*Research Scholar, Dept. of Social Work, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Anand, Gujarat, India
**Assistant Professor, Dept. of Social Work, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat, India
Online published on 9 October, 2014.
The size of the family influences the personality pattern both directly and indirectly. Directly, it determines what role the person will play in the family constellation, what kind of relationship he will have with other family members, and to a large extent, what opportunities he will have to make the most of his native abilities. Indirectly, family size influences the personality pattern through the kind of home climate fostered by families of different sizes and by the attitudes of the most significant members of the family toward the person. Another aspect of the connection between family size and personality is the amount of understanding and empathy found in families of different sizes. In a small family, parents have time to empathize with their children and to communicate with them. In a large family, there is less time, and also, as the number of children increases, the gap between the generations grows wider. This combination of conditions tends to lead to less warmth and less understanding in the large family. According to Freitas (2010) only marginally significant differences were obtained in maternal and paternal child-rearing practices in respect of the only child. Results indicated there were no significant differences on any of the outcome variables (age at coming out to first parent, parental trust, parental solidarity, and influence of parental expectations) between only children and non-only children. However, some differences were found in the order in which family members were told. Only children tended to tell a parent before any other family member significantly more often than did non-only children. (Dittrich, Maria L 2006). In the current study, the researcher examined whether (1)there is a positive differences between the Personality of Only Child and Child with Siblings (2) is there any difference between Parental Support provided to Only Child and Child with Siblings. High School Personality Questionnaire and Parental Support Scale are used to test the relationship. The sample size was 120 parents and 60 only children and 60 children with siblings aged between 12 to 17 years. The researcher found significant difference between parental support and personality development between only child and child with siblings.
Parental Support, Personality, Only Child, Child with Siblings
