Birth Order Effects on Emotional Maturity and Psychological Hardiness among Adolescents

Adolescence is a tough period in which the individual goes through a number of changes in all facets of development which ultimately force the individual to cope on multiple levels. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) adolescents are those who fall in the age range of 10-19 years.  A healthy transition from childhood to adolescence will depend on how emotionally mature and hardy the individual is.  Also, the birth order in which a child is born into the family destines him/her to certain life experiences which can ultimately influence their personality. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to compare the birth order effects on emotional maturity and psychological hardiness among adolescents. Method: (a) Participants: Data was collected from a total of 263 participants from various districts of Kerala. (b) Materials: The measures used are the Emotional Maturity Scale (Yashvir Singh and Mahesh Bhargava, 2012) and the Singh’s Psychological Hardiness Scale (Arun Kumar Singh, 2008). (c) Analysis: Analysis was done using Kruskal-Wallis H test and Spearman rank order correlation coefficient. (d) Results: There was no significant difference in emotional maturity and psychological hardiness on the basis of birth order. Correlation was seen between emotional maturity and psychological hardiness based on birth order.