1. Only Children

2. G. Stanley Hall Being an only child is a disease in itself.
Overprotected
Overindulged

3. Romeo & Juliet
Alas,
Was Juliet
An Only Child?

4. Happier by the Dozen
Early Industrial Psychologists had 12 children to demonstrate efficiency.
Happily described in 1948 book, Cheaper by the Dozen

5. Lillian Moller Gilbreth

6. Cheaper by the Dozen Three Movies 1950 2003 & 2005
(based on 1948 book)
2003 & 2005
(stories unlike
1948 book)

7. Meta Analyses-Falbo & Polit
Quantitative reviews of literature
Over 100 studies
Difference between onlies and others was small, even if statistically significant.

8. Key Findings
The high achievement of only children was similar to that of children from 2-child families and firstborns.
The achievement of only children was higher than children from 3+ child families.

9. Parent-Child Relations
In terms of,
Expert reports, Parental descriptions of children, & Children’s descriptions of parents
First-time parents: More anxiety ->
Greater vigilance
First-time parents: higher expectations for their children than more experienced parents.

10. Apolo Ohno

11. China’s One-Child Policy
Began over 30 years ago.
Extremely successful in reducing birth rate.
Intended to promote modernization.
Little Emperors

12. I began conducting research in China…..

14. Beijing, 1985

15. Vanessa Fong 2004 Only Hope Teens were pushed by parents to achieve
Teens were supposed to be vanguard of modernization
2007
Ethos
Mismatch between simple values and more complex models parents want for their children

16. Falbo & Poston (1993)

17. Four Provinces in 1990 Province % Urban * Anhui (n=1000) 44%
* Beijing (n=1000)
70%
* Gansu (n=1000)
50%
* Hunan (n=1000)
30%

18. Secondary Analyses Multilevel analysis. Mediation investigated:
Parents’ reports of:
Child getting way
Homework help
Educational expectations

19. Empty Model Used SAS PROC MIXED Random Variable = 200 schools
Fixed Variable = None
ICC =.34

20. Fixed Effects: Birth Order Sibship Size Order of birth,
such as firstborn, middle born, last born.
Sibship Size
Number of siblings in a family,
such as, 0, 1, 2, 3, etc.

21. Model 1: Onlies vs. Others

23. Raw Means-Sibship Size

24. Model 2: Family Characteristics
Parents’ Education
Range:
None to College Degree
Average: Primary -Jr. High Completion
Family Income
Range:
Less than 1000 to
Over 5000 Yuan
Average: 2501 to 3500 Yuan

25. Model 3: Control Variables
Individual
Gender
Grade Level
School
Region
Province
Beijing vs.
Anhui,
Gansu,
Hunan

26. Model 4: Mediators? Child Getting Way Homework Help
Educational Expectations

27. Child Get Way

28. Homework Help

29. Educational Expectations

30. Table. Results of Multilevel Models Predicting School Achievement
Educational Expectations
Level One Variance
Level Two Variance
School-Level Control Variables
Region (Urban)
Province
Beijing (1) vs. Anhui (0)
vs. Hunan (0)
vs. Gansu (0)
Individual-Level Control Variables
Gender (female)
Grade (sixth)
Family Characteristics
Parents’ Education
Family Income
Sibling Effect
One (1) vs. FB, 2C (0)
vs. LB, 2C (0)
vs. FB, 3+C (0)
vs. MB, 3+C (0)
vs. LB, 3+C (0)
Measure
105.55
44.69
2.27***
1.81**
2.40**
4.73***
3.39***
Model 1
101.62
37.47
0.81***
0.09
1.52**
1.43**
1.42
3.22***
2.08**
Model 2
100.68
25.45
1.77*
7.17***
7.16***
9.71***
1.24***
-1.32***
0.75***
0.07
0.68
0.64
0.39
2.16**
0.86
Model 3
2.73***
95.89
24.26
1.94*
7.07***
7.40***
9.52***
1.60***
-1.24***
0.57***
0.00
0.27
0.01
1.53*
0.28
Model 4
Note. Unstandardized regression coefficients presented here. *p < .05; **p < .01; *** p < .0001

31. What’s Next? 2008 Chinese Data Secondary Students College Students
Young Adults