Veenhoven R, Verkuyten M
Social Science Faculty, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Adolescence. 1989 Spring;24(93):155-66.
Being an only child is generally considered to be a disadvantage. Absence of siblings is thought to involve the deprivation of critical learning experiences, while the exclusive attention of parents is said to result in overindulgence and overprotection. According to such beliefs, only children develop into selfish, maladjusted and unhappy adults. Various empirical studies have contradicted these beliefs, at least where American adults are concerned. The present study considers adolescent singletons in the Netherlands. It examines the related claims that only children have a less happy youth because they are pressed into adult thinking and behavior too early and that they stand out as "little eggheads"--good at school, but not very sportsmanlike, and unpopular among their peers. Data were gathered by means of questionnaires administered to 2,511 secondary schoolchildren. The only children in this sample neither appeared to be less happy nor was their global self-esteem any lower. The "little egghead" hypothesis was only partly confirmed. Only children feel themselves to be less proficient in sports. However, they do not consider themselves better in school or less popular among peers.
独生子女通常被认为是一种劣势。没有兄弟姐妹被认为意味着缺乏关键的学习经历，而父母的独占关注则据说会导致过度纵容和过度保护。根据这些观念，独生子女会成长为自私、适应不良且不快乐的成年人。各种实证研究反驳了这些观念，至少就美国成年人而言是如此。本研究关注荷兰的青少年独生子女。它考察了相关说法，即独生子女的青春时光不那么快乐，因为他们过早被迫接受成人的思维和行为方式，而且他们作为“小书呆子”显得与众不同——在学校成绩好，但不太有体育精神，在同龄人中也不受欢迎。数据是通过对2511名中学生进行问卷调查收集的。该样本中的独生子女似乎既没有不那么快乐，他们的总体自尊水平也没有更低。“小书呆子”假说仅得到部分证实。独生子女觉得自己在体育方面不太擅长。然而，他们并不认为自己在学校表现更好，也不认为自己在同龄人中不受欢迎。
