The examination of attitudes towards infertility in Turkish society in the context of gender perception

This study was conducted as a descriptive and correlational study in order to examine the relationship between the gender perceptions of individuals living in Turkish society and their attitudes towards infertility. The study was conducted with 837 female and male individuals over the age of 18 living in Turkey. The ''Personal Information Form'', ''Attitudes Toward Infertility Scale (ATIS)'' and ''Gender Perception Scale (PGS)'' were used to collect the data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 23.0 software was used to analyze the data The normal distribution of the data was determined by evaluating the skewness and kurtosis coefficients and it was seen that it showed a normal distribution. While evaluating the study data, descriptive statistical tests (mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage, minimum, maximum), graphical examinations, independent sample t-test, One-way analysis of variance (One Way ANOVA), Post-hoc tests, Pearson correlation and Hierarchical Regression analysis were used. The total mean score of ATIS was found to be 48.75±6.28 (Min Maks: 26-60), the total mean score of the PGS was found to be 104.05±16.08 (Min Max: 25-125). It was determined that the total mean scores of the ATIS and PGS differed according to some sociodemographic variables (gender, education level, age group, etc.). It was determined that there was a positive and moderate statistically significant relationship between the PGS and the ATIS (r=0.488; p<0.001). It was determined that 25.2% of the variance on the attitude towards infertility was explained by the variables of being male, being a primary school graduate and gender perception (Adj. R2=0.252; p<0.01). Therefore, individuals' attitudes towards infertility and gender perceptions vary according to sociodemographic characteristics. It was concluded that as gender perception increases, attitudes towards infertility also change positively and individuals' gender perceptions have a significant impact on their attitudes towards infertility. Keywords: Attitude towards infertility, gender, infertility, perception of gender.