ABSTRACT
This chapter shows some of the factors involved in the actions people take to insure their success in achieving the family size goals they set for themselves. It looks at the sense of optimism or pessimism people have about achieving their goals, the extent to which family planning is discussed by husband and wife, the knowledge husbands and wives have about contraception, the experience they have had in using one or another method, and the determinants of regular use of effective contraceptives versus ineffective family limitation. The chapter examines three types of responses: planful and self-assured, hopeful but unsure, and passive and fatalistic. The intellectual approach of middle class Protestants is suggested by the greater number of methods they mention—with two exceptions they mention each method about as often or more often than other groups.
