A study published in the European Journal of Personality examined the effect of birth order on personality traits in a representative Chinese sample of over 14,000 individuals, finding no significant impact.
Chinese culture is heavily influenced by Confucian traditions, which emphasize filial piety and a preference for male offspring. This often leads to unique family dynamics and larger families, with couples reproducing until they have a son. Birth order is believed to play a pivotal role in shaping personality. For example, first born children may develop higher conscientiousness, acting as surrogate parents, while later-borns might adopt strategies like humor to gain parental attention. Research on this topic has yielded mixed results, with some studies finding supporting evidence for the effect of birth order on personality, and others revealing null effects.
Wenlong Mu and colleagues examined these associations in the Chinese cultural context, where Confucian culture plays a meaningful role in family life and sibling interactions. The study utilized data from the China Family Panel Studies, which is a comprehensive household social tracking survey that started in 2010. This study excluded individuals with no siblings, twins, incomplete sibling data, those with half, step or adoptive siblings, or missing control variable data.
Participants with families larger than seven individuals were also excluded given the rarity of such family structures. The final sample included 14,148 individuals, from 13,743 different families (comprising the between-family design), and 405 biological siblings (comprising the within-family design). The utilization of both within- and between-family designs allows for a more robust examination of birth order effects on personality.
Birth order was determined based on the birth year of participants and their siblings. Personality was measured using a concise, 15-item version of the Big Five Inventory. Control variables included individual-level variables such as gender, age, ethnicity, and closest sibling age gap, as well as family-level variables like family size and male ratio of siblings.
The researchers found that birth order had no significant effect on any of the five personality dimensions (i.e., conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, extraversion), neither in the between-family or within-family analyses. These findings align with previous work revealing negligible effects of birth order on personality.
Mu and colleagues add to the literature by demonstrating that a Confuciun influenced culture, with clear implications for sibling relationships and roles, yields no birth order effects on personality. These findings are important because prior research has primarily focused on Western cultural contexts. One limitation is that this study only included adults. The impact of birth order on personality during childhood and adolescence in the Chinese context remains unexplored.
The researchers conclude, “this study reinforces the recent empirical findings that the effects of birth order on personality traits might be a myth.”
The study, “Birth order and personality: Evidence from a representative sample of Chinese”, was authored by Wenlong Mu, Yumei Li, Shiyang Cui, Along He and Tianyuan Liu.