The Impact of Birth-Order And the Effects on the Personality

1. The Impact of Birth-Order And the Effects on the Personality Tamara Valdez Northern New Mexico College Department of Integrated Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology Concentration DataAnalysis and Findings Ethics Abstract Data Collection and Methods All respondents were notified that their responses were voluntary, anonymous, and confidential. Per the National Institutes of Health (NIH) all principles of The Belmont Report were strongly implemented throughout the research process. The dependent variable for this research was whether or not the respondent came from a family with two or more siblings. Table 2 shall help visualize the percentages for this dependent variable. Table 2 reveals enough distribution to proceed to analysis of hypotheses. The dependent variable, whether the respondent had siblings, reveals that none of the persons interviewed were only children. Qualitative data analysis reported that 13 out of twenty participants had explanations as to whether or not older siblings do or do not feel stress when watching their younger siblings. Seven participants simply answered yes to older siblings feeling this stress. See Table 3. Quantitative data indicated that the oldest child at 42.86% (or 3 of 7 responding) is more likely to agree a great deal than the middle child, but interestingly, the youngest child also agrees a great deal. See Table 4. The oldest child takes on more responsibility. 13 out of 20 respondents were students attending sociology class at Northern New Mexico College in spring, 2014. Additionally, these respondents were supplemented by 7 respondents who were surveyed using oral history techniques. The sample size N=20 can be seen in table 1. Because the N size is small, (N=20), results are suggestive rather than confirmatory, as is generally the case for exploratory research such as this one. For ethical considerations, the survey is retrospective, that is, NNMC college students were surveyed regarding their experiences as children. Three reasons random sample is the best method for choosing a sample. a. reduces bias b. increases representativeness c. allows generalizability This research was conducted in an attempt to explore the impact birth-order has on personalities What effects those impacts might cause in the future for the individual. A random sample was used to distribute surveys to the classes asked to participate in this research, along with the participants who received oral surveys. There were 20 Northern New Mexico College students whose results were analyzed. Qualitative data displayed a positive number of respondents who agree that older siblings feel stress due to watching their younger siblings. Quantitative results show that all three sibling ranks of respondents agree older siblings are portrayed as role models for younger siblings Conclusions It is important to keep in mind that this research contains limitations and set backs regarding the results, however, in conducting this research it may help to further parents relationships with their eldest, middle, and youngest children. It gives a realization into further research that parents should invest just as much time in their other children as they do their first born. This may help to benefit children all around. There is an importance for personality in the relationship between siblings. Siblings allow us to compete and succeed in life. Whether it is being responsible for younger siblings, or looking at older siblings as role models. Introduction This investigation looks at the relationships between siblings and the impact this might have on their personalities. It has been shown that birth order, affects both personality, and IQ along with disputes over family resources, especially over parental affection. Theory References It is my theory that one way birth-order can affect the personality is that the responsibility level of the eldest child will be greater, based on the number of siblings they have to take responsibility for. Babbie, Earl R. The Practice of Social Research. 13th ed. Belmont, CA Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2013. Print. Sulloway, Frank J. Born to Rebel, Birth Order, Family Dynamics, and Creativity. New York: Pantheon Books, 1996. Hartshorne, Joshua K. Birth-Order & Personality: How Siblings Influence Who We Are. ScientificAmerica, 2009. Hypothesis Older siblings express stronger feelings of responsibility than younger siblings Oldest of many children will express stronger feelings of responsibility than the oldest of fewer siblings. Youngest child in a family will express more responsibility than the oldest child. Null hypothesis: birth order will have no effect on feelings of responsibility. Acknowledgements I would like to thank NNMC instructor Tim Crone for allowing his students to be a part of this research. The Student Success Center and staff, including all the NNMC instructors who have helped contribute to this wonderful program.