Attitudes, Norms and Perceived Behavioural Control: Explaining Fertility Intentions in Bulgaria

Francesco C. Billari (1) , Dimiter Philipov (2) , Maria Rita Testa (2)

1 "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics, IMQ and IGIER
2 VID - Vienna Institute of Demography

In this article, we study fertility decision-making through timing parity-progression intentions. The theoretical framework builds on Ajzen's social-psychological “Theory of Planned Behavior”: intentions are seen as directly dependent on three components: attitudes, norms and perceived behavioural control. We study the case of Bulgaria, a “lowest-low” fertility country. In 2002, a sample survey containing a specially designed module was conducted. This module included an implementation of our framework, with a special attention to the links between normative pressure and the social network of respondents. Results show that the three components are broadly predictive of fertility intentions. More specifically, attitudes are more relevant than norms for higher parities. Socio-economic, ideational, psychological and social capital-based factors are relevant background determinants.

Mots clés: Fertility intentions; Theory of planned behavior; Bulgaria; Lowest-low fertility; Norms; Intentions de fécondité; Théorie du comportement prévu; Bulgarie; Très basses fécondités; Normes

Francesco C. Billari, Dimiter Philipov, Maria Rita Testa. Attitudes, Norms and Perceived Behavioural Control: Explaining Fertility Intentions in Bulgaria. European Journal of Population / Revue européenne de Démographie, 2009, 25 (4), pp.439-465. ⟨10.1007/s10680-009-9187-9⟩. ⟨hal-00535475⟩