title: Emotional regulation of fertility decision making: what is the nature and structure of "baby fever"?
abstract: Baby fever-a visceral physical and emotional desire to have a baby-is well known in popular culture, but has not been empirically studied in psychology. Different theoretical perspectives suggest that desire for a baby is either superfluous to biological sex drives and maternal instincts, a sociocultural phenomenon unrelated to biological or evolutionary forces, or an evolved adpatation for regulating birth timing, proceptive behavior, and life history trajectories. A series of studies (involving 337 undergraduate participants and 853 participants from a general population Internet sample) found that: (a) a simple scale measure could elicit ratings of desire frequency; (b) these ratings exhibited significant sex differences; (c) this sex difference was distinct from a general desire for sexual activity; and (d) these findings generalize to a more diverse online population. Factor analyses of ratings for desire elicitors/inhibitors identified three primary factors underlying baby fever. Baby fever appears to be a real phenomenon, with an underlying multifactorial structure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA. gbrase@ksu.edu
authors.forename: Gary L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Brase
authors.forename: Sandra L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Brase
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003657:Decision Making; D004644:Emotions; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007989:Libido; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D043762:Reproductive Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012380:Role; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology