Is Parenthood Contributing to Emotional Wellbeing? The Neutrality Paradox and a Possible Resolution
Evolutionary theorizing predicts that parenthood is associated with higher hedonic wellbeing (experiencing more positive and fewer negative emotions), higher eudaimonic wellbeing (experiencing greater meaning in life), and greater life satisfaction. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed a dataset comprising 5,556 participants drawn from 10 different nations. We found a small positive effect of parenthood on eudaimonic wellbeing, which was more pronounced for women. Conversely, we found virtually no differences between parents and nonparents across all measured dimensions of hedonic wellbeing and life satisfaction. Furthermore, for most dimensions, we did not detect significant interactions between parenthood status and sex, age, or relationship status. Additionally, participants with children reported lower relationship satisfaction than those without children; however, the observed difference was small. Our results contrast with evolutionary predictions, as well as empirical findings showing that parents perceive their children as sources of positive emotions and life purpose, creating a paradox for which we offer a possible resolution.
Authors
- Denisse Lisette Manrique-Millones
- Andrew Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1942-7050)
- Menelaos Apostolou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0685-1848)
- Burcu Tekeş (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6601-1023)
- Ekaterina Bushina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9560-9609)
- Aneta Przepiórka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6722-7355)
- Mark J. M. Sullman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7920-6818)
- Yohsuke Ohtsubo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2074-0244)
- William Costello (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0346-6370)
- Yanina Lisun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0823-7283)
- Maria Galatiani Karageorgiou
- Ondřej Burýšek
- Sílvia Font-Mayolas
- Yan Wang
- Fran Calvo
- Agata Błachnio
- Mads Larsen
- Oscar Manrique-Pino
- Tetiana Hill
Institutions
- John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (PL)
- National Research University Higher School of Economics (RU)
- University of Hertfordshire (GB)
- University of Nicosia (CY)
- Başkent University (TR)
- Fudan University (CN)
- Universitat de Girona (ES)
- Universidad Científica del Sur (PE)
- Swansea University (GB)
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ID)
- Universidad Católica Sedes Sapientiae (PE)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Published
- 2026-01-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/14747049261436325
- Primary Topic
- Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00