Whether or not to
have children is often considered to be one of the most important decisions in
life. With the modernization of societies, child bearing has become
increasingly detached from biological necessities and social pressure of
earlier times (Miller, 1992; Potts, 1997; Van de Kaa, 2001). Reliable birth
control can be used to disconnect sex and reproduction and the main purpose of
marriage is no longer considered to be bearing and raising children (Taylor,
Funk and Clark, 2007). In response to weakening biological and social
pressures, fertility decisions may become more dependent on individual
preferences and dispositions, such as personality traits. These decisions and
dispositions could also affect the degree of family planning. Although fertility
behavior is often considered through theoretical frameworks postulating
preferences and intentions less predictable determinants often affect child
bearing. For instance, nearly one third of all births in the 1990’s in United States
were unplanned (Henshaw, 1998).
The individualization
of fertility decision is connected with the broader themes of demographic
transition and population dynamics, especially with the causes of declining
fertility rates in developed countries over the last century (Borgerhoff
Mulder, 1998, Hirschman, 1994; Kirk, 1996; Mace, 2000; Soares, 2005). One
strand of theories has emphasized the role of individual choices is changing
fertility patterns, while others have attributed a primary role to social and
cultural changes (Newson, Postmes, Lea and Webley, 2005). Adding to the
complexity of modern fertility patterns, the most recent evidence suggests that
the previously observed fertility decline may be reversing in highly developed
countries (Myrskyla, Kohler and Billari, 2009). Despite the potential
importance of individual characteristics in influencing demographic fertility
trends, the psychology of child bearing has remained largely an unstudied
topic.
Abortion is the
termination of an established pregnancy after implantation of a fertility egg
in the uterus (womb). Implantation occurs at 5-7 days after ovulation (release
of the egg) and fertilization (which typically occurs within the first 12 hours
after ovulation). Actions before implantation that prevents pregnancy are “contraceptive”
(National institutes of health protection of human subjects, 45 CFR sects
46.202, 2009).
Family planning is
the planning of when to have children and the use of birth control and other
techniques to implement such plans. Family planning services are defined as
educational, comprehensive, medical or social activities which enable
individuals including minor to determine freely the number and spacing of their
children and to select the means by which this may be achieved (Mischell,
2007). However, the cost saving stem from a reduction in unintended fragment,
and also causes reduction in transmission of sexually transmitted infections
including HIV (Isui, Mc Donald, Burke 2010).
Family planning as
used by Christian Connections for International Health (CCIH) means enabling
individuals and couples to determine the frequency and timing of pregnancies,
including the use of a variety of methods for voluntary prevention of
pregnancy.
There are five
primary ways family planning methods can work:
1.
Block sperm from reaching
the egg
2.
Change the man’s sperm so
they cannot fertilize the egg
3.
Prevent eggs from being
released
4.
Thicken mucus in the
cervix, preventing sperm passing
5. Alter the living of the uterus (womb) so the fertilized
egg does not attach or implant (pre-conceptional medicine inform health care UK, 2009).
Family planning is a
powerful way to prevent abortion. Reducing unintended pregnancies and the need
for abortion produces health benefits that are strongly embraced by both
Christian and secular health organizations. A material death from any cause is
a tragedy-but when a woman dies from a pregnancy she did not want, it is a
double tragedy (Judith Brown, 2010).
Mishunki (1998), when
planning a family, women who are over the age of 35 should be aware of the risk
of having a child with autism and down’s syndrome, the chances of having
multiple births increase which causes further late pregnancy risks, they have
an increased chance of developing gestational diabetes, the need for a
caesarian-section is greater, older women’s bodies are not as well suited for
delivering a baby. The risk of prolonged labour is higher.
The provision of
family planning as well as health services may impact long-term female health
through improved reproductive health, reduced morbidity and /or improved
nutrition, and longer intervals between later births. Such impacts of policy
interventions are, how ever, rarely confirmed because of the lack of social
experiments and long term follow-up evaluation studies or reproductive health
programs (an exception is Frankenberg and Thomas 2001). Moreover, there is no
agreement on how to measure adult health status at reasonable cost in a
household survey (Rahman et al, 2004; Kuhn et al, 2004; Thomas and Strauss
2008).
