No evidence that siblings’ gender affects personality across nine countries
Abstract
Does growing up with a sister rather than a brother affect personality? In this seminar, Dr Jan Feld from the Victoria University of Wellington provides a comprehensive analysis of the effects of siblings’ gender on adults’ personality, using data from 85,887 people from 12 large representative surveys covering 9 countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Mexico, China, and Indonesia).
Dr Feld investigated the personality traits risk tolerance, trust, patience, locus of control, and the Big Five. Dr Feld found no meaningful causal effects of the gender of the next younger sibling, and no associations with the gender of the next older sibling. Based on high statistical power and consistent results in the overall sample and relevant subsamples, results suggest that siblings’ gender does not systematically affect personality.
About the presenter's visit
Dr Jan Feld will be available to have one-on-one Zoom meetings with faculty and PhD students at these times:
- Thursday 3rd March, from 12 noon to 14 pm (AEST)
- Friday 4th March, from 10 am to 12 noon (AEST)
If you would like to meet with Dr Feld please contact Dr Andrea la Nauze who will be his host at The University of Queensland. Dr La Nauze can be contacted on a.lanauze@uq.edu.au
About Applied Economics Seminar Series
A seminar series designed specifically for applied economics researchers to network and collaborate.