Psychological phenomenon of "childfree" as a problem of modern youth

ABSTRACT Purpose of the study: The main purpose of the study is to identify individual psychological characteristics of people who consciously take the position of refusing to have children. The objectives of the study are a theoretical analysis of the main current approaches to the problem of "childfree" (conscious childlessness) and conducting an empirical study to identify individual psychological characteristics of people who profess the "childfree" subculture. The main hypothesis is the assumption that people who take a conscious position of refusing to have children have individual psychological characteristics in the sphere of value orientations and have differences in mental state (mood, well-being, activity). The sample consisted of men and women aged 18 to 40 years (average age 29±1 years, 35 subjects, pilot study). Materials and Methods. The main research methods were historical, sociological, statistical, analysis, and comparison. The research methods included: Morphological test of life values by V.F. Sopov and L.V. Karpushin (diagnostics of life values of personality, MTLV); Schwartz Value Survey; WAM Questionnaire; author's questionnaire (gender, age, profession, income level, presence of children, education level, position towards childfree), mathematical-statistical method - Kruskal-Wallis test. Research results. The main conclusions of the study are the statement of the prevalence of the studied phenomenon; differences in activity, mood, well-being; high degree of tolerant attitude towards representatives of "childfree"; prevalence of subculture among "childless" students and people without permanent income; artificial inertia of "childfree." Among childfree supporters, personal opinions, views, and beliefs predominate over conventional ones compared to those who raise a child and are not childfree supporters. Orientation towards constructive relationships, realization of social roles, and expansion of interpersonal connections are the main needs of subjects who raise a child. Weakly expressed statistical tendencies towards egoism and hedonism in people who consciously refuse to reproduce. Conclusions. The Russian society has a relatively average index of readiness to start a family. The majority of respondents expressed their firm intention to have a family and children. The respondents take a neutral position on the Childfree movement. People who consciously refuse to procreate are engaged in improving educational activities, have unstable incomes and half dream of emigrating. In families with children, there are high values on the scales of well-being, activity, and mood. For subjects raising a child, an important aspect in the need-emotional sphere is social interaction with the possibility of forming their social status. Keywords: childlessness, psychological safety, "childfree" phenomenon, childbearing, reproductive behavior, demography, inclusive capitalism, technological structure.