Planning can help
assure that resources are available, the purpose of family planning is to make
sure that any couple, man or woman who has the desire to have a child has the
resources that are needed in order to complete this goal. According to the
world health organization (WHO, 2001), family planning is choosing the number
of children in a family and length of time between their births. Family
planning is sometimes used as a synonym for birth control, however, it often
includes control, it is most usually applied to a female-male who wish to limit
the number of children they have and /or to control the timing of pregnancy
(also known as spacing children) (Mischell, 2007). In cases were couple may not
want to have children just yet and plan with time, family programmes helps a lot.
Federal family planning programs reduced child bearing among poor women by as
much as 29percent according to a university Michigan study, (Mischell, 2007).
Every month there are
times when a woman is fertile and can become pregnant, and times when she is
not fertile and cannot become pregnant. Most women produce one egg month. The
egg is released from the woman’s ovary. If the egg lives up to 2 days inside
the woman’s body she can become pregnant.
The various methods
of planning includes:
1. Barrier methods stops a man’s sperm from reaching the
woman’s egg by the use of condoms for men, condom for women, diaphragm,
cervical cap, sponge and spermicide
2. Intrauterine devices (IUD, ICUD, IUS, Copper T, The Loop).
This method prevents a man’s sperm from fertilizing the woman’s egg.
3. Hormonal methods involve the use of pills, injections,
implants. It works by keeping the woman’s ovary from releasing an egg. Some
also affect the womb or the mucus in the cervix so sperm cannot fertilize an
egg there.
4. Natural methods. These methods help a woman know when she
is fertile (the time in a woman’s cycle when she can get pregnant), so she
avoids having sex during that time.
5. Permanent methods (sterilization). These are operations
that stop a man from releasing sperm, or prevent a woman’s eggs from reaching
her womb (source; www.hesperian.org).
McSweeny (1990)
introduced a method called “billings method” which helps the husband and wife
to achieve or avoid pregnancy with intelligence and freedom as they desire.
Billing method is an entirely new method of natural family planning. It is not
the old safe period or rhythm method and does not make use of a thermometer or
calendar, neither does it involve the use of a pill, coil, condom or
withdrawal, all of which are artificial methods (McSweeny, 1992).
Billing method
teaches a woman to recognize in her body one sign which tells her clearly and
without doubt, that her ovulation is coming soon. Once a woman is able to
identify the time of ovulation and understand its significance, she knows how
to control her fertility (McSweeny, 1990).
Religion is an
organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems and world views that relate
humanity to the supernatural and spirituality. Tylor (1871) defined religion as
the belief in spiritual beings. He narrowed this definition to mean the belief
in a supreme deity or judgment after death or idolatry and soon, would exclude
many people from the category of religion and thus, has the fault of
identifying religion rather with particular developments than with the deeper
motive which underlies them, he also assert that the belief in spiritual beings
exists in all known societies.
Geertz (1993) define
religion as a system of symbols which acts to established powerful, pervasive and
long lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a
general order of existence and clothing this conceptions with such an aura of
factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic. The
theologian, Vergote (1996) also emphasized the “cultural reality” of religion,
which he defined as the “entirely of the linguistic expression, emotions and
actions and signs that refer to “supernatural beings”, whatever transcends the
power of nature or human agency.
Durkheim (1915) a sociologist,
defined religion as a unified systems of beliefs and practices relative to
sacred things. By sacred things he meant things “set apart and
forbidden-beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community
called a church, all those who adhere to them”. Sacred things are not however
limited to gods or spirits, a pebble, a piece of wood, a house, in a word,
anything can be sacred.
However, James (1902)
a psychologist defined religion as the “feelings, acts and experiences of
individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand
in relation to what ever they may consider the divine”. By the term “divine”
James meant any object that is good like, whether it be a concrete deity or not
to which the individual feels impelled to respond with solemnity and gravity.
Ferre (1969) further defined religion as one’s way of valuing most
comprehensive and intensively similar, for the theologian.
Tellish (1957), faith
is the state of being ultimately concerned which is itself religion. Religion
is the substance, the ground, and the depth of man’s spiritual life.
Personality is
defined as the combination of stable physical and mental characteristics or
traits, including how one looks, act, and feels are the products of interacting
genetic and environmental influence (Afolabi, 2011).
Personality is the
particular combination of emotional, attitudinal and behavioural response
patterns of an individual (Engler B, 2007). Personality is a complex
hypothetical construct that has been defined in a variety of ways. Personality
refers to an individual’s unique constellation of consistent behavioural traits
(Simpson Lee, 2009). Personality is considered to be formed as a result of
combined hereditary (genetic) and environmental factors, moderated by
situational conditions and has a big impact on how people are motivated
(Murphy, 2008; Robbins, Odendaal and Roodt, 2003).
