Fraternal Birth Order, Maternal Immune Reactions, and Homosexuality in Men

2000 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-159
Author(s):  
Ray Blanchard
Keyword(s):  
Birth Order ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Immune Reactions ◽  
Adult Behavior ◽  
Adult Personality ◽  
Fraternal Birth Order ◽  
And Behavior

In my comments on Townsend's detailed critique of Sulloway's (1996) book, I want to make two general points about birth order research. The first is that several authors—including Ernst and Angst (1983), who are extensively quoted by Townsend—have concluded that the effects of birth order on adult personality and behavior are either completely nonexistent or else so negligible as to be useless to science. I agree that the methodology of birth order studies is often flawed, and that many, if not most, of their findings are probably irreproducible. However, an assertion that birth order has no effect on adult behavior would be as extreme in its way as the assertion that birth order's effect on behavior is decisive. My own research demonstrates that a categorical dismissal of any and all birth order effects is not only premature but demonstrably erroneous.

Oral Character and Attitudes and Behavior Related to Food and Eating

1988 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon K. Mills ◽  
Jean Cunningham
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Female College Students ◽  
Adult Personality ◽  
Adult Body ◽  
Adult Body Weight ◽  
Projective Measure ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Attitudes And Behavior ◽  
Early Developmental

Freudian theory predicts that adult personality characteristics and behavior will reflect unresolved conflicts from early developmental stages. In this study, a card from the Blum's Blacky test was used as a projective measure of oral conflict with 35 male and 61 female college students. The presence of such conflict was significantly associated with deviations from norms for body weight, greater variability in adult body weight, rating food as important, and eating more frequently. However, ratings of preoccupation with food were not significantly related to scores for oral conflict. These findings support predictions from psychoanalytic theory and also point to the continued usefulness of the Blacky test in psychoanalytic research.

Birth order effects on autism symptom domains

2007 ◽  
Vol 150 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abraham Reichenberg ◽  
Christopher Smith ◽  
James Schmeidler ◽  
Jeremy M. Silverman
Keyword(s):  
Birth Order ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Symptom Domains

scholarly journals Family Background and Educational Attainment – Are there Birth Order Effects in Germany?

2015 ◽  
Vol 235 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-60
Author(s):  
Martina Eschelbach
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Life History ◽  
Birth Order ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Family Background ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Equal Opportunities ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Higher Secondary Education ◽  
Life History Study

Summary This paper contributes to the literature on the determinants of children’s human capital by analyzing the effects of birth order in Germany. These effects are typically attributed to sibling rivalry for parental resources. For our analysis we use data collected as part of the German Life History Study on birth cohorts 1946-1977. We find a substantial positive impact of being first born on the probability of completing higher secondary education. Analyzing gender differences, we find stronger effects for boys. Furthermore, birth order effects are more prevailing in small families. The results are discussed against the background of equal opportunities in the German educational system.

scholarly journals The Fraternal Birth-Order Effect as Statistical Artefact: Convergent Evidence from Probability Calculus, Simulated Data, and Multiverse Meta- Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes K Vilsmeier ◽  
Michael Kossmeier ◽  
Martin Voracek ◽  
Ulrich S. Tran
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Birth Order ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Order Effect ◽  
Probability Calculus ◽  
Older Brothers ◽  
Birth Order Effect ◽  
Fraternal Birth Order ◽  
Fraternal Birth Order Effect ◽  
Ratio Variables

For a quarter of a century researchers investigating the origins of sexual orientation have largely ascribed to the fraternal birth order effect (FBOE) as a fact, holding that older brothers increase the odds of homosexual orientation among men through an immunoreactivity process. Here, we triangulate the empirical foundations of the FBOE from three distinct, informative perspectives: First, drawing on basic probability calculus, we deduce mathematically that the body of statistical evidence of the FBOE rests on the false assumptions that effects of family size should be controlled for and that this could be achieved through the use of ratio variables. Second, using a data-simulation approach, we demonstrate that by using ratio variables, researchers are bound to falsely declare corroborating evidence of an excess of older brothers at a rate of up to 100%, and that valid approaches attempting to quantify a potential excess of older brothers among homosexual men must control for the confounding effects of the number of older siblings. And third, we re-examine the empirical evidence of the FBOE by using a novel specification-curve and multiverse approach to meta-analysis. This yielded highly inconsistent and moreover similarly-sized effects across 64 male and 17 female samples (N = 2,778,998), compatible with an excess as well as with a lack of older brothers in both groups, thus, suggesting that almost no variation in the number of older brothers in men is attributable to sexual orientation.

Birth order effects in second-generation alcoholics.

1986 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 495-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
N L Keltner ◽  
C W McIntyre ◽  
R Gee
Keyword(s):  
Birth Order ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Order Effects

scholarly journals One Order Fits All? Birth Order and Education in Immigrant Families

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Arstad Isungset ◽  
Mats Lillehagen ◽  
Elisabeth Ugreninov
Keyword(s):  
Birth Order ◽  
Peer Influence ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Compulsory Education ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Immigrant Parents ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Western Countries

Abstract Birth order causes social inequality between siblings. In Western countries, earlier-born perform better than later-born. In non-Western countries, however, earlier-born generally perform worse than later-born. We use administrative data to compare birth order effects between the native population and Norwegian-born children of immigrants (450,864 individuals nested within 202,191 families). The outcome is based on lower secondary school points—a combined measurement of all marks at the end of compulsory education. We found negative effects of birth order on school points for Norwegian natives. This finding is in line with previous studies from Western countries using measures of educational achievement. Birth order effects amongst Norwegian-born children of immigrant parents vary according to maternal country of origin, with some displaying similar effects as natives and others displaying no birth order effects. These findings are surprising in light of the main theories on birth order, which are universalistic and do not predict group-differences. We argue that the universalistic theories need to be supplemented to account for our findings, and discuss the potential importance of cultural variation in family-related behaviours such as strategic parenting, kindergarten attendance, and peer-influence in high-achieving immigrant groups.

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