Only Children and Sibling Children in Urban China: A Re-examination

Abstract

Four hundred and ninety-eight only children and 67 sibling children, aged 8 and 10 years of old, residing in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China, were administered a peer assessment measure of social behaviour and a sociometric nomination measure of peer acceptance. Teachers were requested to complete a behavioural rating scale for each participant. Data concerning children's academic achievement, normative school behaviour, and excellent scholarship (honourship) were obtained from the school administrative records. Unlike previous reports (e.g. Jiao, Ji, & Jing, 1986; Tao & Chiu, 1985), the results of the present study indicated that there were nonsignificant differences between only children and sibling children in urban China in the areas of social behaviour, peer relationships, school-related social competence, and academic achievement. The difference in results reported in the present and earlier studies may be the result of social-historical changes in recent years.