Draft 1 Birth Order Affects on Social and Occupational Preferences

This topic submitted by Betsy Auman, Alyssa Moll ( mollam@muohio.edu ) on 2/18/05. [ Human Nature Team: Betsy Auman, Alyssa Moll-Section: Cummins/Wolfe]

Betsy Auman
Alyssa Moll
Project Proposal
February 18, 2005
1A. The research project we wish to expand on is the previous research done on birth order and personalities. Where some have researched connections between birth order and personality, our research project will focus on the links between birth order personality, social relationships, and job related choices. Our hypothesis states that depending on the birth position of an individual, he or she will be more inclined to maintain close relationships with others of similar family positioning, and due to personality traits pursue related career fields.
It is commonly known that each birth position tends to have the same type of personality traits. Oldest children are likely to be more studious and serious; middle children tend to have many friends and are eager to carve out a unique space for themselves in the family. Youngest children often rebel and have problems accepting responsibility, while only children have good leadership skills and have closer relationships with their parents. We first want to test these traits in our subject area to determine if they correlate with previous studies. By gathering this information we will be able to group similarities with our specific research group.

Because social relationships build from personality traits, we wish to address the idea that people who have the same birth position will have closer relationships than people at differing parts of birth order. The types of social relationships we plan to study would be close relationships with friends, dating relationships, and long term spouses. For this we are not just relying on college students and their relationships, we plan to look for similarities through their parents.
Another aspect of the personality traits is the choice of occupation. We wish to discover any correlation between the birth order and career field of both students and their parents. We intend to determine if there are certain traits which connect with certain occupational choices. For example, if the only child is a good leader will they be more inclined to have a managerial position? The personality traits brought on by sibling progression may lead to other people choosing a health field, instead of a management position.

This research is interdisciplinary in the fact that involves a psychological approach to personalities and development; it involves a scientific approach to the data collected, and an analytical approach to the arguments of human nature. The social science of psychology is very broad; however we want to only work with these specific personality traits that relate to the family relationships. After testing the psychological aspects, we will analyze the data using mathematical and physical sciences to find means, ratios, and graphs among many others. Previous research which we intend to incorporate has tested in different geographical factors such as differenced in urban and rural areas. We will also bring in research from a historical perspective that monitors change over time of birth order personalities.

B. One aspect of human nature is the continuing "nature vs. nurture" debate. For ages it has been argued whether or not our personality is shaped by predetermined genetics, or unexpected experiences throughout life. We are questioning the debate in whether or not sibling dependent experiences in childhood and adolescence have an impact on relationships later in life, or if the choices made have no correlation to birth order. If it is concluded that many people have friends who are the same family position, then that contributes to the nurture defense, however if there is no linkage found in our testing, then we can defend the nature argument more.

C. We plan to complete research that will contribute to the "nurture" side of the debate. We plan to distribute surveys among residence halls, which will thoroughly test key points of the subjectÕs personality and family situation. The data collected from the surveys will be analyzed to find similarities relating to birth order personalities. After categorizing the data, we hope to be able to support the hypothesis that there is more of a "nurture" factor in social and work related choices, that "nature"

D. Our research relates to the Nature of Human Nature course aspects because it deals so much with the "nature vs. nurture" debate, and that debate is widely spread throughout the entirety of the course, and the course readings. Some perspectives of our research that have already been discussed come from Robert WrightÕs The Moral Animal, the chapters pertaining to families and friends, RidleyÕs Nature via Nurture, and PinkerÕs The Blank Slate. Arguments found in these texts will serve for our hypothesis while others will prove to be against. This will help us to dispute both sides of the issue and encourage us to refute as much information as we can in the process.

Future topics that could possibly relate to our research is found in ClarkÕs In Search of Human Nature, she discusses how experiences shape the brain and touches on past forms of child-rearing. "Whatever happens to usÉcan permanently shape our brains, at any age"(Clark 192). After further discussion of this text in class, we feel that it will greatly assist our argument of "nurture" instead of "nature".
2A Literature Review:

Bank, Stephen, and Michael Kahn. The Sibling Bond. New York: BasicBooks, 1997.
This book shows the lifelong bond of siblings and how this affects their personality and identity through the many facets of life. Offering support of individuality gained through birth order and the future affect on social and occupational preferences.

Bennett, Mark, and Fabio Sani. The Development of the Social Self. New York: Psychology Press, 2004.
By looking primarily at the effect on social interactions on individual development and identity, this book can be utilized for its general information about how social preferences are made and how these have bearing upon the individualÕs life. By looking at whether birth order plays a role in these social inclinations, a more distinct model can be created on social importance.

"Birth Order." 7/16/03. Real Families Inc. 2/16/05.
It is common knowledge that none of the generally accepted birth order traits create inadequate individuals. This site clearly outlines both the positive and negative aspects of each position, giving us a more comprehensive understanding of the personality differences we are analyzing.

