambiguous. Despite 64 potential groups of couples based upon her, his, and hers perception of his desire for a baby, three groups emerged: agree yes, agree no, and ambiguity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016