In many societies the average age for giving birth is rising. One factor which could contribute to the timing of childbirth – which has not been explored to a sufficient degree with qualitative research – is lay understanding of fertility and the possibilities offered by reproductive technology. Twelve focus groups were used to examine the reasoning of female university students in Hungary about agerelated fertility decline, how they thought reproductive technologies could help, and how they drew on information sources. Although in many groups the existence of age-related fertility decline was acknowledged, fertility and technology myths – namely, overly positive misbeliefs – surfaced repeatedly. Building on some elements of the contextual model of Science and Technology Studies, I discuss how socialpsychological phenomena such as resistance to the idea of personal risk can be important in lay interpretations of age-related fertility decline, as well as how exemplification processes can contribute to these myths.

中文翻译：

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生育神话、技术神话及其来源——对与年龄相关的生育率下降的推理

在许多社会中，生育的平均年龄正在上升。可能影响分娩时间的一个因素——尚未通过定性研究进行足够程度的探索——是对生育能力和生殖技术提供的可能性的非专业理解。使用 12 个焦点小组来研究匈牙利女大学生对与年龄相关的生育率下降的推理、他们认为生殖技术如何提供帮助以及他们如何利用信息来源。尽管在许多群体中，与年龄相关的生育率下降的存在得到承认，生育率和技术神话——即过于积极的错误信念——反复浮出水面。以科学技术研究情境模型的某些要素为基础，