Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T21:26:45.748Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Sibling and family environment correlates of children's achievement: ethnic group differences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Kevin Marjoribanks
Affiliation:
University of Adelaide, Australia

Summary

Regression surface analysis was used to examine relationships between sibling variables and measures of cognitive performance at different levels of family environment measures, for children from different Australian ethnic groups. Included in the sample were 460 Anglo-Australian, 170 Greek, and 120 Southern Italian families. Each family had an 11-year-old child and interviews with parents related to those children. There were no associations between the sibling variables and intellectual ability scores. For word-test scores the findings provided some tentative support for an admixture explanation of sibling correlates of children's cognitive performance. Generally, the study revealed that at different levels of family environment dimensions, sibling variables had few associations with various cognitive measures for children from different ethnic groups.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anastasi, A. (1956) Intelligence and family size. Psychol. Bull. 53, 187.Google Scholar
Armor, D.J. (1974) Theta reliability and factor scaling. In: Sociological Methodology, 1973–1974, p. 17. Edited by Costner., H. L.Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Glass, D.C., Neulinger, J. & Brim, O.G. (1974) Birth order, verbal intelligence, and educational aspiration. Child Dev. 45, 807.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kish, L. (1965) Survey Sampling. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Kunz, P.R. & Peterson, E.T. (1973) Family size and academic achievement of persons enrolled in high school and the university. Social Biol. 20, 454.Google Scholar
Kunz, P.R. & Peterson, E.T. (1977) Family size, birth order and academic achievement. Social Biol. 24, 144.Google Scholar
Marjoribanks, K. (1979) Families and their Learning Environments. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
Marjoribanks, K. (1980) Ethnic Families and Children's Achievements. Allen & Unwin, London.Google Scholar
Marjoribanks, K., Walberg, H.J. & Bargen, M. (1975) Mental abilities: sibling constellation and social class correlates. Br. J. soc. din. Psychol. 14, 109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mascie-Taylor, C.G.N. (1980) Family size, birth order and IQ components: a survey of a Cambridge suburb. J. biosoc. Sci. 12, 309.Google Scholar
Merton, R.K. (1968) Social Theory and Social Structure. Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Merton, R.K. (1976) Sociological Ambivalence and other Essays. Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Nisbet, J.D. & Entwistle, N.J. (1967) Intelligence and family size. Br.J. educ. Psychol. 37, 188.Google Scholar
Page, E.B. & Grandon, G.M. (1979) Family configuration and mental ability: two theories contrasted with U.S. data. Am. J. educ. Res. 16, 257.Google Scholar
Parsons, T. (1951) The Social System. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
Ross, K.N. (1976) Searching for Uncertainty. Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Steelman, L.C. & Mercy, J.A. (1980) Unconfounding the confluence model: a test of sibship size and birth-order effects on intelligence. Am. social. Rev. 45, 571.Google Scholar
Strodtbeck, F.L. (1961) Family interaction, values and achievement. In: Education, Economy, and Society, p. 315. Edited by Halsey, A. H., Floud, J., & Anderson, C. A.. Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Velandia, W., Grandon, G.M. & Page, E.B. (1978) Family size, birth order, and intelligence in a large South American sample. Am. J. educ. Res. 15. 399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar