Uncertainty Avoidance Moderates the Association Between Parenthood and Well-Being

Parenthood is associated with both psychological rewards and costs, and prior research has identified conditions under which it relates to higher or lower well-being. This study examines whether the relationship between parenthood and subjective well-being is moderated by uncertainty avoidance, a cultural dimension reflecting the extent to which societies respond to uncertainty. Using data from 331,480 individuals across 82 countries, we found that in countries with high uncertainty avoidance, parents reported lower subjective well-being than nonparents, whereas this association was not significant in countries with low uncertainty avoidance; a similar moderation pattern was observed when the number of children was examined. These effects persisted after controlling for individual-level factors (e.g., income), country-level socioeconomic indicators (e.g., gross domestic product [GDP] per capita), and other cultural dimensions (e.g., individualism). Although the cross-sectional design precludes causal inference, the findings suggest that the association between parenthood and subjective well-being varies across cultures and is moderated by uncertainty avoidance.