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Evidence of a negative bias toward people who are childfree by choice.

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Title: Evidence of a negative bias toward people who are childfree by choice.
Authors: Denson, Nida (AUTHOR), Ferreira, Diana (AUTHOR), Denson, Thomas F. (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Social Psychology. 2026, Vol. 166 Issue 4, p557-577. 21p.
Subjects: Discrimination (Sociology), Dehumanization, Social perception, Social norms, Childlessness, Negativity bias, Gender differences (Sociology)
Abstract: For many people, the decision to have children or not is one of life's most personal decisions. The number of people without children is growing in many Western countries. Some of these people consciously choose not to have children. In three studies (Study 1 N = 475; Study 2 N = 450; Study 3 N = 293), we provide evidence of a negative bias toward people who choose to be childfree. We compared the childfree to several other social categories as well as people who are involuntarily childless, adoptive parents, and parents of their biological children. Relative to childless people, adoptive parents and parents, participants generally rated childfree people as the least positive. Childfree people were rated low in warmth, but high in competence. Childfree women were rated lower in warmth than childfree men. Discrimination toward childfree people was predicted by perceived narcissism, dehumanization, and violation of pronatalist norms. This research provides evidence of a negative bias toward people who choose not to have children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Social Psychology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Evidence of a negative bias toward people who are childfree by choice.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Denson%2C+Nida%22">Denson, Nida</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ferreira%2C+Diana%22">Ferreira, Diana</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Denson%2C+Thomas+F%2E%22">Denson, Thomas F.</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Social+Psychology%22">Journal of Social Psychology</searchLink>. 2026, Vol. 166 Issue 4, p557-577. 21p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Discrimination+%28Sociology%29%22">Discrimination (Sociology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Dehumanization%22">Dehumanization</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+perception%22">Social perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+norms%22">Social norms</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Childlessness%22">Childlessness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Negativity+bias%22">Negativity bias</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+differences+%28Sociology%29%22">Gender differences (Sociology)</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: For many people, the decision to have children or not is one of life's most personal decisions. The number of people without children is growing in many Western countries. Some of these people consciously choose not to have children. In three studies (Study 1 N = 475; Study 2 N = 450; Study 3 N = 293), we provide evidence of a negative bias toward people who choose to be childfree. We compared the childfree to several other social categories as well as people who are involuntarily childless, adoptive parents, and parents of their biological children. Relative to childless people, adoptive parents and parents, participants generally rated childfree people as the least positive. Childfree people were rated low in warmth, but high in competence. Childfree women were rated lower in warmth than childfree men. Discrimination toward childfree people was predicted by perceived narcissism, dehumanization, and violation of pronatalist norms. This research provides evidence of a negative bias toward people who choose not to have children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Social Psychology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/00224545.2025.2573719
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 21
        StartPage: 557
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Discrimination (Sociology)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Dehumanization
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social perception
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social norms
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Childlessness
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Negativity bias
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Gender differences (Sociology)
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Evidence of a negative bias toward people who are childfree by choice.
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            NameFull: Denson, Nida
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            NameFull: Ferreira, Diana
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            NameFull: Denson, Thomas F.
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 07
              Text: 2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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