Transition to parenthood and multidimensional well-being. Does personality play a role?

Laura Bernardi, Université de Lausanne
Gina Potarca, Université de Lausanne
Grégoire Bollmann, Université de Lausanne
Jérôme Rossier, Université de Lausanne

The literature on changes in life satisfaction pre- and post-childbirth is burgeoning. Yet little of this research simultaneously considers changes in satisfaction with other life domains, and potential moderators of these relationships. Adopting a longitudinal and interdisciplinary perspective, we focus on changes of life-, job- and leisure-satisfaction before and after childbirth. We additionally examine the role of fixed personal attributes, particularly gender and personality traits. Based on a sample of 4,330 German respondents, a series of distributed fixed effects models are performed. Results show that men and women experience comparable post-childbirth changes in life- and leisure-satisfaction. But while there are no significant changes in fathers’ job satisfaction, women’s transition to parenthood triggers significant decreases in satisfaction with work, both during the year of childbirth and the years that follow. Personality plays an important role, with women that score high on conscientiousness and neuroticism experiencing the largest drops in job satisfaction.