Journal of Social Issues

Stycos, J. Mayone

doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb01752.xpmid: N/A

Where population planning and family planning programs converge and diverge are discussed in terms of ultimate arid intermediate goals, and the means by which goals are achieved. Broad variations are found within the ranks of both groups of planning advocates. This variation is both cause and effect of differing levels of concern over the societal consequences of population growth and size and of family growth and size. When degree of concern over population problems is compared with the degree of difficulty of solution regarded as necessary or desirable, a number of instances are found in which the relation is not as expected. This is due in part to the heterogeneity of the goals and in part to ideological considerations affecting attitudes toward means as well as ends.

Fawcett, James T.

doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb01753.xpmid: N/A

Population policies are broad in scope and may be defined in various ways. One approach is to view population policy as a means for resolving potential conflicts between the individual and society, with respect to demographic behaviors. Such a definition emphasizes the need for psychological research approaches in the design, implementation, and evaluation of population policies. Types of psychological research relevant to population policy are described and the research‐oriented articles in this volume are previewed.

Bardwick, Judith M.

doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb01754.xpmid: N/A

An ethological or evolutionary analysis of parenting behaviors supports the idea that primates, including man, have evolved psychological structures which are particularly adapted to respond to cues from young children. Similarly, infants are particularly sensitive to and respond selectively to behaviors from people. The data suggest that attachment to others is more characteristic of females than males in infancy and in adulthood. The implications derived from the evolutionary perspective are that people may have both an ability to parent and a need to parent. The adoption of a widespread antinatal policy advocating childlessness as a preferred life style might prove psychologically costly and detrimental to the well‐being of a people.

Kastenbaum, Robert

doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb01755.xpmid: N/A

The birth‐death theme has fascinated humankind for centuries. It can be discovered in many cultural practices, ranging from childnaming and memorialization rituals to the transmission of political power, and birth‐death dynamics have been probed by Hegel, Jung, Freud, and other influential thinkers. Surprisingly little has been done, however, to formulate and test specific hypotheses. This article begins with the simplistic proposition: “We fear death—and that is why we reproduce after our kind.” Exploratory data and some methodological and theoretical considerations are presented, including the concept of a spectrum of death‐transcending strategies, fertility being but one. An understanding of our complex orientations toward both propagation and mortality appears necessary in view of emerging pressures to manipulate population structure and divide one generation from another.

Shanas, Ethel; Hauser, Philip M.

doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb01756.xpmid: N/A

Discussing the place of the elderly in a technologically advanced society, the authors relate demographic change to social structure and social psychological changes. A series of model population profiles, including one which assumes zero population growth by 2028, are given. The present elderly population and its family characteristics are described, and the situation of the elderly under conditions of zero population growth is considered. It is felt that zero population growth would accelerate the role of government in providing housing, recreation, health care, and income maintenance for the elderly.

Thompson, Vaida D.

doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb01757.xpmid: N/A

The recommended increase in the number of zero‐ and one‐child families proposed as one means of reducing average family size in the United States does not satisfactorily confront such issues as cultural proscriptions concerning the only child, nor offer evidence that the types of families that would result are those in which positive psychological characteristics are most likely to emerge. The literature surveyed suggests that a negative stereotype concerning the only child does persist, but that the psychological characteristics assumed for the only child have not been reliably demonstrated. Neither is there irrefutable evidence concerning psychological characteristics associated with other family sizes and ordinal positions. Family size recommendations should reflect a greater understanding of the opposition to the only child and should be paralleled by intensive research activity directed at developing a more comprehensive body of knowledge concerning the psychological outcomes for children, adults, and the society which might be anticipated.

Hass, Paula H.

doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb01758.xpmid: N/A

Criticisms are offered of the measures of family‐size desires and unwanted pregnancies most often employed in U.S. fertility surveys and KAP surveys. This paper offers a reconceptualization of attitudes toward pregnancy as a set of perceived advantages and disadvantages to childbearing and as a dynamic decision‐making process. A model is suggested which recognizes that attitudes toward pregnancy and fertility goals can differ in the preconception, pregnancy, and postnatal periods. It is hypothesized that within each stage, decision‐making on fertility goals and birth planning depends on the couple's perceived susceptibility to pregnancy, the perceived significant advantages and disadvantages to childbearing, the knowledge, availability, and acceptability of birth‐planning measures, and couple communication on these topics.

Miller, Karen A.; Inkeles, Alex

doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb01759.xpmid: N/A

The relationship of societal modernization and birth rates is analyzed in terms of the relationships among individual level variables: modernizing experiences, overall psychological modernity, and acceptance of the Tightness of family limitation. Theoretical considerations and previous research in this area are discussed. The results of an empirical analysis of the effects of modernizing experiences and overall psychological modernity on acceptance of birth control are presented, using data from East Pakistan, India, Israel, and Nigeria. Although the variables used in our analysis explain only a moderate proportion of the variance in acceptance of birth control, the conclusion emerges that experiences with modern institutions are not associated with acceptance of birth control unless they are associated with generally modern attitudes, particularly belief in the value of science, technology, and medicine. Some policy implications are discussed.

Kahan, James P.

doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb01760.xpmid: N/A

The growth of human populations as a function of the desire on the part of parents to have a greater number of children (on the average) than the number needed for a steady state (zero population growth) is analyzed within the framework of the prisoner's dilemma game, a model that has enjoyed considerable popularity among social scientists in recent years. Proposed resolutions of the prisoner's dilemma are translated into analogous situations in the population growth problem. A proposed solution is the adoption of an interactive rationality, where families consider their own decisions in light of their existence in common with other families. In this way, family size becomes another part of life governed by social contract as well as individual desire.

Crawford, Thomas J.

doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb01761.xpmid: N/A

Suggestions for population policy strategies have ranged from “do nothing” to “use inescapable force.” In practice, however, persuasion and positive incentives are the two strategies that are most widely employed in contemporary population planning programs. Other means for lowering the birth rate tend to be rejected by policymakers as ethically unacceptable, ineffective, or infeasible. In both social psychological theory and population policy practice there is a growing skepticism about the efficacy of communication and persuasion as means for producing behavior change. This paper challenges that estimate. Recent advances in attitude theory and measurement may provide a useful set of guidelines for family planning communication programs.