A parsimonious explanation was offered why ordinal position might be related to participation in specific activities as revealed in recent studies. Two hypotheses were developed and tested using a sample of 222 Peace Corps volunteers. The first hypothesis was that more first borns than later borns will respond immediately to an appeal by mail and actually participate in research. The second hypothesis was that first borns from large families engage in fewer social activities than do second borns. The statistically significant results supported the hypotheses and were consistent with previous empirical findings.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BossardJ. H. S.BollE. S.Personality roles in the large family. Child Develpm., 1955, 26, 71–78.
2.
CapraP. C.DittesJ. E.Birth order as a selective factor among volunteer subjects. J. abnorm. soc. Psychol., 1962, 64, 302.
3.
SchachterS.The psychology of affiliation. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univer. Press, 1959.
4.
SchachterS.Birth order and sociometric choice. J. abnorm. soc. Psychol., 1964, 68, 453–456.
5.
SuedfeldP.Birth order of volunteers for sensory deprivation. J. abnorm. soc. Psychol., 1964, 68, 195–196.
