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Is Parenthood Contributing to Emotional Wellbeing? The Neutrality Paradox and a Possible Resolution

Menelaos Apostolou Orcid Logo, Mark Sullman, Agata Błachnio, Ondrej Burysek, Ekaterina Bushina, Fran Calvo, William Costello Orcid Logo, Tetiana Hill, Maria Galatiani Karageorgiou, Yanina Lisun, Denisse Manrique-Millones, Oscar Manrique-Pino, Yohsuke Ohtsubo Orcid Logo, Aneta Przepiórka, Burcu Tekeş, Andrew Thomas Orcid Logo, Yan Wang Orcid Logo, Mads Larsen, Sílvia Font-Mayolas

Evolutionary Psychology, Volume: 24, Issue: 1, Pages: 14747049261436325 - 14747049261436325

Swansea University Authors: Ondrej Burysek, Andrew Thomas Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/14747049261436325

Abstract

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 com...

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Published in: Evolutionary Psychology
ISSN: 1474-7049 1474-7049
Published: SAGE Publications 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71701
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spelling v2 71701 2026-04-01 Is Parenthood Contributing to Emotional Wellbeing? The Neutrality Paradox and a Possible Resolution 9508f9ba5f8c35d5d2345788179398f4 Ondrej Burysek Ondrej Burysek true false a43308ae6d7f5b8d5ab0daff5b832a96 0000-0001-5251-7923 Andrew Thomas Andrew Thomas true false 2026-04-01 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. Journal Article Evolutionary Psychology 24 1 14747049261436325 14747049261436325 SAGE Publications 1474-7049 1474-7049 parenthood; neutrality paradox; emotional wellbeing; life satisfaction; meaning in life 23 3 2026 2026-03-23 10.1177/14747049261436325 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. 2026-04-01T11:41:34.2234783 2026-04-01T11:34:05.0630344 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Menelaos Apostolou 0000-0002-0685-1848 1 Mark Sullman 2 Agata Błachnio 3 Ondrej Burysek 4 Ekaterina Bushina 5 Fran Calvo 6 William Costello 0000-0002-0346-6370 7 Tetiana Hill 8 Maria Galatiani Karageorgiou 9 Yanina Lisun 10 Denisse Manrique-Millones 11 Oscar Manrique-Pino 12 Yohsuke Ohtsubo 0000-0003-2074-0244 13 Aneta Przepiórka 14 Burcu Tekeş 15 Andrew Thomas 0000-0001-5251-7923 16 Yan Wang 0000-0003-3664-7933 17 Mads Larsen 18 Sílvia Font-Mayolas 19 71701__36469__c6aee06477d54a75b9370bffe4eb650f.pdf 71701.VoR.pdf 2026-04-01T11:38:44.7504616 Output 571504 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Is Parenthood Contributing to Emotional Wellbeing? The Neutrality Paradox and a Possible Resolution
spellingShingle Is Parenthood Contributing to Emotional Wellbeing? The Neutrality Paradox and a Possible Resolution
Ondrej Burysek
Andrew Thomas
title_short Is Parenthood Contributing to Emotional Wellbeing? The Neutrality Paradox and a Possible Resolution
title_full Is Parenthood Contributing to Emotional Wellbeing? The Neutrality Paradox and a Possible Resolution
title_fullStr Is Parenthood Contributing to Emotional Wellbeing? The Neutrality Paradox and a Possible Resolution
title_full_unstemmed Is Parenthood Contributing to Emotional Wellbeing? The Neutrality Paradox and a Possible Resolution
title_sort Is Parenthood Contributing to Emotional Wellbeing? The Neutrality Paradox and a Possible Resolution
author_id_str_mv 9508f9ba5f8c35d5d2345788179398f4
a43308ae6d7f5b8d5ab0daff5b832a96
author_id_fullname_str_mv 9508f9ba5f8c35d5d2345788179398f4_***_Ondrej Burysek
a43308ae6d7f5b8d5ab0daff5b832a96_***_Andrew Thomas
author Ondrej Burysek
Andrew Thomas
author2 Menelaos Apostolou
Mark Sullman
Agata Błachnio
Ondrej Burysek
Ekaterina Bushina
Fran Calvo
William Costello
Tetiana Hill
Maria Galatiani Karageorgiou
Yanina Lisun
Denisse Manrique-Millones
Oscar Manrique-Pino
Yohsuke Ohtsubo
Aneta Przepiórka
Burcu Tekeş
Andrew Thomas
Yan Wang
Mads Larsen
Sílvia Font-Mayolas
format Journal article
container_title Evolutionary Psychology
container_volume 24
container_issue 1
container_start_page 14747049261436325
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 1474-7049
1474-7049
doi_str_mv 10.1177/14747049261436325
publisher SAGE Publications
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description 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.
published_date 2026-03-23T11:41:35Z
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