The effects of birth order on locus of control

Abstract

Nine-year-old children were used in examination of the effects of birth order on locus of control. It was found that both the first born and the last born in families of three siblings or more had a more external locus of control than middle-born children. In addition, last-born children were more external in large families . It is probable that failure of previous studies to agree on similar effects was due to differences in the number of siblings for subjects used in the sample.In general, an external locus of control, the feeling that events are not under an individual's control, is thought to be largely the result of parental attention in childhood . A child receiving a great deal of parental attention looks to social approval for support rather than to himself, and this results in the development of a more external locus of control than children not receiving parental attention would have. First-born children receive more direct parental attention than later born, who must compete with siblings for such attention (Lasko , 1954;Sears, 1950) and are accordingly thought to develop a more external locus of control.Studies using adult subjects have shown mixed support for this assertion. Eisenman and Platt (1968) , Moran (1967), andWarren (1966) have concluded that first-born adults are more susceptible to social pressures and therefore more dependent than are later born, but Crandall, Katkovsky, and Crandall (1965) and MacDonald (1971) claim just the opposite . Schildhaus (1974), using children as subjects, found that first-born children have a high need for social approval and a more external locus of control, whereas the opposite is true for later borns . Newhouse (1974), on the other hand, found no significant locus-of-control difference between first-and later-born 9-to 10-year-old children.In these studies the number of siblings in families from which children were selected varied widely. For example, in the MacDonald (1971) study, most firstand later-born children were from two-sibling families; very few were from larger families. Newhouse (1974) and Schildhaus (1974), in contradictory studies , used some larger families, but both reported scores only for first-and later-born groups. Thus, any birth-order effects in later-born children were left untested. This is unfortunate , for there is reason to suspect that last-born children in large families might have a more external locus of control (due to parental attention) than middleborn children. This study examines this possibility by separating relatively large sibling groups into first-, middle-, and last-born groups rather than first-and laterborn groups. METHOD SubjectsFifteen each first-born, middle-born , and last-born 9-yearold elementary students of both sexes were randomly selected from three elementary schools in white middle-class suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All children were drawn from families of three children or more. The mean number of children (including the subject) in each group was 4.2, 4.5 , and 3.7 , respectively, and the number ...

The development of anxiety: The role of control in the early environment.

“…A number of studies have documented this pattern, demonstrating that first-bora children display more internal locus of control than later-born children (Crandall, Katkovsky, & Crandall, 1965;Hoffman & Teyber, 1979;Krampen, 1982). In addition, family size has also been shown to be related to control cognitions, such that external locus of control beliefs increase in later-born children as family size increases (Walter & Ziegler, 1980). Parenting.…”

Probing Birth-Order Effects on Narrow Traits Using Specification-Curve Analysis

“…firstborns have a more internal locus of controlsupposedly because they foster control by assuming responsibility for their younger siblings (e.g., Falbo, 1981)-other studies have suggested that firstborns have a more external locus of control, purportedly because of increased parental attention (e.g., Walter & Ziegler, 1980), and still other studies have not found a difference between firstborn and later-born children (e.g., Newhouse, 1974).…”

“…It is interesting that results have often been more specific and less parsimonious when taking a closer look. For example, Walter and Ziegler (1980) found that firstborn and last-born children of families with three or more siblings had a more external locus of control compared with the middle children. In addition, Hughes (2005) reported a complex interaction in the absence of a main effect of birth-order position: Having a majority of siblings of the same sex was associated with a more external locus of control only for firstborns.…”

“…Despite the richness of these studies, their results failed to provide conclusive evidence for birth-order effects on these (and other) narrow traits. For example, regarding locus of control, although some studies have reported that firstborns have a more internal locus of control—supposedly because they foster control by assuming responsibility for their younger siblings (e.g., Falbo, 1981)—other studies have suggested that firstborns have a more external locus of control, purportedly because of increased parental attention (e.g., Walter & Ziegler, 1980), and still other studies have not found a difference between firstborn and later-born children (e.g., Newhouse, 1974).…”

Effect of parental attributes on the locus of control of secondary school students

“…However, more care and overprotection also results in developing externality among children (Lynchet al, 2002). Walter and Ziegler (1980) also suggested that more parental attention in childhood leads towards dependence and development of external LoC in children.…”