Birth Order and Family Size as Indicators of Social Competence

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Graham, Steven

Keywords

Social Competence, Family Dynamics, Birth Order

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

A substantial body of prior research has established that immediate family members (specifically siblings) contribute tremendously to the social development of children. It is unclear how ordinal birth ranking fits into this relationship. Further, the literature on birth order is notoriously fractured and inconsistent. This thesis attempted to contribute to this literature by measuring the empathy levels, attachment style, social perceptiveness, and family attachment of 50 undergraduate students. Whereas it was hypothesized that later-born siblings would show greater prosocial tendencies, this effect was unobserved in this sample. The results do paint a detailed picture of the ways in which different aspects of the family interact to influence the social self.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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