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Original Article

Stigmatization of Voluntarily Childfree Women and Men in the UK

The Roles of Expected Regret and Moral Judgment

Published Online:October 22, 2021https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000455

Abstract

Abstract. People who choose not to have children may face negative social judgment. Using a UK sample, Study 1 (N = 199) successfully replicated Ashburn-Nardo’s (2017) finding that childfree targets are perceived as less psychologically fulfilled than targets with children. The effect, however, appeared limited to expected decision regret rather than general fulfillment, which was later confirmed in Study 2 (N = 329). In contrast to Ashburn-Nardo, our results did not indicate that moral outrage mediates the effect (Study 1), but exploratory findings suggested that perceivers who intend to have children of their own perceive the childfree as morally inferior and less likable (Study 2). Participants’ endorsement of conservative values was not consistently related to negative perceptions of childfree targets.

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