In
the view of George (1992), it is the enduring ways a person has of feeling,
thinking, and behaving, it is the first determinant of how people feel about
their job and its satisfaction personality is typically descried in terms of
traits or types, personality traits are characteristics exhibited in a large
number of situations and are used to describe peoples behaviour in different
situations (Robbins et al; 2003). Traits are relatively stable and enduring
aspects of individuals that distinguish them from other people (Martin, 2005).
Personality
type on the other hand, refers to a combination of various personality traits
and preferences (Myers, 1998). Personality types, in terms of Jungian theory
(1971) refers to the mental functions involved in gathering information.
Jung
(1971) concludes that differences in behaviour result from people’s in-born
tendencies to use their minds in different ways. As people act on these
tendencies they develop predictable patterns of behaviour (McCaulley,
1998).When people differ systematically
in what they perceive and how they reach conclusion, this contributes to
different interests, reactions, values, motivations and skills (Bayne, 2004).
The
myer Briggs type indicator, one of the most widely used personality assessment
instruments used worldwide, has been
designed in accordance with Jung’s Thusen and 1998, Reinhold, 2008). However,
Bernstern Clarke-Stewart and Roy (2008) defined personality types as the
psychological classification of different types of individual. Personality
types are sometimes distinguished from personality traits, with the later
embodying a smaller grouping or behavioural tendencies. Personality types are
sometimes people where as tract might be construed as quantitative differences.
According
to the type theory for example, introversion and extroverts are two
fundamentally different categories of people. According to trait theories
introversion and extroversion are part of a continuous dimension with many
people in the middle. According to the type theory, there are two types of
personality, type A and type B. Type A/B behaviour patter is a behavioural
trait (spector & O Connell, 1994) referring to how one responds to
environmental challenges and threats (Ivancerich &Matterson, 1984).
Type A individuals respond in ways
characterized as aggressive, achievement oriented, dynamic, hard driving,
assertive, fast paced (in eating, walking and talking), impatient, competitive,
ambitious, irritated, angry, hostile, and under time pressures (Cooper,
Kirkcaldy, & Brown, 1994) Friedman, 1967) Jarmal, 1990) Rosenman &
Chesney, 1985). other characteristics includes rigidly organized, high status
conscious, can be sensitive, care for other people, are truthful, impatient,
always try to help others, takes on more than they can handle, want people to
get to the point, proactive and obsessed with time management. People with type
A personalities are often high achieving “workaholics” who multitask, push
themselves with deadlines and hate both delays an ambivalence (Friedman 1996).
They
have poor impulse control and feel that they always need to be active in all
things. When it comes to emotions, they express their anger with outburst and
verbal comments, display strong emotional reactions, can be unpredictable with
emotional inconsistency, and experience negative emotions.
Type
A’s always watches others and can react in a hostile manner towards others.
They like to have control over every thing so they tend to be team leaders but
are difficult to please. Type A personalities are risk takers, rigid and
inflexible, and according to Irikefe (2006), Mc shane and Von Glinow (2000)
this contributed to their low level of job satisfaction. Type A’s develop
coronary heart disease (Friedman, 1967, Schaubroeck, Ganster & Kemmerer,
1994) and experience more stressors and Strains (Jamal, 1999), Sharpley, Due,
Reynolds, & Acosta 1995) than type B’s.
Friedman
(1996) also described type B individual as a contrast to those with type A
personalities. People with type B personality by definition generally live at
lower stress level and typically work steadily, enjoying achievement but not
becoming stressed when they are not achieved when faced with competition, they
do not mind losing and either enjoy exploring ideas and concepts. They are
often reflective, thinking about the outer and inner worlds.
According
to the study of Douglas the usefulness of the
type A personality construct has come under serious examination as it relates
to stress. Many authors suggest that type A personality is too global a
definition and that there are more related to stress than other traits
(Mathews, Glass, Rosenman, & Bortner, 1977, Mathews, 1988). The hostility
and irritability components of type A behaviour (reflecting anger, and an
obsession with time) have been most often linked to stress related illness.
Pred, Spence, & Helmreich (1987) found that impatience and irritability, but not achievement
strivings, were positively correlated with somatic-complaints. They argue that
it is highly unlikely that the same component of type A behaviour pattern are
responsible for both vocational excellence and stress-related health problems.
Addition studies (Bluer, 1990; Mattews, 1988, Robbins et al, 1991) show that
certain type A trait like anger, impatience, and irritability are more likely
to lead to stress-related health problems than achievement strivings.
