Open AccessBIRTH ORDER: A PHENOMENON IN SEARCH OF AN EXPLANATION 1
Author(s) -
McGurk Harry,
Lewis Michael
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
ets research bulletin series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2333-8504
pISSN - 0424-6144
DOI - 10.1002/j.2333-8504.1972.tb00444.x
Subject(s) - birth order , developmental psychology , dependency (uml) , phenomenon , psychology , order (exchange) , period (music) , demography , sociology , computer science , population , physics , software engineering , finance , quantum mechanics , acoustics , economics
Fifty‐two 44‐month‐old children were observed in a nursery school over a period of two weeks. Peer and adult oriented behaviours were recorded, and data were analysed in terms of subjects' sex and birth order. Sex effects were as expected, but birth‐order effects highlighted the second‐born child as representing a distinct category. In particular, second‐born children manifested greater dependency behaviour than either first‐ or later‐borns. Results are discussed in terms of the relationship between maternal responsiveness to attention seeking behaviour in infancy and later dependency behaviour.