Risk attitudes play important roles in health behavior and everyday decision making. It is unclear, however, whether these attitudes can be predicted from birth order. We investigated 200 mostly male volunteers from two distinct settings. After correcting for multiple comparisons, for the number of siblings and for confounding by gender, ordinal position predicted perception of health-related risks among participants in extreme sports (p < .01). However, the direction of the effect contradicted Adlerian theory. Except for alcohol consumption, these findings extended to self-reported risk behavior. Together, the data call for a cautious stand on the impact of birth order on risk attitudes.
AdlerA (1925) The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology. London: Routledge
2.
BrymerESchweitzerR (2012) Extreme sports are good for your health: A phenomenological understanding of fear and anxiety in extreme sport. Journal of Health Psychology. Epub ahead of print 11June2012. DOI: 10.1177/1359105312446770.
3.
CaretteBAnseelFVan YperenNW (2011) Born to learn or born to win? Birth order effects on achievement goals. Journal of Research in Personality45: 500–503.
4.
CasherBB (1977) Relationship between birth order and participation in dangerous sports. Research Quarterly48: 33–40.
5.
ComelloMLGSlaterMD (2011) Effects of adverts from a drug and alcohol prevention campaign on willingness to engage in alcohol-related risky behaviors. Journal of Health Psychology16: 1268–1276.
6.
CookPABellisMA (2001) Knowing the risk: Relationships between risk behaviour and health knowledge. Public Health115: 54–61.
7.
CourtiolARaymondMFaurieC (2009) Birth order affects behaviour in the investment game: Firstborns are less trustful and reciprocate less. Animal Behaviour78: 1405–1411.
8.
DohmenTFalkAHuffmanD. (2009) Individual risk attitudes: Measurement, determinants and behavioral consequences. Journal of the European Economic Association5517: 522–550.
9.
DrechslerRRizzoPSteinhausenHC (2008) Decision-making on an explicit risk-taking task in preadolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Neural Transmission115: 201–209.
10.
EckelCCGrossmanPJ (2008) Forecasting risk attitudes: An experimental study using actual and forecast gamble choices. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization68: 1–17.
11.
EcksteinDAycockKJSperberMA. (2010) A review of 200 birth order studies: Lifestyle characteristics. Journal of Individual Psychology66: 408–434.
12.
ElliottBA (1992) Birth order and health: Major issues. Social Science & Medicine35: 443–452.
13.
ErnstCAngstJ (1983) Birth Order: Its Influence on Personality. Berlin: Springer.
14.
FergussonDMHorwoodLJBodenJM (2006) Birth order and educational achievement in adolescence and young adulthood. Australian Journal of Education50: 122–139.
15.
GilliamJChatterjeeS (2011) The influence of birth order on financial risk tolerance. Journal of Business & Economics Research4: 43–50.
16.
GormanSK (2008) Correlational study of birth order with educational attainment and transformational leadership. PhD Thesis, University of Phoenix, Phoenix AZ.
17.
GrableJEJooS (1999) Factors related to risk tolerance: A further examination. Consumer Interests Annual45: 53–58.
18.
GrableJEJooS (2000) A cross-disciplinary examination of financial risk tolerance. Consumer Interests Annual46: 151–157.
19.
GustafsonPE (1998) Gender differences in risk perception: Theoretical and methodological perspectives. Risk Analysis18: 805–811.
20.
HanochYJohnsonJGWilkeA (2006) Domain-specificity in experimental measures and participant recruitment: An application to risk-taking behavior. Psychological Science17: 300–304.
21.
JobeJBHolgateSHScrapanskyTA (1983) Risk taking as motivation for volunteering for a hazardous experiment. Journal of Personality51: 95–107.
22.
KesslerRCAdlerLAmesM. (2005) The World Health Organization Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS): A short screening scale for use in the general population. Psychological Medicine35: 245–256.
23.
LeeJECLemyreLTurnerMC. (2008) Health risk perceptions as mediators of socioeconomic differentials in health behaviour. Journal of Health Psychology13: 1082–1091.
24.
LongstrethL (1970) Birth order and avoidance of dangerous activities. Developmental Psychology2: 154.
25.
MellorS (1990) How do only children differ from other children?The Journal of Genetic Psychology151: 221–230.
26.
MorganE (2009) The heir and the spare: Impact of birth order on risk attitudes, discount rates, and behaviors. PhD Thesis, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
27.
MurphyKRAdlerLA (2004) Assessing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults: Focus on rating scales. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry65(Suppl. 3): 12–17.
28.
NisbettRE (1968) Birth order and participation in dangerous sports. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology8: 351–353.
29.
NixonHL (1981) Birth order and preferences for risky sports among college students. Journal of Sport Behavior4: 12–23.
30.
ReesDLLopezEAverettSL. (2008) Birth order and participation in school sports and other extracurricular activities. Economics of Education Review27: 354–362.
31.
RoeBETilleyMRGuHH. (2009) Financial and psychological risk attitudes associated with two single nucleotide polymorphisms in the nicotine receptor (CHRNA4) gene. Public Library of Science One4: e6704.
32.
SeffMAGecasV (1993) Birth order, self-concept, and participation in dangerous sports. Journal of Psychology127: 221–232.
33.
SohiASYusuffKB (1991) Birth-order and participation in high and low dangerous sports among selected Nigerian elite athletes. Journal of Asian and African Studies26: 276–283.
34.
SullowayFJ (1996) Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics, and Creative Lives. New York: Pantheon.
35.
SullowayFJ (1997) Birth order and personality. Harvard Mental Health Letter14: 5–7.
36.
SullowayFJZweigenhaftRL (2010) Birth order and risk taking in athletics: A meta-analysis and study of major league baseball. Personality and Social Psychology Review14: 402–416.
37.
WangXTKrugerDJWilkeA (2009) Life history variables and risk-taking propensity. Evolution and Human Behavior30: 77–84.
38.
WeberEUBlaisA-RBetzNE (2002) A domain-specific risk-attitude scale: Measuring risk perceptions and risk behaviors. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making15: 263–290.
39.
WilligC (2008) A phenomenological investigation of the experience of taking part in “extreme sports”. Journal of Health Psychology13: 690–702.
40.
YiannakisA (1976) Birth order and preference for dangerous sports among males. Research Quarterly47: 62–67.
41.
ZuckermanMKuhlmanDM (2000) Personality and risk-taking: Common biosocial factors. Journal of Personality68: 999–1029.
