Do Children Influence Parental Life Satisfaction?

Rush, John (2021) Do Children Influence Parental Life Satisfaction? Undergraduate thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

Previous research into life satisfaction shows just how complex a topic this can be. Parental life satisfaction literature shows no definitive answer to questions such as does number of children or age of children impact on an individuals life satisfaction and what is the biggest single predictor of life satisfaction. This study aimed to provide an explanation to the questions raised. Participants were recruited through and online snowball sampling method via social media outlets (N=222). They then completed a survey with demographic question alongside three scales the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) and the Riverside Life Satisfaction Scale (RLSS). Results showed that that higher number of children were significantly correlated with higher life satisfaction (p < .001). It was also shown that parents of young children aged 0-4 did not differ on life satisfaction scores to those who did not have a child of this age, but it was seen that parents with kids aged 5 up until 16 (p = .014) and 17+ (p = .002) differing in terms of life satisfaction with these groups scoring significantly higher. None of these groups differed significantly on subjective happiness. When investigating if satisfaction with socio-economic status was related to life satisfaction it was found that they were positively correlated and that this would be the best predictor of life satisfaction (β = .47, p < .001) in the model, with two other variables significantly predicting life satisfaction them being marital status and number of children with the whole model account for 32% variance. These findings show somewhat contradictory results to the previous literature showing that the more kids an individual has is associated with better life satisfaction and that the older the children are will again raise life satisfaction scores. It also shows again just how important an individual’s socio-economic status is for the course of life satisfaction. Practical implications of these findings demonstrate the power money and wealth have over the vast majority people’s mental health and attitudes towards how they view satisfaction in their own life.

Item Type:	Thesis (Undergraduate)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman > Children
Divisions:	School of Business > BA (Honours) in Psychology
Depositing User:	Clara Chan
Date Deposited:	13 Aug 2021 15:38
Last Modified:	16 Sep 2021 15:49
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/4969

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