Discussion
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of birth order on the outcome of three of Big Five Inventory traits. Specifically, the researcher wanted to examine how birth order effects conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion. The researchers expected that individuals born first within their families would show higher levels of conscientiousness, youngest children would score higher on levels of openness, and that last-born individual would score the highest on the extraversion trait. Taken together, the researcher analyses of the data indicated that there were no statistically significant birth-order effects across various analyses of the personality traits of conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness. However our …show more content…
It was hypothesized that the youngest child would score the lowest on extraversion. However, the analyses of the hypothesis resulted in there being no significant effects between birth orders on the trait of extraversion. The use of a between- subjects design in comparison to a within subject design has produced significantly different results in previous research that has been conducted on the effects of birth order on personality. A within subjects’ design, in this case means only using participants within a family instead of comparing subjects between families. Many researchers such as Srivastava (2011) found significant results in the effects of birth order on specific personality traits when using a within subjects design. Specifically, by basing subjects on a within-subjects design, Srivastava (2011) found a significant correlation in that last born children’s level of achievement motivation did show some variation from middle-born children, as well as first-born children. Perhaps, the researchers use of a between –subjects design made it more difficult to detect any significant differences between the …show more content…
Self-report measures have been proven to limit the significance of results seen in birth order effects Sulloway (1999).Perhaps, self-reports create a bias because the participant could be inclined to rate themselves favorably, instead of accurately. Another limitation in this study was the small population size. With more participants, significant differences would have been easier to detect. Additionally, our population demographics only consisted of one male participant. This is a limitation to this study because it is harder to specify whether the results are due to differences between gender or birth order. Therefore it would be harder to generalize our results to a wider population that consisted of both males and
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of birth order on the outcome of three of Big Five Inventory traits. Specifically, the researcher wanted to examine how birth order effects conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion. The researchers expected that individuals born first within their families would show higher levels of conscientiousness, youngest children would score higher on levels of openness, and that last-born individual would score the highest on the extraversion trait. Taken together, the researcher analyses of the data indicated that there were no statistically significant birth-order effects across various analyses of the personality traits of conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness. However our …show more content…
It was hypothesized that the youngest child would score the lowest on extraversion. However, the analyses of the hypothesis resulted in there being no significant effects between birth orders on the trait of extraversion. The use of a between- subjects design in comparison to a within subject design has produced significantly different results in previous research that has been conducted on the effects of birth order on personality. A within subjects’ design, in this case means only using participants within a family instead of comparing subjects between families. Many researchers such as Srivastava (2011) found significant results in the effects of birth order on specific personality traits when using a within subjects design. Specifically, by basing subjects on a within-subjects design, Srivastava (2011) found a significant correlation in that last born children’s level of achievement motivation did show some variation from middle-born children, as well as first-born children. Perhaps, the researchers use of a between –subjects design made it more difficult to detect any significant differences between the …show more content…
Self-report measures have been proven to limit the significance of results seen in birth order effects Sulloway (1999).Perhaps, self-reports create a bias because the participant could be inclined to rate themselves favorably, instead of accurately. Another limitation in this study was the small population size. With more participants, significant differences would have been easier to detect. Additionally, our population demographics only consisted of one male participant. This is a limitation to this study because it is harder to specify whether the results are due to differences between gender or birth order. Therefore it would be harder to generalize our results to a wider population that consisted of both males and