Learners’ birth order and their academic performance : An analysis

Biological birth is connected to the natural process of physically bringing forth life, and to what order the person was born into the family. Furthermore, it is related to the phenomena of mental and emotional life. Further, this may relate more meaningfully to the roles that siblings construct or are ascribed rather than to actual birth order. Adler emphasized that every person has a self-perceived place in the family. The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a relationship between birth order and academic performance of the respondents. This study used descriptive – quantitative method of research to analyze data. A total of 163 Grade 10 Junior High School students enrolled during the School Year 2018-2019 participated in the research study. The respondents were divided into four subgroups: a) first born; b) middle born; c) youngest or last born; and d) only child. Materials and instruments used to gather data on this research was the checklist-questionnaire – Psychological Birth Order Inventory (PBOI) developed by Stewart & Campbell, 1998; Stewart, 2012. The results in this study revealed that male and female respondents who perceived their birth order as Pleaser/Organizer (First Born), Neglected/Rejected (Middle Born), and Charmer/Initiator (Last born) are more likely to be academically motivated. Among the l birth order classifications, respondents who perceived themselves as only children are less likely to be academically motivated in school. Moreover, respondents who perceived that their Birth Order is Pleaser/Organizer and Neglected/Rejected are more likely to have higher academic performance.