Birth Order and Self-concept: Their Relationship to Reading Achievement

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a statistically significant relationship between students’ birth order and reading achievement, self-concept and reading achievement, and their birth order and self-concept. Research has shown that educational achievement was influenced by birth order, and that birth order affected self-concept. A sample population of seventy-two subjects was used for this study. Subjects answered questions about their birth order and completed a self-concept scale. Their reading achievement score was taken from each subject’s permanent folder. The Chi-Square Test of Independence was used to determine if the relationship between each set of variables was statistically significant. The Chi-Square Test of Independence showed that the relationships between birth order and reading achievement, and self-concept and reading achievement were not statistically significant. The variables of birth order and self-concept were found to be statistically significant.