Scarcity mindset in reproductive health decision making

A qualitative study from rural Malawi

Dados Bibliográficos

ID15098544
AutoresAlison Holt Norris (0000-0002-1864-9583, The Ohio State University, autor correspondente), Nisha Rao (The Ohio State University), Sarah Huber‐krum (0000-0003-0938-252X, The Ohio State University), Sarah Huber-Krum (The Ohio State University), Sarah Garver (0000-0001-9850-4685, The Ohio State University), Elly Chemey (Child Legacy International, Lilongwe, Malawi), Abigail Norris Turner (0000-0003-2463-6399, The Ohio State University)
Ano2019
Volume21
Fascículo12
Páginas1333-1348
Data de publicação2019-12-02
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCulture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691058.2018.1562092
PMID30762482
OpenAlexW2912457522
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas33

Poverty has widespread impacts on health. In dealing with resource scarcity, individuals’ thoughts are narrowed to address immediate resource limitations, thus crowding out other information, a phenomenon called the scarcity mindset. To assess for indication of a scarcity mindset in sexual and reproductive decision making in rural Malawi, a setting with extreme resource scarcity, we collected qualitative data in the form of eight focus group discussions and 28 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with women and men of varying ages and marital status. Participants, who were of low socioeconomic status, described constant tradeoffs that they made to secure their daily needs. They articulated both the challenges of supporting many children and the need to bear many children to guarantee their own future support. While participants described wealthy people as being concerned with preserving resources (often through the practice of limiting childbearing), they described poor people as working to increase their probability of success against an uncertain economic future (without due consideration of contraceptive behaviours). We found qualitative evidence that a scarcity mindset may influence reproductive decision making among women and men in rural Malawi and may preclude the use of contraception in low-resource settings

Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Mindset · Population · Poverty · Qualitative research · Reproductive health · Scarcity · Social science · Socioeconomic status · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Global Maternal and Child Health · Medicine · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Contraception