(RxWiki News) It is widely assumed than women have more of an urge to start a family than men. Something of a missplaced "nurturance need" is often cited as the reason. But, men desire children too.
A current sociological study focused its inquiry on reasons people do or don't want to become parents. They found that men and women both get 'baby fever'.
"Men desire children just as much as women."
Gary Brase, a researcher from Kansas State University whose research focuses on judgment and decision-making reports that sometimes people's desires to have more children conflict with other desires one has. This study asked people to rank their desires and goals out of life in order.
The research team unearthed some compelling findings. First, baby fever does occur for both men and women, but women more frequently ranked a desire to conceive above sex while men were more likely to rank having sex above having a baby.
Additionally, Brase notes that the common notion that a gender role or misplaced nurturance are not really reasons for people wanting to have a baby. More fundamental driving forces are in play here.
Those surveyed who were embracing the positive aspects of parenting did want to have a child while those emphasizing the negative aspects of parenthood did not want to have a child. Brase reports that there was a third group who acknowledged both the negative and positive aspects of parenthood that were very conflicted about a future family life.
Brase also observes that having children is a fundamental reason for our existence. People naturally want to pass their genes onto the next generation, but children are expensive and don't give back any financial return on the required investment. A dilemma for some.
The research will appear in an upcoming issue of Emotion, a publication by the American Psychological Association.
