The age-group that is suitable for having children actually doesn’t want to have children, or perhaps they simply don’t dare to do so at all – from the perspective of emotional prediction.

Is the age-group of those who are of the right age but have not yet had children less willing to have children, or simply too afraid to do so? The prediction of positive emotions related to fertility can reflect “whether one wants to have children”, while negative emotions can indicate “whether one is brave enough to have children”. Based on this, a study was conducted to compare the predictive abilities of positive and negative emotions in predicting the willingness to have children among 470 participants. The results showed that both types of emotions could significantly predict the intensity of participants’ willingness to have children, as well as the number of children they expect to have and desire to have. However, positive emotions provided a stronger predictive effect. This reveals a close relationship between emotional predictions, especially positive emotions, and the willingness to have children. It also provides preliminary evidence that this group is less willing to have children, rather than simply being too afraid to do so.