Prof Daisy I. Dimkpa & Dr Lydia A. Wilcox
Abstract
It is the thinking of the authors that while academic attainment is influenced by a variety of factors, certain difficulties connected to birth order are likely to have an impact on children’s overall performance, owing to beliefs held by Nigerian mothers. They may get pushy with their firstborn at times, emphasizing the importance of their studying harder than others and setting a good example for the younger children in the family. This article discusses the relationship between birth order and academic attainment, noting that, aside from religious implications, it also has cultural relevance in child rearing and, as a result, the well-being of siblings. This research goes on to analyze the cultural attributions to birth order. It highlights the importance mothers attach to ensuring that their firstborn children live up to customary standards. Counselling therapy such as the Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy was suggested, among others, to help mothers overcome irrational beliefs about birth order and educational attainment which do not have any scientific bases.