Self-esteem and personality traits in relation to birth order

Redoslijed rođenja jedno je od temeljnih ljudskih iskustava za koje se univerzalno smatra da određuje koliko smo inteligentni, samouvjereni, odgovorni, društveni, otvoreni za nova iskustva i slično. Rasprava o povezanosti redoslijeda rođenja s osobnošću i samopoimanjem izazvala je kontinuiran interes tijekom proteklih stotinu godina, kako od strane šire javnosti tako i od strane znanstvenika. Osobnost podrazumijeva karakteristične i donekle predvidljive obrasce ponašanja koje svaka osoba razvija, svjesno i nesvjesno, kao svoj način života. Nadalje, samopoštovanje se odnosi na subjektivnu procjenu pojedinca o njegovoj ili njezinoj vrijednosti kao osobe. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati razlike u samopoštovanju i crtama ličnosti (savjesnost, ugodnost, emocionalna stabilnost, ekstraverzija, intelekt) između prvorođene i kasnije rođene djece kod osoba u dobi od 18 do 25 godina. U istraživanju su sudjelovala 154 sudionika pri čemu je broj muškaraca bio N=37, dok je broj žena bio N=116. Za ispitivanje samopoštovanja korištena je Rosenbergova skala samopoštovanja (Rosenberg, 1965) dok je ličnost ispitana skraćenom hrvatskom verzijom markera velepetoroga modela ličnosti (Mlačić i Goldberg, 2007). Utvrđeno je kako prvorođeni muškarci imaju više samopoštovanje u odnosu na kasnije rođene muškarce dok se samopoštovanje ženskih sudionica nije razlikovalo s obzirom na redoslijed rođenja. Nadalje, prvorođeni i kasnije rođeni se nisu razlikovali u crtama ekstraverzije, emocionalne stabilnosti, savjesnosti i ugodnosti dok su prvorođeni postizali više rezultate u intelektu u odnosu na kasnije rođene. Također je utvrđena pozitivna povezanost samopoštovanja te ekstraverzije, savjesnosti, emocionalne stabilnosti i intelekta. Trenutna studija nije pružila veliku podršku Sullowayevoj teoriji, ali su dobiveni rezultati u skladu s novijim saznanjima o redoslijedu rođenja te stoga upućuju na potrebu daljnjih istraživanja.Birth order is one of the most pervasive human experiences that is universally believed to determine how intelligent, confident, responsible, social, open to new experiences, and the like we are. The debate over the relationship of birth order to personality and self-concept has gained continuous interest over the past hundred years, both from the general public and from scholars. Personality is defined as the characteristic, and to some extent predictable, behavioral response patterns that each person develops, both consciously and unconsciously, as their way of life. Furthermore, self-esteem refers to an individual's subjective assessment of his or her worth as a person. The aim of this research was to examine the differences in selfesteem and personality traits (conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, extraversion, intellect) between first-born and later-born children in persons aged 18 to 25. The research was conducted in person in university classrooms. The study involved 154 participants, where the number of men was N=37, while the number of women was N=116. Rosenberg's self-esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1965) was used to examine self-esteem, while personality was examined with a shortened Croatian version of the Big Five personality model markers (Mlačić and Goldberg, 2007). It was found that first-born males have higher self-esteem compared to later-born males, while the self-esteem of female participants did not differ with respect to birth order. Furthermore, first-borns and later-borns did not differ in traits of extraversion, emotional stability, conscientiousness and agreeableness, while firstborns achieved higher results in intellect compared to later-borns. A positive connection between self-esteem and extraversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability and intellect was also established. The current study did not provide much support for Sulloway's theory, but the results obtained are consistent with recent knowledge about birth order and therefore suggest the need for further research