The enduring effects of an individual's birth order have been subject to a long and lively debate in sociology and other disciplines. Recently, in response to Frank J. Sulloway's (1996) Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics, and Creative Lives, interest has increased in the possible effects of birth order on social attitudes. Using quantitative, historical data, Sulloway found that birth order is a better predictor of social attitudes than is gender, class, or race. His novel, evolutionary theory asserts the universal influence of birth order across eras and cultures. We use contemporary data to test Sulloway's contention that firstborn adults are more conservative, supportive of authority, and tough-minded than laterborns. Examining 24 measures of social attitudes from the General Social Survey (GSS), we find no support for these claims, either in terms of significant effects or even the direction of nonsignificant coefficients. An expanded inquiry using all (202) relevant attitudinal items on the GSS yields similar results. In our analysis, variables discounted by Sulloway - gender, race, social class, and family size - are all linked to social attitudes more strongly than is birth order. Our findings suggest that birth-order theories may be better conceptualized in terms of modest effects in limited domains and in specific societies

The enduring effects of an individual's birth order have been subject to a long and lively debate in sociology and other disciplines. Recently, in response to Sulloway's (1996) Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics, and Creative Lives, interest has increased in the possible effects of birth order on social attitudes. Using quantitative, historical data, Sulloway found that birth order is a better predictor of social attitudes than is gender, class, or race. His novel, evolutionary theory asserts the universal influence of birth order across eras and cultures. We use contemporary data to test Sulloway's contention that firstborn adults are more conservative, supportive of authority, and “tough-minded” than laterborns. Examining 24 measures of social attitudes from the General Social Survey (GSS), we find no support for these claims, either in terms of significant effects or even the direction of nonsignificant coefficients. An expanded inquiry using all (202) relevant attitudinal items on the GSS yields similar results. In our analysis, variables discounted by Sulloway—gender, race, social class, and family size—are all linked to social attitudes more strongly than is birth order. Our findings suggest that birth-order theories may be better conceptualized in terms of modest effects in limited domains and in specific societies.

Using the 1996 General Social Survey, the antecedents of feminist self-identification and their link to gender-related social attitudes are explored. Although most sociodemographic variables show either no relationship or a weak relationship with feminist self-identification, there are strong differences across cohorts. Males and females who were young adults during the “second wave “ of feminism (birth years 1936 to 1955) are more likely to identify as feminists than are those younger or older. In addition, the link between feminist self-identification and some social attitudes is cohort specific: Seemingly profeminist positions distinguish self-identified feminists from nonfeminists only among members of the “second-wave” generation. These results reinforce the importance of political generation and suggest increasing heterogeneity in public conceptions of feminism.

Using the 1996 General Social Survey, the antecedents of feminist self-identification and their link to gender-related social attitudes are explored. Although most socio-demographic variables show either no relationship or a weak relationship with feminist self-identification, there are strong differences across cohorts. Males and females who were young adults during the second wave of feminism (birth years 1936 to 1955) are more likely to identify as feminists than are those younger or older. In addition, the link between feminist self-identification and some social attitudes is cohort specific: Seemingly profeminist positions distinguish self-identified feminists from nonfeminists only among members of the second-wave generation. These results reinforce the importance of political generation and suggest increasing heterogeneity in public conceptions of feminism.

We draw on conversation analytic methods and research to explicate the interactional phenomenon of requesting in general and the specific case of requesting participation in survey interviews. Recent work on survey participation has given much attention to leverage-saliency theory, but has not engaged how the key concepts of this theory are exhibited in the actual unfolding interaction of interviewers and potential respondents. We do so using digitally recorded and transcribed calls to recruit participation in the 2004 Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. We describe how potential respondents present interactional environments that are relatively discouraging or encouraging, and how, in response, interviewers may be relatively cautious or presumptive in their requesting actions. We consider how the ability of interviewers to tailor their behavior to their interactional environment can affect whether the introduction reaches the point at which a request to participate is made, the form that this request takes, and the sample person's response. Our analysis contributes to understanding how we might use insights from the analysis of interaction to increase cooperation with requests to participate in surveys.

Women’s opportunities have been profoundly altered over the past century by reductions in the social and structural constraints that limit women’s educational attainment. Do social constraints manifest as a suppressing influence on genetic indicators of potential, and if so, did equalizing opportunity mean equalizing the role of genetics? We address this with three cohort studies: the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS; birth years 1939 to 1940), the Health and Retirement Study, and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health; birth years 1975 to 1982). These studies include a “polygenic score” for educational attainment, providing a novel opportunity to explore this question. We find that within the WLS cohort, the relationship between genetics and educational outcomes is weaker for women than for men. However, as opportunities changed in the 1970s and 1980s, and many middle-aged women went back to school, the relationship between genetic factors and education strengthened for women as they aged. Furthermore, utilizing the HRS and Add Health, we find that as constraints limiting women’s educational attainment declined, gender differences in the relationship between genetics and educational outcomes weakened. We demonstrate that genetic influence must be understood through the lens of historical change, the life course, and social structures like gender.