The values of only-children: Power and benevolence in the spotlight
The stereotype that only-children are more self-centered than others has gained little support from studies on personality traits but had not been previously tested with respect to personal values, which are also an important part of personality. Data from 3085 Australian adults revealed that only-children give more importance to power values and less importance to benevolence values than individuals with siblings. These differences, which are consistent with the stereotype, were strongest in young people but diminished gradually with age and disappeared in those over 62 years old. The results challenge the view that personality is largely unaffected by shared life-experiences associated with family structure, at least regarding the values aspect of personality.
| Item Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Copyright holders | Funding Information: Data collection was funded by grant LP150100434 from the Australian Research Council to the last author. We thank the grant lead investigator, Julie Lee, for compiling the data for our use. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Inc. |
| Departments | LSE > Academic Departments > Psychological and Behavioural Science |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.jrp.2021.104096 |
| Date Deposited | 07 May 2024 |
| URI | https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/122976 |