Zhenya is an only child. People often tell her parents that if they do not give Zhenya a sibling, she will grow up to be selfish, poorly adjusted, and somehow deficient in stable personality characteristics. Based on what you know about birth order and personality, is this likely to be true?
What will be an ideal response?
A good answer would include the following key points:
- No.
- Although many people believe that children without siblings are selfish and poorly adjusted, research evidence does not support this conclusion.
- A meta-analysis found no differences between only children and children with siblings on a variety of traits.
- These include leadership, maturity, cooperativeness, autonomy, self-control, anxiety, popularity with peers, and extraversion.
- Given that these traits encompass a wide range of personality dimensions, it is reasonable to conclude that Zhenya's overall personality makeup would not deviate from that of other people merely because she had no siblings.
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Indicate whether the statement is true or false