Abstract
This paper examined the relationship between locus of control and such variables as unmarried woman's sexual activity, wife's experience of premarital conception, female marriage probability, postmarital contraception and first-conception probability in present-day Japan. On the basis of the Ninth Japanese National Fertility Survey data in 1987, logistic regression and proportional hazards model analyses confirmed some of our expectations such as: (1) externals are more likely to have a sexual intercourse among unmarried women aged 18-22 years, (2) the probability of marriage in internals is higher than that of externals among women, and (3) internal wives are less likely to use contraception before the first conception than externals. Although (2) and (3) seem to contradict the general prediction that the internal locus of control is associated with well-planned behaviours, the rationales for these predictions were presented. Contrary to our expectation, as far as married women are concerned, there is no difference in the likelihood of premarital conception by locus of control and we did not find any differential first-conception probability due to locus of control, either. The possible reasons for these gaps were discussed.
