Are childbearing-age childless adults more unwilling or more afraid to have children? Positive affective forecasting about childbearing can reflect the extent to which individuals are “unwilling” to have children, whereas negative affective forecasting can reflect the extent to which they are “afraid” to do so. Based on this framework, the present study (N=470) compared the predictive power of positive and negative affective forecasting on fertility intentions. The results showed that both types of affective forecasting significantly predicted participants' fertility intention strength, desired number of children, and ideal number of children. Moreover, positive affective forecasting exhibited stronger predictive effects than negative ones. These findings highlight the critical role of affective forecasting—particularly positive affective forecasting—in shaping fertility intentions, and provide preliminary evidence suggesting that childbearing-age childless adults may be more unwilling than afraid to have children.

fertility intentions, positive affective forecasting, negative affective forecasting