The roles of Marital Commitment, Loneliness, and Emotion Seeking in the prediction of women's Fertility Preferences and Motivations

The purpose of the present study was to predict women's fertility preferences and motivations based on marital commitment, loneliness, and emotion-seeking. This study was correlational and 225 women, aged 20 to 45 years, were selected by in hand sampling method from Tehran government related companies in 2018. Instruments for collecting data were Miller Fertility Preferences & Motivation Scale, Adams & Jones Marital Commitment Scale, Zuckerman & Eysenck Sensation Seeking Scale, and Dietomasso, Brennan & Bast Adult Social-Emotional Loneliness Scale. Correlation results showed a negative relationship between fertility preferences and moral commitment, and a positive relationship between positive fertility motivations and personal, moral commitment. Also positive relationships between negative fertility preferences with moral and structural commitment, family and social loneliness, adventure and emotion-seeking were found. The results of regression analysis showed that fertility preferences and motives can be predicted by the loneliness, sensation seeking and marital commitment respectively. These results enhance the importance of need of pre-pregnancy psychological counseling sessions.