Relationship Between Birth Order and Participation in Dangerous Sports

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between participation in potentially harmful sports and birth order. A review of the literature revealed that participation in dangerous sport is integrally related not only to birth order but also to the perceptual style of reducing-augmenting. Varsity athletes (N = 127) attending Ivy League universities were selected as subjects to ensure that personal enjoyment rather than financial expediency was influencing team membership. As hypothesized, birth order, rather than family size or socioeconomic background, was significantly related to dangerous sport participation. When the likelihood of dangerous sport participation was examined separately for first-, second-, and third-born males, it was observed that only among third borns was the difference significant. Additional investigation is needed to determine whether first borns avoid dangerous sports or whether later borns seek dangerous, exciting activities.