Relation of Birth Order, Family Size and Social Class to Psychological Functions

1977 ◽  
Vol 45 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1107-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lillian Belmont ◽  
Janet Wittes ◽  
Zena Stein
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Birth Order ◽  
Family Size ◽  
Size Effects ◽  
Intellectual Development ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Verbal Intelligence ◽  
Psychological Functions ◽  
The Military

Findings are reported on birth-order and family-size effects for five psychological functions measured by the military preinduction test battery which was administered to a total population of 19-yr.-old Dutch men. These men were born between 1944 and 1946, were members of 1- to 6-child families and were from the two major social classes. A clear birth-order gradient was present on all test measures for both social classes. Family-size effects, however, differed by social class. The results extend to a range of psychological functions the findings previously reported for a single test of non-verbal intelligence, suggesting that family-structure variables play a role in understanding intellectual development.

Daily routines of pre-school children: effects of age, birth order, sex and social class, and developmental correlates

1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Lawson ◽  
J. D. Ingleby
Keyword(s):  
Child Care ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Birth Order ◽  
School Children ◽  
Intellectual Development ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Daily Routines ◽  
Affective Measure

SYSNOPSISChildren's daily activities and interactions were quantified from mothers' accounts of the preceding 24-hour period. These ‘diaries’ were obtained on three occasions from 54 families with two pre-school children. Effects of age, birth order, sex, and social class were found which support the findings of other studies: an inverted U-shaped relationship existed between the intensity of attention received and the child's intelligence and developmental quotients. A relatively high correlation between IQ and an affective measure of child care furnished further evidence that the differences in caretaking relevant to intellectual development are qualitative rather than quantitative ones.

Family Size, Birth Order, and Intelligence in a Large South American Sample

1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilson Velandia ◽  
Gary M Grandon ◽  
Ellis B Page
Keyword(s):  
Birth Order ◽  
Family Size ◽  
Intellectual Development ◽  
Current Theory ◽  
Family Influence ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Aggregated Data ◽  
Mental Age ◽  
Classic Pattern ◽  
Socioeconomic Data

The most popular current theory of family influence is the confluence theory, which hypothesizes that a child is helped or hindered in intellectual development according to the average absolute intelligence (mental age) in the family when that child is born. Aggregated data about such a hypothesis have been examined in previous studies from a number of nations, but not from a developing country. Here test scores, family information, and socioeconomic data are analyzed far a sample of over 36,000 college applicants in Colombia. The intellectual effects of family size were not at all the classic pattern: All family sizes smaller than six surpassed a single child family, arguing that differences were populational, rather than intrafamilial. Further analysis showed almost no family-size effect for the lower socioeconomic group among the college applicants, and birth order effects were not constant across family sizes, and not in conformity with the model. In sum, the confluence theory fared badly in these tests.

Birth order and birth rate bias: findings in a representative sample of the adult population of Great Britain

1974 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. H. Hare ◽  
J. S. Price
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Birth Order ◽  
Family Size ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
Birth Rate ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Large Families

SummaryBirth order and family size have been studied in a representative sample (10,000) of the adult population of Great Britain. This was done to test theoretical predictions about the ways in which the birth-order distribution in a population sample will be biased by secular changes in family size. The principal predictions were that, in a sample born during a period when family size was decreasing, the distribution of birth ranks in the larger families would be biased towards an over-representation of later born subjects (i.e. those lower in birth order), while in smaller families there would be an under-representation of later born. In a sample born during a period when family size was increasing, the reverse effects would occur. It was also predicted that among subjects from large families there would be an excess of females; and that the extent of the bias due to decrease in family size would be greatest in the unskilled and least in the highly skilled social classes.The findings confirmed these predictions. The sample also showed an un-predicted excess of subjects in the middle ranks of families. It is suggested that the hypothesis of birth rate bias may be used for predicting the type of birth-order distribution to be expected in a sample of any population.

BREAST-FEEDING IN BOSTON

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-303
Author(s):  
Eva J. Salber ◽  
Manning Feinleib
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Breast Feeding ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Important Variable ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Feeding Patterns ◽  
Breast Feed ◽  
Breast Fed

Incidence of breast-feeding has been examined in 2,233 women who gave birth to babies in hospitals in Boston, Brookline, and Newton in August or September, 1963. Information on breast-feeding was obtained from the mothers by mailed questionnaires and by telephone. Twenty-two per cent of the mothers attempted breast-feeding. Five per cent of the total population breast-fed their babies for 6 months or more. Sex and birth weight of babies do not affect frequency of breast-feeding. Social class is found to be the most important variable affecting incidence of breast feeding. Women who are married to students exhibit the highest incidence of breast-feeding (69.3%). Upper social class women breast-feed more frequently (39.8%) than women in lower social classes (13.6%). Students do not show any variation in breast-feeding patterns by age of mother, parity, or birthplace, but these variables do influence the breast-feeding patterns of women in other social classes.

Birth order, family size, social class, and intelligence

1975 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Marjoribanks ◽  
Herbert J. Walberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Birth Order ◽  
Family Size

Regional differences in obsessionality and obsessional neurosis

1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Scott ◽  
M. J. Kelleher ◽  
A. Smith ◽  
R. M. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Birth Order ◽  
Family Size ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
Geographic Isolation ◽  
Obsessional Neurosis ◽  
Orthopaedic Patients ◽  
The Common

SynopsisThe Leyton Obsessional Inventory was administered to 69 orthopaedic patients in Glasgow, and their responses were compared with those of 77 similar subjects in London and 73 in Cork. The responses of the Scots and the English did not differ, but both of these groups were significantly less obsessional than the Irish subjects, who were particularly likely to regard cleanliness and tidiness as virtues in themselves. Obsessionality was unrelated to age, sex, social class, family size and birth order, but higher Leyton scores were found among bachelors, and among women living in the country and without outside employment. It is suggested that the common factor among these 3 subgroups is emotional or geographic isolation, and that this may enhance any tendency to obsessional ruminations and routines. This could also account for the higher Leyton scores and greater incidence of obsessional neurosis in the Irish.

Keep reading and you’ll understand

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-38
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Saint Domingue ◽  
Political Experience ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Way

In this chapter Trouillot cross-examines received understandings of Haitian history among the minority of the population that has had the opportunity to attend school. References to folkloric characters in the text disappear, and Ti difé boulé sou istoua Ayiti turns to an analysis of the divisions in social classes during the period of French colonization in Saint-Domingue, portraying the complex and conflicting coalitions of wealthy colonists, black and mulatto freedmen, whites and enslaved people. Each coalition contained its own hidden contradictions and differing priorities: among the enslaved there were domestic slaves, skilled urban slaves, overseers and field laborers. Power-holding wealthy plantation owners and French commissioners exploited racism to draw middle class and lower-class whites into their conspiracy. This chapter establishes the major axes of Saint-Domingue’s organization: the large plantations, slavery, sugarcane monoculture and dependency on France. Trouillot shows that the revolutionary leaders were enslaved people at the top of their social class. Many of them had known forms of freedom, responsibility, leadership and political experience. This political acumen placed those enslaved people and freedmen in a position to seize the reins of power. The powerful plantation owners, commissioners and the military were able to retain dominance providing their coalition remained intact. The white coalition of local plantation owners and the French commissioners underwent a bitter split, opening the way for the enslaved population to rise up and fight for freedom.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document