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Cited by 165Personality Traits and PsychologyFamily Dynamics and RelationshipsAnimal Behavior and Reproduction

Personality and having children: A two-way relationship.

Jokela, Markus, Kivimäki, Mika, Elovainio, Marko, Keltikangas-Järvinen, Liisa·2009·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
DOI 10.1037/a0014058
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Abstract

Personality has been implicated in romantic and sexual relationships, but its association with childbearing is poorly understood. The authors assessed whether 3 personality traits--sociability, emotionality, and activity--predicted the probability of having children and whether having children predicted personality change. The participants were women and men from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study (N = 1,839) who were followed for 9 years. High emotionality decreased the probability of having children, whereas high sociability and, in men, high activity increased this probability. Having children predicted increasing emotionality, particularly in participants with high baseline emotionality and two or more children. In men, having children increased sociability in those with high baseline sociability and decreased sociability in those with low baseline sociability. These findings suggest a two-way relationship between personality and having children.

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Crossref · 10.1037/a0014058

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  • In Jokela et al. (2009), increasing family size predicted decreasing sociability in men with low baseline sociability (d ~ -0.40).

    “and decreasing sociability in men with low baseline sociability ( d ~-0.40).”

    From Life Events and Personality Trait Change. (2018) · cites this paper as Jokela et al. (2009)

  • In Jokela et al. (2009), emotionality increased in individuals who had one child (d = 0.14) or more children (d = 0.20).

    “but increased in individuals who had one ( d = 0.14) or more children ( d = 0.20).”

    From Life Events and Personality Trait Change. (2018) · cites this paper as Jokela et al. (2009)

  • In Jokela et al. (2009), emotionality remained relatively stable in participants who had no children during the nine-year research period.

    “This study found that emotionality remained relatively stable in participants who had no children during the nine-year research period”

    From Life Events and Personality Trait Change. (2018) · cites this paper as Jokela et al. (2009)

  • In Jokela et al. (2009), having children was not associated with changes in sociability.

    “Overall, having children was not associated with changes in sociability.”

    From Life Events and Personality Trait Change. (2018) · cites this paper as Jokela et al. (2009)

  • In Jokela et al. (2009), there was an interaction effect between gender, baseline sociability, and number of children on sociability change.

    “However, there was an interaction effect between gender, baseline sociability, and number of children”

    From Life Events and Personality Trait Change. (2018) · cites this paper as Jokela et al. (2009)

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Authors
Jokela, M., Kivimäki, M., Elovainio, M., & Keltikangas-Järvinen, L.
Affiliations
University of Helsinki (FI)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2009-01
Volume
96
Issue
1
Pages
218-230
ISSN
  • 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1315
DOI
10.1037/a0014058
OpenAlex
W2118601268
Cited by
164
References
82
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 12
FWCI
12.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • STM:n Hallinnonalan avoin julkaisuarkisto (Julkari) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Academy of Finland (111056; 124322; 117604)
  • Finnish Cultural Foundation
  • Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
Keywords
personality, childbearing, fertility, sociability, emotionality, activity, personality change, number of children, gender differences, Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study
MeSH terms
Adult, Analysis of Variance, Emotions, Female, Finland, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Motor Activity, Parents, Personality, Personality Inventory, Predictive Value of Tests, Prospective Studies, Social Behavior, Temperament, Cohort Studies, Odds Ratio, Parenting, Young Adult

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