The present study was conducted to examine the relationship of birth order and family size to the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern. Previous research indicates that parents are more likely to set high, but ambiguous, achievement standards for t-heir first-born children, and to push them harder than later borns. These style differences parallel those proposed for parents of Type A children, suggesting that one factor in the development of Type A behavior may be differential treatment of first versus later borns. Results indicated that Type A individuals are more likely to be first born, and more generally earl)' born, but that this relationship is most true in large families.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Cohen, J. , & Cohen, P.Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. New York: John Wiley, 1975.
2.
Dembroski, T. M. , & MacDougall, J. M.Stress effects on affiliation preferences among subjects possessing the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1978, 36, 23-33.
3.
Dembroski, T. M. , Weiss, S. M., Shields, J. L., Haynes, S. G., & Feinleib, M. (Eds.) Coronary-prone behavior. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1978.
4.
Festinger, L.A theory of social comparison processes . Human Relations, 1954, 7, 117-140.
5.
Friedman, M. , & Rosenman, R. H.Type A behavior and your heart. New York: Knopf, 1974.
6.
Gastorf, J. W. , Suls, J., & Sanders, G. S.Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern and social facilitation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1980, 38, 773-780.
7.
Glass, D. C.Behavior patterns, stress, and coronary disease. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1977.
8.
Hilton, I.Differences in the behavior of mothers toward first -and later-born children . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1967, 7, 282-290.
9.
Krantz, D. S. , Glass, D. C., & Snyder, M. L.Helplessness, stress level, and the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1974, 10, 284-300.
10.
Matthews, K. A.Caregiver-child interactions and the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern . Child Development, 1977, 48, 1752-1756.
11.
Matthews, K. A.Efforts to control by children and adults with the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern . Child Development, 1979, 50, 842-847.
12.
Matthews, K. A. , & Angulo, J.Measurement of the Type A behavior pattern in children: Assessment of children's competitiveness, impatience-anger, and aggression. Child Development, 1980. 51, 466-475.
13.
Matthews, K. A. , Glass, D. C., & Richins, M.The mother-son observation study. In D. C. Glass, Behavior patterns, stress, and coronary disease. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1977.
14.
Matthews, K. A. , & Siegel, J. M.The Type A behavior pattern in children and adolescents: Assessment, development, and associated coronary-risk. In A. Baum & J. Singer (Eds.), Psychology and Health (Vol. 2), in press.
15.
Mussen, P. , Conger, J. J., & Kagan, J.Child development and personality. New York: Harper & Row, 1979.
16.
Ring, K. , Lipinski, C. E., & Braginsky, D.The relationship of birth order to self-evaluation, anxiety reduction, and susceptibility to emotional contagion. Psychological Monographs, 1965, 79(10, Whole No. 603).
17.
Rosenman, R. , Brand, R. J., Jenkins, C. D., Friedman, M., Straus, R., & Wurm, M.Coronary heart disease in the Western Collaborative Group Study: Final follow-up experience of 8V/2 years. Journal of the American Medical Association, 1975, 233, 872-877.
18.
Rothbart, M. K.Birth order and mother-child interaction in an achievement situation . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1971, 17, 113-120.
19.
Sampson, E. E.Birth order, need achievement, and conformity . Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1962, 64, 155-159.
20.
Schachter, S.The psychology of affiliation. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1959.
21.
Sears, R. R. , Maccoby, E., & Levin, H.Patterns of child rearing. Evanston, IL: Row-Peterson, 1957.
22.
Sutton-Smith, B. , & Rosenberg, B. G.The sibling. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970.