Bosma, Harke and Sandy Jackson, Eds. Coping and Self-Concept in Adolescence. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1990.
This source provides a detailed account of the many factors that concern personality evolution allowing us to look beyond birth order. This will help us keep a more analytical perspective towards the reasons our subjects have similar qualities.

Burns, Nick Kristy Antos, Nicky Ziomek, and Lindsey Sabo. "Birth Order, Demographics and Your Personality." JrScience. Chris Myers. 11/9/99. Western College: Miami University. 2/16/05.

This research project states that a variety of influences, both inside and out of the family and specific birth order roles, contribute to individual differences in personality particularly urban and rural settings. By looking at birth order personality differences other than the ones we are focusing on, we have a more encompassing idea of important contexts.

Cicirelli, Victor. Sibling Relationship across the Life Span. New York: Plenum Press, 1995.
This specific research text looks primarily at the relationship between nine siblings and the general research that has been done on familial interactions. Looking at this specific family through their life cycle gives an intense analysis of the full impact sibling relationships play within important life decisions.

Coles, Prophecy. The Importance of Sibling Relationships in Psychoanalysis. New York: KARNAC, 2003.
By looking at the effect of sibling relationships on emotional and personality development and other social relationships from a general psychology based view, trends can be established that will allow us to describe our findings within the outlined scientific procedure.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, and Barbara Schneider. Becoming Adult: How Teenagers Prepare for the World of Work. New York: Basic Books, 2000.
The influence of personality on occupational preferences is clearly set-up to help an adolescent determine which profession would be the best fit. Since we are looking at the correlation between family role personality and job related decisions, this provides a beginning for us to look at where personalities typically seem to gravitate.

Dusek, Jerome. Adolescent Behavior and Development. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1987.
Family, social and vocational forces have been proven to shape personality development particularly in children and adolescents. While we agree with those factors, we are also looking at the reverse that character determined by childhood affects the social and occupational partiality of an individual.

Fenichel, Otto, M.D. et al. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. New York: International Universities Press, 1947.
By providing an overview of general genetic growth and the analytical look at typical childhood development shows how behavior is closely linked to personality. This links with our focus of research through persona impact on social and occupational selection.

Flavell, John. The Development of Role-Taking and Communication Skills in Children. New York: John Wiley & Sons, INC, 1968.
A research based text that analyzes the cognitive development and roles that children adopt through their childhood. Many of these roles are within their family or communal relationships leading to future preferences in social and professional choices.

Grose, Michael. "How Birth Order can affect your Child's Behavior and Personality." 2005. Positive Path Network. 2/16/05.
An overview of the similarities and differences between children in families according to their birth order offers the basic facts about our topic.

Head, John. Working with Adolescents: Constructing Identity. New York: The Falmer Press, 1997.
Basic terms of identity for adolescents dealing primarily with employment, social relationships, beliefs, and values can readily provide a great framework for our study of human nature.

Hetherington, E. Mavis, David Reiss, and Robert Plomin. Separate Social Worlds of Siblings: The Impact of Nonshared Environment on Development. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1994.
The association of personality differences and variations in siblings due to their experiences apart allows us to look at various other factors within the family that affect individual personality evolution besides just sibling interactions.

Hoopes, Janet. Prediction in Child Development: A Longitudinal Study of Adoptive and Nonadoptive Families. New York: Child Welfare League of America, 1982.
A comprehensive view of family interactions and the personality development of the children in traditional and non-traditional families offers a look into a family without the genetic similarity and a look at how nurture alone affects the development of character through family sequence.

Leman, Kevin. "Birth order compatibility: Your best - and worst - matches for love." 2005. IVillage Inc. 2/16/05.
The influence of birth order induced personality traits on relationship compatibility fits directly within one component of our research area.

OÕConnor, Anne. "Birth Order and Your Child's Personality." Birth Order - its Effect on Personality. 2005. Roller Coaster.
Research into the effects of birth order on personality offers some insights into the diversity of personality often seen between siblings. We will be able to see what other studies are being performed on our topic for a broader realm of knowledge.

Reiss, David, Jenae Neiderhiser, E. Mavis Hetherington, and Robert Plomin. The Relationship Code: Deciphering Genetic and Social Influences on Adolescent Development. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2000.
Discussing not only the socialization of personality development within siblings but also the genetic similarities shows that the largest reason that the arrangement within a family plays a huge role on the individual development.

Sulloway, Frank. Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics, and Creative Lives. New York: Vintage Books, 1997.
This text looks into the personality differences through birth order and its multifaceted aspects of sibling differentiation.

Zukow, Patricia. Sibling Interactions Across Cultures: Theoretical and Methodological Issues. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1989.
This text looks at the involvement of sibling progression of personality and various world cultures, expanding our ideas of family roles into a global context. It is interesting to look at our specific facet of character development as a general determinate of individuality; it expands our idea of how humans grew to their assumed family roles.

