The DOI matches its Crossref record; 81 of the 82 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Personality and having children: A two-way relationship.
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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In the citing paper
“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 the citing paper
“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 the citing paper
“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 the citing paper
“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 the citing paper
“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)
In the citing paper
“such that increasing family size predicted increasing sociability in men with high baseline sociability ( d ~ .30)”
From Life Events and Personality Trait Change. (2018) · cites this paper as Jokela et al. (2009)
In the citing paper
“In fact, parents and people without children have been shown to differ systematically in a large number of socioeconomic, social, and psychological characteristics”
From Life Events and Personality Trait Change. (2018) · cites this paper as Jokela et al., 2009
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Metadata
- Authors
- Jokela, M., Kivimäki, M., Elovainio, M., & Keltikangas-Järvinen, L.
- Affiliations
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2009-01
- Volume
- 96
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 218-230
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- 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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