Type
B’s are open to criticism and they try to make others feel accepted and at ease
and so they are more satisfied with their jobs. When they are angry, they use
humour subtly to make their point, but they are angry about the issue not the
person. They can be more accepting of emotions and tend to go with the mood at
the moment. They are supportive of others and are more likely to express
positive feelings and be more satisfied with their jobs (KirkCaldy et al,
2002). Type B individual are casual, easy going, and never in a rush to get
things done (Bortner, 1969).
People’s
values, attitudes abilities and emotions vary. This is probably because of the
differences in personality. Types A is one of the few personality
characteristics that has been previously studied in relation to work-family
conflicts (WFC) individuals who exhibit type A behaviour are characterized as
being ambitious, competitive, impatient, and aggressive or hostile. Individuals
lacking these characteristics are relaxed and patient, and are referred to as
the type B (Spence Helmreich, & Pred, 1987). Type A individuals experience
a keen sense of time urgency, are more likely to be involved in conflict with
coworkers, more overloaded at work, more likely to be over committed than type
B individuals (Baron 1989, Jamal & Baba, 1991, Strube (1991). According to
the study of Bruk et al, type A behaviour would be more likely to relate to
work-family conflict than wound the achievement striving dimension.
Religious
activities, communities and beliefs frame the daily behaviour and attitude of
many Ebonyians towards family planning. Having explored the in-depth meaning of
the concepts on family planning. However, research have shown that despite the
economic hardship bedeviling our society today, there are scarcity of the physiological
needs, yet population of our country increase by 50% every year and yet there
are measures to control child birth, one could easily ask, if the measures are
not effective enough to control birth rate that will in turn help the economic
situation of our society?
What
does it mean to say that some one has an optimistic personality? This assertion
indicates that the person has a cheerful, hopeful, enthusiastic way of looking
at the bright side of things, across a wide variety of situations. Although no
one is entirely consistent in behaviour, this quality of consistency across
situations lies at the core of the concept of personality.
Distinctiveness
is also central to the concept of personality. Personality is used to explain
why no everyone acts the same way in similar situations. If you were stuck in
an elevator with three persons, each might react differently-one might crack
jokes to receive the tension. Another might make ominous predictions that “we
will never get out of here”. The third might calmly think about how to escape.
These varied reactions to the same situation occur because each person has a
different personality. Each person has trains that are seen in other people,
but each individual has his or her own distinctive set of personality traits or
types.
Two
main concepts in understanding personality are consistency and distinctiveness.
In other words, the concept of personality is used to explain; the stability in
a person’s behaviour overtime and across situations (consistency) and the
behavioural differences among people reacting to the same situation
(distinctiveness) (Simpson Lee 2009).
Traditionally
personality has been viewed as stable and enduring set of characteristics that
affects one’s perceptions of oneself, others and the world. The DSM-IV defines
personality traits as “enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and
thinking about the environment and oneself that are exhibited in a wide range
of social and personal context (American Psychiatric Association, 2000, P.630).
In
view of these dislocation on the economic stability, employment etc, one
wonders if the difference in personality types and religious affiliations have
an influence on family planning.
(1)
Would couples religious
practice have any influence on family planning?
(2)
Would there be influence of personality type
on family planning?
The
purpose of this study is to investigate the role personality type play on
family planning as well as the role of religious affiliation on family
planning.
(1)
The study aim to know if
personality type aid the use of family planning or militate against it.
(2)
The study also intends to
know if religion has any impact on family planning.
PERSONALITY TYPE: This refers to the
psychological classification of different type of individual, which is
measurable by Eysenck’s personality scale adopted in Nigeria for use by Omoluabi in
1999.
RELIGION: This is an organized
collection of belief system, cultural systems and world view that relate
humanity to spirituality and sometime to moral values, which can be measured by
religiosity scale developed by Marsha and Federick in 1981.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: This is the
self-identified association if a person with a religion, denomination or
sub-denominational religious group.
FAMILY PLANNING: The practice of
controlling the number of children one has and the intervals between their
births through the use of some techniques.
TYPE A PERSONALITY: These are individuals
who are ambitious, competitive, rigidly organized, highly status conscious,
time conscious, workaholics, impatient, aggressive fast talking.
TYPE B PERSONALITY: These are individuals
who are relaxed, reflective, And Tolerant, live at lower stress levels,
experience lower level of anxiety, and typically work steadily.
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