Family Size: Implicit Policies and Assumed Psychological Outcomes

Abstract

The recommended increase in the number of zero‐ and one‐child families proposed as one means of reducing average family size in the United States does not satisfactorily confront such issues as cultural proscriptions concerning the only child, nor offer evidence that the types of families that would result are those in which positive psychological characteristics are most likely to emerge. The literature surveyed suggests that a negative stereotype concerning the only child does persist, but that the psychological characteristics assumed for the only child have not been reliably demonstrated. Neither is there irrefutable evidence concerning psychological characteristics associated with other family sizes and ordinal positions. Family size recommendations should reflect a greater understanding of the opposition to the only child and should be paralleled by intensive research activity directed at developing a more comprehensive body of knowledge concerning the psychological outcomes for children, adults, and the society which might be anticipated.

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