Implicit Bias and Voluntarily Childfree Adults

Author

Virginia Elizabeth PowellFollow

Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

8-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Marriage and Family Therapy

Degree Name

Master of Marriage and Family Therapy

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Lisa Merchant

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Greg Brooks

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Joanna Mendez-Pounds

Abstract

This quantitative study aimed to determine if there is a negative bias towards voluntarily childfree adults or an association of negative views and attitudes with voluntarily childfree adults, controlling for other participant characteristics such as race, religion, or sexual orientation. At this stage in the research, voluntarily childfree adults are generally defined as legal adults who have the intention to remain childfree for the rest of their lives, due to reasons other than fertility issues. A negative view or bias is defined as any attitude which is not a desirable interpretation of behavior or lifestyle. A negative bias against voluntarily childfree adults was demonstrated through the administration of the Childfree Implicit Bias Test, a modified version of the Implicit Bias Test used to measure this topic. The null hypothesis was that would will be no negative bias towards voluntarily childfree adults. Significant correlation was found between those who self-identified as parents and those who showed bias in the Implicit Bias Test, and between older participants and bias. Further research is necessary to explore this topic further.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Powell, Virginia Elizabeth, "Implicit Bias and Voluntarily Childfree Adults" (2020). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 219.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/219