Relationships of birth order, parent-child relationship, personality, and academic performance

This study investigated the relationships between birth order, personality, academic performance, and parent-child relationship amongst 120 college students from the Klang Valley. The sample constituted of 30 firstborns, 30 middleborns, 30 lastborns, and 30 only children with a mean age of 20.0 years (SD= 1.85). Instruments used in this study were Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) and Parent-Child Relationship Survey (PCRS). Results indicated that participants of different birth orders did not differ significantly in terms of their personality, academic performance and parent-child relationship. Furthermore, this study also found no relationship between parent-child relationship and academic performance. However, extraversion was found to be correlated positively with academic performance. Besides, this study also indicated that parent-child relationship did correlate with children s openness to experience, emotional stability, and conscientiousness. This implies the importance of a match between one s personality trait and field of study, as well as the importance of good parenting practices.