social and academic consequences of birth order: real, artifactual, or both?

In this study the impact of birth order on the social skills and academic performance of children and adolescents is investigated. Using cross-tabular and multiple regression techniques to analyze data from two nationally representative samples, we find no significant relationship between birth order and academic performance. In contrast, a significant positive relationship between birth order and such social skills as outgoingness, getting along with others, popularity, and ease in making friends is found. In addition, leadership skills appear to be positively related to birth order for males but not for females. The need to control for confounding factors such as number of siblings, a factor that may mask or magnify the effect of birth order, is underscored.