Disentangling Subjective Norms: The Social Effects of Friends and Parents on Young Unintended Pregnancy

• In Event: 450 - Regular Session. Fertility: Childbearing Decisions in Family Context

Abstract

This paper examines the role of perceived norms in predicting unintended pregnancy rates among young women (ages 18-21) in the United States using data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life Study (RDSL). Working within the theory of planned behavior framework and a life course perspective, I first assess the relationship between fertility-related perceived norms and unintended pregnancy, with particular interest in what type – injunctive or descriptive – and referent – parents’ or friends’ - of norms best predict unintended pregnancy. Second, I consider two mechanisms through which perceived norms are hypothesized to influence unintended young pregnancy: diffusion and social pressure. Finally, by identifying entrance into motherhood as an important life course transition, particularly if occurring during the transition to adulthood, I explore how these salient social influences vary by parity. I find that pregnancies among women who have had no prior births are largely influenced by friends’ approval, while pregnancies among women who have had one prior birth are influenced most strongly by parents’ approval. These effects are mainly independent of respondents’ own pregnancy expectations and desires, suggesting social pressure rather than diffusion. Findings from this study shed light on how young women understand or perceive their social reality and how these perceptions of what is “normal” or “acceptable” among family and friends influence a particularly consequential early-life event: becoming a parent.

Author

• Ellen Compernolle, University of Michigan