Ethnicity, Ethnocentrism and Fertility: The Study of the Effects of Ethnocentrism on Fertility Intention and behavior among Kurdish and Turkish Women in Maku City

The purpose of this article is to investigate the effects of ethnocentrism on fertility intentions and behaviors among Kurdish and Turkish women. Data were collected through interview with 384 married women aged 15-49 years old in Maku city. Results showed that there are significant differences in fertility of Kurd and Turk women. The CEB of Kurds (2.2 children) was higher than Turks (1.9 child) at the time of the investigation. The mean of Ideal fertility was 2.6 for Kurds and 2.1 for Turks. The results indicated that ethnocentrism (social, cultural, and political ethnocentrism) is higher among Kurds. Findings showed that with the increase of ethnocentrism, actual and Ideal fertility increases too. Multivariate analysis showed that, by controlling socio-demographic variables, ethnocentrism has significant effect on actual, desired and ideal fertility.