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No evidence that siblings’ gender affects personality across nine countries

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Dudek
  • Anne Ardila Brenøe
  • Jan Feld
  • Julia M. Rohrer

Abstract

Does growing up with a sister rather than a brother affect personality? In this paper, we provide 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). We investigated the personality traits risk tolerance, trust, patience, locus of control, and the Big Five. We 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, our results suggest that siblings’ gender does not systematically affect personality.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Dudek & Anne Ardila Brenøe & Jan Feld & Julia M. Rohrer, 2022. "No evidence that siblings’ gender affects personality across nine countries," ECON - Working Papers 408, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    • Handle: RePEc:zur:econwp:408
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    1. Lena Detlefsen & Andreas Friedl & Katharina Lima Miranda & Ulrich Schmidt & Matthias Sutter, 2024. "Are economic preferences shaped by the family context? The relation of birth order and siblings’ gender composition to economic preferences," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 69(1), pages 1-31, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Personality; economic preferences; sibling gender; sibling sex;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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