Relationship of Birth Order to Selected Personality Characteristics of Nationally Ranked Olympic Weight Lifters

Abstract

Birth order was investigated to determine its interrelationship with other personality variables in questionnaire form: trait anxiety, locus of control, and need for achievement in a special sample of 20 national calibre Olympic weight lifters. More were firstborn (65%) than later born (35%). One-way analysis of variance showed that later-born lifters were significantly more internal than firstborn lifters in their locus of control beliefs. Firstborn lifters demonstrated a significantly greater need for achievement. All weight lifters, whether firstborns or later borns, scored relatively low on trait anxiety. The results were discussed in support of the trait approach as viable in research on personality for sport psychologists when relevant traits or states are studied according to specific task demands of sports.