Generative behavior

Generative behavior (sometimes simply referred to as “birth behavior ”) is the behavior caused by the interaction of various factors that influences the number of children that a population produces and thus influences the natural development of a population. The generative behavior is reflected in z. B. in the age of women when they marry and the birth of their children, in the practice of conscious family planning , for example through contraception , and ultimately in the average number of children per woman.

Generative behavior results from the interactions between social and economic influences on the frequency of births and marriage behavior, such as B. Living conditions, religious values, etc.

The total fertility / fertility rate is often used as a measure to quantify birth behavior . This indicates (interpreted in a simplified way) how many live-born children each woman has on average during her reproductive phase of life.

Other terms: similarities and differences

In demography , generativity is also often used as a synonym for generative behavior.

Generative behavior is not identical to the frequency of births , the average number of children or fertility , even if these are not always clearly separated even in demographics . In addition, different definitions of technical terms in various sciences (demography, sociology, etc.) and their understanding in politics and the public often lead to misunderstandings .

See also

• Generativity
• Reproduction
• growth of population
• Birth rate
• Fertility rate

literature

• W. Kiefl: Empirical studies on generative behavior. Boppard / Rh. 1965.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lüscher, Kurt (2014): Generations, Generational Relations, Generational Policy. , P. 13. ( Memento of the original from February 15, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Charlotte Höhn (1988): On the meaning of definitions and survey concepts for demographic analyzes, in: Charlotte Höhn, Wilfried Linke, Rainer Mackensen (ed.): Demographie in der Bundes Republik Deutschland. Four decades of statistics, research and policy advice . Wiesbaden, p. 55f.