Research by Willa Cather Professor of Sociology and department chair Julia McQuillan and Nebraska alumni Stacy Tiemeyer and Kathleen Slauson Blevins was recently published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.
"Change in Motherhood Status and Fertility Problem Identification: Implications for Changes in Life Satisfaction" used longitudinal data to determine whether the association between changes in life satisfaction and becoming a mother (or not) depends on fertility problem identification status.
Evidence and symbolic interactionist theory suggest that, for women who initially perceive a fertility barrier, gaining the identity "mother" should be associated with increases in life satisfaction, and continuing to face a blocked goal (e.g., not becoming a mother) should be associated with decreases in life satisfaction.
"It isn't realizing that one has a fertility problem that leads to lower life satisfaction," McQuillan said, "it's persisting with a fertility problem and not becoming a mother that is associated with lower life satisfaction."
