Gender & Personality
PSYCHOLOGY
“The Influence of Birth Order on Personality”
2014
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INVESTIGATION: The influence of birth order on personality
REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Birth order can be defined as the ordinal position by birth of a child in relation to one or more other siblings. The American Psychological Association defines personality as individual differences in characteristics patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. It is believed that birth order affects one’s personality. Past researches have stated that the oldest child is supposedly reliable and achievers, the middle child is independent and somewhat rebellious while the youngest is spoiled. But when scientist scrutinizes the data, information perceived was not supported by hard evidence. Up until recently, there were no findings that linked birth order and personality. These are the studies that have been done to prove that there is correlation between birth order and personality.
Paulhus and his colleagues investigated birth order effects on personality and achievement in studies, it was inclusive of both students and adult samples (in total=1022families). From the set of four within-family data which they collected by means of asking respondents to compare themselves with their siblings in terms of personality and achievements. In study 1, University of California’s undergraduates were requested to identify the “rebel” and “achiever” in their families. In study 2, using the same method to sample the undergraduates from the University of British Columbia, an alternative hypothesis was evaluated. While in study 3, the Big Five personality traits were included. Finally, study 4 repeated study 3 but using Vancouver adults on a larger scale. The method of data collection for study 3 involved the students (N=23) completing the questionnaire back home and ranking every family member on each variable. The
“The Influence of Birth Order on Personality”
2014
Name:
Student ID:
Group:
Lecturer:
INVESTIGATION: The influence of birth order on personality
REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Birth order can be defined as the ordinal position by birth of a child in relation to one or more other siblings. The American Psychological Association defines personality as individual differences in characteristics patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. It is believed that birth order affects one’s personality. Past researches have stated that the oldest child is supposedly reliable and achievers, the middle child is independent and somewhat rebellious while the youngest is spoiled. But when scientist scrutinizes the data, information perceived was not supported by hard evidence. Up until recently, there were no findings that linked birth order and personality. These are the studies that have been done to prove that there is correlation between birth order and personality.
Paulhus and his colleagues investigated birth order effects on personality and achievement in studies, it was inclusive of both students and adult samples (in total=1022families). From the set of four within-family data which they collected by means of asking respondents to compare themselves with their siblings in terms of personality and achievements. In study 1, University of California’s undergraduates were requested to identify the “rebel” and “achiever” in their families. In study 2, using the same method to sample the undergraduates from the University of British Columbia, an alternative hypothesis was evaluated. While in study 3, the Big Five personality traits were included. Finally, study 4 repeated study 3 but using Vancouver adults on a larger scale. The method of data collection for study 3 involved the students (N=23) completing the questionnaire back home and ranking every family member on each variable. The