B Before embarking upon a research topic, the general knowledge about the topic provides a framework to start from and to build off of. For the topic of birth order and its affect on personality development there is a large amount of information readily available. This is at least partially because humans are obsessed with how we work and augment our genes through experiences to become unique individuals. Therefore, plenty of general information can be located to give us a broad idea of what we are beginning to look deeply into. Simply searching the regular internet provided a summary of birth order personality traits along with online tests, and intellectual reactions to the discoveries. As a clear analysis, the varying predominate traits are shown in both positive and negative light. There is not just one aspect of the individual mentioned, the strengths and weaknesses of each family role is explained. This mindset is a plus given that we are looking at choices made by the individuals. The decisions they are making are simply the best for their own personality and needs based upon that.

The research performed upon a family of nine children throughout their lifespan showed that their family progression played a role in many of their important decisions. We are looking at two specific choices and seeing if there is a parallel between persona growth due to sibling succession and job and mate selection. However, there is plenty of research that many factors besides purely sibling relationships that affect personality development such as friends, environment (urban and rural), genetics, and school settings. The differing aspects that affect personality cause individuals to want various professions and people to share their life with. Since birth sequence has been proven to affect many peopleÕs character development, and personality is a deciding factor in major decisions we are attempting to make a connection between the two. To show that individuals have certain qualities they look for in a friend, mate, and occupation can help explain why these assumed roles remain through an entire lifespan.

3. Given that a child will be exposed to a wide variety of influences that will enhance their personality development, many approaches can be utilized to determine the origin of particular aspects. The presence of birth defects or other serious health issues in the child or any siblings can lead to a skewed distribution of parental affection and a noticeable variation from normal sibling relationships.

Socioeconomic status and general living conditions determine how many opportunities and/or resources are available for childÕs personality development. Since most children deal primarily with their parents and siblings, birth order and child rearing practices play prominent roles in the expansion of a childÕs persona. Particularly negative treatment at home can have extremely detrimental repercussions. Besides the family, the main social interactions are typically in a school setting, therefore children who are home schooled would fit more stereotypically into their prescribed family role.

Family sequence character growth can be affected directly through adoption and marriage. By bringing in genetically unrelated siblings later in development the impact of sibling relationships will have less impact on personality.

4. This is a correlational study which will focus on the correlation between birth order personalities and social occupational choices. One of the main goals of the study is to find correlation between personality and choices, to do this we will survey Miami University students in three residence halls. The surveys to be distributed will have two parts. The first part will be a general personality survey with questions which have come from previous research to determine individual traits of each birth position. The subject will respond to the statements on a five point scale of agree and disagree. The second part of the survey will be strictly factual. It will address the exact birth position of the subject, the subjectÕs parents, two close friends, and the most recent boyfriend/girlfriend. The subject will also be asked about their planned career and their parentÕs career.

The data from part one will be analyzed and numerical data will be calculated from the numbered scale. The data will be brought together with the data from part two, and compared to see if the subjectÕs personality corresponds with the previous research. When analyzing the data we will be able to separate the data into categories which will help to determine the conclusion.

We will also be conducting a minimum of five in depth interviews with subjects who have completed the survey. There will be one from each group of, youngest, oldest, only child, and two middle children, one from a small family of three children, and one from a larger family. These interviews will give us more information on a wider range of personality topics.

5A. The most important material we will be using in our research is a survey. We will distribute the survey to 150 to 200 students living in residence halls. After looking over the completed surveys we will choose some to call back for a more in depth interview which will give us more detailed personality traits, personal goals, and insight into their relationships with friends (survey and general interview questions are located at the back of this proposal). More specific questions will be created after reviewing the surveys of the interviewees.

B. For our research team to work well and efficiently, we will continue to meet with each other often to discuss the project so we can stay ahead, not be rushed and make errors in calculations or judgments. We will stay on task with the timeline, which has been laid out to even have extra time for problems, or extra work.

C. We will be using a variety of statistical data for the calculations. ANOVA will have to be used, as well as other small calculations of means, medians, graphs, and tables.

D. At the current time, we do not fully know of what the data sheet will include. However, we predict that we will be including one in the final drafts of the research.

E. Time Line:
February 18th Ð Turn in project proposal
February 21st Ð Pilot questionnaire and make any necessary changes
February 23rd Ð Test Mary Lyon (pass out and collect survey)
February 24th Ð Test McKee
February 27th, 28th Ð Test Scott
March 2nd Ð Meet to determine if amount of data is sufficient
- E-mail individuals about in-depth interviews
March 3rd Ð Finish testing Scott if necessary
March 4th Ð 8th Ð Perform interviews
March 8th Ð 11th Ð General analysis and categorization of data
March 12th Ð 20th Ð Spring Break
March 21st Ð Start using ANOVA for results
March 22nd Ð 25th Ð Write Project Draft
Week of March 28th Ð Project Draft due
April 4th Ð Start work on revision for Project Report and Project Presentation
April 22nd Ð Project Report due