Implications of Birth Order on Personality and Social Behavior

Abstract

During the adjustment phase, first-year college students experience behavioral and personality changes, which such changes may provide insight into how successfully the students will manage their first year of college. This prompted the researchers to conduct this research utilizing a descriptive comparative research design, to establish a basis and explanation for first-year college students’ behaviors and personalities. The researchers selected three-hundred-four (304) first-year college students through a convenient or accidental sampling method. Based on the results of the study, it was revealed that birth order is partially a factor of personality and social behavior, specifically in parental attention personality and dominant social behaviors. It was found that there is a significant difference between the parental attention (F=7.579; df=3; p=.000), and dominant behavior (F= 4.001; df= 303; p=.008) of each birth order. This reveals that when it comes to parental attention, firstborns and middleborns receive more parental attention than only children. First-year college students who are firstborns are also more likely to exhibit dominant behaviors compared to only children. The researchers hope that this study will be used as a springboard for future research, aimed at the settlement of contradictory findings regarding personality, social behavior, and birth order. The researchers further recommend taking into consideration gender, age, socioeconomic status, parenting styles, and environment in studying personality and social behavior in relation to birth order.