Attitudes toward Childbearing and Competing Alternatives
Sui Generis P. Santos
Citation: Barber, J.S. (Jun 2001). Ideational influences on the transition to parenthood: Attitudes toward childbearing and competing alternatives. Social Psychology Quarterly, 64 (2), 101-127.
Jennifer Barber’s article presented a very interesting and relevant study on how ideational influences on the transition to parenthood, particularly the educational attainment, career development and consumer spending, affect individual attitudes. As a student, this piece of writing is important to know the latest developments in the application of the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior and familiarize with research methods and techniques that would be useful for my future endeavors. This will not only be helpful in developing my appreciation and understanding but also will enhance my grasp of the discourse. As a female individual, with the emphasis on female, childbearing is an inevitable experience (unless I opted not to get married and/or have children or I am infertile) and realizing the possible influences that might affect my perception to childbearing is personally important and beneficial. The study is salient in terms of expanding the theory of planned behavior that considers how attitudes toward competing behaviors affect a focal behavior and exploring how attitudes toward childbearing and the competing behaviors of educational attainment, career development, and consumer spending affect childbearing behavior. Barber applied Fishbein and Ajzen’s frameworks on theories of reasoned action and planned behavior in studying the relation of attitudes to complex (long-term) behaviors and made an improvement by adding the effect of attitudes toward competing behaviors on the attitude-behavior relationship via attitudes, via intentions and via perceived or actual behavioral control. She also made an