Being an only child won’t make you more likely to be selfish

CONTRARY to popular belief, only children are no worse at sharing than those with siblings, a study suggests.

Scientists asked 391 people to take psychological tests to examine how likely they are to share something. They also studied another 99 people to determine whether someone’s generosity altered depending on whether their actions affected somebody close to or far away from them.

Both experiments, published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, found no major differences between only children and those with siblings. The researchers from Shaanxi normal University, China, noted that negative perceptions about only children revolved around the idea that they have less opportunity to learn social behaviours and that excessive parental attention could lead to ‘self-centred behaviour’. But the team said: ‘The stereotype about only children is groundless.’

The researchers also said that as fertility rates drop around the world and only children become more common, it is more vital than ever to combat negative biases.