THE RELATION OF CERTAIN FAMILY CONSTELLATION CHARACTERISTICS AND THE ATTITUDES OF CHILDREN TOWARD ADULTS1

Abstract

PROBLEM AND PROCEDURES The present study is a segment of a larger one dealing chiefly with the effect of sibling characteristics upon certain attitudes and generalized behaviors of young children. The investigation was motivated by the belief that not enough formal attention has been paid to the influence various sibling characteristics tend to have on children. The independent variables upon which the present report focusses are sex of child subject, sex of sibling, ordinal position of child in his sibship, absolute difference in age between the child and his sibling. The set of dependent variables dealt with are the following attitudes of the child chiefly toward adults: friendliness to adults, affectionateness (to adults and children), degree to which adult sympathy and approval motivate, tendency to bid for adult attention and for help, tendency to tattle, obedience, and resistance (to adults and children). The subjects of the study were 384 five- and six-year-old children from white, native-born, urban, intact, two-children families. The children were the biological offspring of both of the parents with whom they lived-i.e., no adopted or stepchildren were included in the study. Although usually only one member of a pair of sibs was studied, it was a condition of selection that both sibs should be free from gross physical and mental defect. Half of the group were boys; half, girls. The population was composed

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