NCJ Number
204601
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 33 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2004 Pages: 149-157
Date Published
April 2004
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study examined the impact of birth order on the intergenerational transmission of parental attitudes to adolescent sons in Israel.
Abstract
Although numerous studies have examined both the impact of birth order on human development and process of intergenerational transmission of attitudes, no studies have put the two together to examine the effect of birth order on intergenerational transmission of attitudes. As such, the author distributed questionnaires to 98 boys who were attending various extracurricular classes at a local community center in 6 locations in Israel. Questionnaires included measures for key issues of concern in Israeli society: gender role attitudes, attitudes toward ethnic groups, and attitudes toward immigrants, including empathy and disposition toward contact. Additionally, interviews with parents were conducted that probed similar attitudes. Results of Pearson correlations, MANOVA, and ANOVA analyses revealed that birth order did indeed impact the intergenerational transmission of attitudes from parents to adolescents; however, the nature of the impact differed between mothers and fathers. The correlation between fathers’ attitudes and sons’ attitudes was most significant for firstborns, with decreasing impact according to birth order. The opposition correlation was noted for the attitude transmission of mothers; the impact was greatest for the last born. Other findings indicated that first born sons were more willing to approach immigrants than middle or younger sons. No impact of birth order was found for the transmission of gender role attitudes or ethnic stereotypes. Finally, when compared with other family members, mothers expressed the most liberal gender role attitudes and children expressed the least stereotyped attitudes toward ethnic groups. Thus, in general, the intensity of the transmission of parental attitudes to adolescent sons was affected by the parent’s gender. To gain more knowledge about this issue, additional factors at play in the family environment should be examined, including the impact of the number of children and children’s gender on the transmission of parental attitudes. One limitation of the study is its reliance on a sample of boys only, making generalizations to girls problematic. Tables, references