A Comparative Study of Birth-Order and Personality

Abstract

Birth order is defined as the position of a child among his siblings (comely, 2004), and is considered to be a factor that affects the role of child among his siblings in terms of treatment and care which in turn is reflected in his activities. According to the difference in birth order and the difference between parents in term of raising and treating their children, child can develop different behavioural traits, so, the birth order (oldest, middle, last, or lonely) will definitely pose an impact on the child’s behaviour, personality, and academic performance. Personality word comes from the Greek word “persona” and its meaning “mask”. According to Weinberg and Gould (1999) “The characteristics or blend of characteristics that makes a person unique.” This research study aims to investigate the comparison between birth order and personality trait. The study will compare personality trait of individuals based on their birth order position (i.e., first born, middle born, last born and only born). The sample will consist of 320 participants with 80 participants (40 males and 40 females) in each birth order group. Participants will be required to complete a personality questionnaire that measures the Big Five personality traits (i.e., openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism). The study will use a quantitative research design, and data will be analysed using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the understanding of the role of birth order in shaping personality development.