Direct and indirect effects of birth order on personality and identity: support for the null hypothesis.

Full Abstract

The authors proposed that birth order affects psychosocial outcomes through differential investment from parent to child and differences in the degree of identification from child to parent. The authors conducted this study to test these 2 models. Despite the use of statistical and methodological procedures to increase sensitivity and reduce error, the authors did not find support for the models. They discuss results in the context of the mixed-research findings regarding birth order and suggest further research on the proposed developmental dynamics that may produce birth-order effects.

Author information

Author/s: Dunkel, Curtis S (CS); Harbke, Colin R (CR); Papini, Dennis R (DR);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Western Illinois University, Macomb 61455, USA. c-dunkel(-atsign-)wiu.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: The Journal of genetic psychology (J Genet Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jun; vol 170 (issue 2) : pp 159-75

Dates: Created 2009/06/04; Completed 2009/06/11;

PMID: 19492732, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 6/11/2009, IMS Date: 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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