39Ð45 Zabin

relationship between reproductive attitudes and intentions, and in turn the link between intentions and behavior, a broader understanding and a more subtle definition of intention are probably needed. One might well ask what the components of such a definition should be. In previous work, we showed that ambivalence plays an important role in an adolescent’s attitude toward pregnancy;3 it may well play a major role for older women as well. Here, we suggest that a definition focusing more explicitly on individual women and acknowledging the role of ambivalence would necessarily include partnership variables. Indeed, in modern societies, where unions are often unstable and sexual contact frequently takes place outside of unions, women’s pregnancy intentions may well be defined in terms of the changing dyads within which they occur.