Childfree people are viewed as competent but lacking in warmth compared to parents

A set of three studies examining how individuals who are childfree by choice are perceived found that they are seen as less warm compared to adoptive parents, childless people, and parents. However, they were generally seen as higher in competence compared to parents and childless people. Childfree women were rated lower in warmth than childfree men. The paper was published in the Journal of Social Psychology.

Childfree people are adults who consciously and voluntarily choose not to have children, viewing this as a long-term or permanent life decision rather than a temporary circumstance. They differ from people who are childless (i.e., those who want children but do not have them due to infertility, partnership status, or other constraints).

One group of childfree individuals makes this choice for personal or lifestyle reasons, such as valuing autonomy, time, mobility, or career flexibility. Another group is motivated by economic considerations, including financial insecurity, housing costs, or concerns about long-term economic stability. Some childfree people cite psychological or relational reasons, such as a low desire for parenting, a preference for different forms of intimacy, or awareness of personal limits.

Others emphasize ethical or environmental concerns, including climate change, overpopulation, or reluctance to bring children into an uncertain world. There are also childfree individuals whose decision is shaped by health considerations, including physical or mental health risks associated with pregnancy or parenting.

In recent decades, the proportion of childfree people has been increasing, especially in high-income countries and urban areas. This trend is linked to later partnership formation, greater access to contraception, expanded educational opportunities, and changing gender norms.

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Estimates suggest that, in the Western world, approximately 10–20% of individuals are childfree. Childfree people are estimated to make up as many as 30% of people without children. A recent study found that 47% of 18-to-49-year-olds who do not have children report that they would be unlikely to have children because they do not want them.

Study author Nida Denson and her colleagues wanted to examine whether people who are childfree are targets of negative bias. The authors expected that childfree individuals would be evaluated more negatively than parents, childless people, and people who have adopted children. They also expected that childfree people would be evaluated similarly to, or more negatively than, common targets of prejudice in Western society. Additionally, the authors hypothesized that childfree women would be evaluated more negatively than childfree men.

These authors conducted three studies. The first two studies used an attitude thermometer, an instrument that asks people to rate how favorably they view different groups of people. Participants also rated these groups on how warm and competent they considered them to be, and reported their own expectations and desires regarding having children.

Participants in both studies were recruited via Amazon MTurk from the U.S. The first sample happened to be predominantly comprised of people without children, while the second sample was intentionally selected to comprise solely individuals who currently have children. There were 475 participants in the first study and 450 in the second.

Participants in the third study were 293 individuals from the U.K. recruited via Prolific. They completed the same assessments as in the previous two studies, along with additional assessments of dehumanization (towards parents and childfree people, e.g., “I feel like this group of people lack self-restraint, like animals”) and endorsement of pronatalist norms (e.g., “People should have children”).

Additionally, they completed several assessments regarding their perceptions of childfree people, including realistic and symbolic threat (e.g., “If people don’t have children, the economy will collapse”), envy towards childfree people (e.g., “Sometimes I wish I could live a childfree lifestyle”), perceived narcissism (e.g., “People who choose not to have children are selfish”), and endorsement of discrimination against such individuals (e.g., “People who choose not to have children should be given fewer paid holidays than people who have children”).

Results of the first study showed that the ratings of childfree people were not particularly negative. The most favorable ratings were assigned to educated people, dog owners, and adoptive parents. Childfree people fell near the middle of the group; they were rated comparably to Asian Americans and African Americans, and more favorably than groups such as drug addicts and politicians.

The second study saw adoptive parents rated as the most favorable category again, followed by parents, childless people, and educated people. Childfree people’s favorability ratings were lower than in the previous study. Their favorability ratings were significantly higher than ratings of vegans and comparable to ratings of Buddhists.

In these studies, childfree people were perceived as lower in warmth compared to adoptive parents, parents, and childless people. However, childfree people tended to be rated as higher in competence compared to biological parents and childless people. Childfree women were seen as less warm than childfree men.

In the third study, involving U.K. participants, childfree people were rated somewhat more favorably than in the U.S. parent sample, with average ratings similar to those of parents and British people (as a group). However, they were still rated less favorably than adoptive parents and childless people. This study also revealed that individuals who supported discrimination against childfree individuals tended to be those who dehumanized them, perceived them as narcissistic, and endorsed pronatalist norms.

“This research provides evidence of a negative bias toward people who choose not to have children,” the study authors concluded.

The study contributes to scientific knowledge about the public perception of childfree people. However, all three studies were conducted using paid participants recruited through online crowdsourcing platforms. Studies on groups more representative of the general populations of the U.S. and the U.K. might yield different results.

The paper, “Evidence of a negative bias toward people who are childfree by choice,” was authored by Nida Denson, Diana Ferreira, and Thomas F. Denson.