Birth order : investigating it's effects on personality, empathy, achievement and perceived academic performance

Authors

Gordon, Jennifer

Issue Date

2012

Degree

BA (Hons) in Psychology

Publisher

Dublin Business School

Rights

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Abstract

Order of birth was first most notably used by Alfred Adler as a basis for predicting the characteristic behaviour of individuals. The current study aims to extend this stream of research by exploring links between birth order and associated psychological variables; achievement, personality, empathy, and perceived academic performance. This study utilised a convenience sample of students at Dublin Business School. A battery of measures including the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Multi-dimensional Emotional Empathy Scale, Perceived Academic Performance Scale, and Achievement scale were used. Analysis of the data concluded that no difference was found to exist between birth order and the investigated variables; however a clear significant correlation was found to exist between Need for Achievement and Perceived Academic Performance. Author keywords: Birth order, personality, empathy, achievement

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