The effect of birth order on the probability of university enrolment

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F18%3A10379005" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/18:10379005 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2018.08.003" target="_blank" >http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2018.08.003</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2018.08.003" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.intell.2018.08.003</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

The effect of birth order on the probability of university enrolment

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

The birth order influences various psychological characteristics ranging from personality traits to sexual behaviour. Yet while many studies suggest that firstborn children are likely to achieve a higher educational level than their siblings, other studies reported no such effect, which may be due to various modulating factors such as sex and family size. In the present study, we have therefore tested the effect of birth order on the probability of university enrolment while taking these possibly modulating factors into consideration. We collected birth-order data from two cohorts of biology students (Study 1: students from 1990 to 1995, N=271; Study 2: students from 2011 to 2017, N=2049) at the Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. The proportion of firstborns in both cohorts was compared to population data obtained from the Czech Statistical Office and controlled for sex and family size. In both groups of students, we found a significantly higher proportion of firstborns than in the general population as represented by the official population data. In Study 1, based on general population data we expected firstborns to form 44.8% of the cohort. The actual proportion was found to be 63.1%. In Study 2, the expected proportion of firstborns was 48.1%, while the proportion actually found was 64.0%. We have also observed a considerable influence of family size on the size of the birth-order effect. In particular, the size of the birth-order effect on educational achievements of the firstborn children positively correlated with family size. Comparison between the two cohorts had also shown that over the last two decades, overrepresentation of firstborns had significantly declined, which probably reflects a decrease in the stringency of entrance examinations to the Faculty of Science over the past two decades. Our results support previous findings regarding the advantage of firstborns in educational achievements and show that the birth-order effect is not just an epiphenomenon of family size. By comparing the two cohorts 20 years apart, this study also offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the birth-order effect in relation to sociodemographic changes over a certain time period. In particular, our study demonstrates that the birth-order effect is robust enough to withstand the dramatic changes in university attendance in present-day Czech Republic.

Název v anglickém jazyce

The effect of birth order on the probability of university enrolment

Popis výsledku anglicky

The birth order influences various psychological characteristics ranging from personality traits to sexual behaviour. Yet while many studies suggest that firstborn children are likely to achieve a higher educational level than their siblings, other studies reported no such effect, which may be due to various modulating factors such as sex and family size. In the present study, we have therefore tested the effect of birth order on the probability of university enrolment while taking these possibly modulating factors into consideration. We collected birth-order data from two cohorts of biology students (Study 1: students from 1990 to 1995, N=271; Study 2: students from 2011 to 2017, N=2049) at the Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. The proportion of firstborns in both cohorts was compared to population data obtained from the Czech Statistical Office and controlled for sex and family size. In both groups of students, we found a significantly higher proportion of firstborns than in the general population as represented by the official population data. In Study 1, based on general population data we expected firstborns to form 44.8% of the cohort. The actual proportion was found to be 63.1%. In Study 2, the expected proportion of firstborns was 48.1%, while the proportion actually found was 64.0%. We have also observed a considerable influence of family size on the size of the birth-order effect. In particular, the size of the birth-order effect on educational achievements of the firstborn children positively correlated with family size. Comparison between the two cohorts had also shown that over the last two decades, overrepresentation of firstborns had significantly declined, which probably reflects a decrease in the stringency of entrance examinations to the Faculty of Science over the past two decades. Our results support previous findings regarding the advantage of firstborns in educational achievements and show that the birth-order effect is not just an epiphenomenon of family size. By comparing the two cohorts 20 years apart, this study also offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the birth-order effect in relation to sociodemographic changes over a certain time period. In particular, our study demonstrates that the birth-order effect is robust enough to withstand the dramatic changes in university attendance in present-day Czech Republic.

Druh

J_imp - Článek v periodiku v databázi Web of Science

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

10602 - Biology (theoretical, mathematical, thermal, cryobiology, biological rhythm), Evolutionary biology

Projekt

—

Návaznosti

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Rok uplatnění

2018

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

Intelligence

ISSN

0160-2896

e-ISSN

—

Svazek periodika

70

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

September–October 2018

Stát vydavatele periodika

US - Spojené státy americké

Počet stran výsledku

12

Strana od-do

61-72

Kód UT WoS článku

000445511100009

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

2-s2.0-85052535328