Outline of the Fourth Longitudinal Survey of Newborns in the 21st Century

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(7) Children's Characters

Boys were reported to be "dependent", while girls were described as "active".

As for children's characters, many boys were reported to be "dependent" (63.2%) and/or "active" (52.3%), while most girls were described as "active" (54.8%), "strongly opinionated (egocentric)" (51.9%), "independent" (51.3%) and/or "dependent" (50.3%) (Figure 12).

Figure 12 Characters of boys and girls (multiple answers)

[画像:figure]

Notes: 1) The figures are based on the responses to the 4th survey (total replies: 41,557).

2) The total includes the number of samples with "other," "not sure" and "unknown" concerning characters.

The rate of "active" children is higher for those with elder sibling(s), while the rate of "careful in doing things" is higher when children have no elder sibling(s).

The rate of "dependent" is higher for children with "elder sibling(s) only," and lower with those with "younger sibling(s) only."

As for the characters of children in relation with their sibling composition, the rate of "active" children is higher for those with "elder sibling(s) only" or "both elder and younger sibling(s)," while the rate of "careful in doing things" is higher when children have no elder siblings ("only child" or "younger sibling(s) only"). The rate of "dependent" is higher for children with "elder sibling(s) only," and lower for those with "younger sibling(s) only" (Table 14).

Table 14 Characters of children in relation
with their sibling composition (multiple answers)

(Unit: %)

Boys Girls

Only child Younger
sibling(s)
only Elder
sibling(s)
only Both elder
and younger
siblings Only child Younger
sibling(s)
only Elder
sibling(s)
only Both elder
and younger
siblings

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Quiet 9.4 10.8 6.3 7.4 9.3 9.0 5.4 6.7

Active 49.7 47.6 56.1 53.0 53.6 52.7 56.7 54.6

Friendly 37.9 34.3 36.9 35.0 29.0 27.5 28.0 28.0

Shy 8.7 8.3 8.0 6.6 13.4 13.1 12.1 13.4

Jokey 43.3 44.6 41.7 41.6 32.2 33.2 29.1 29.5

Short-tempered 21.0 18.7 15.2 11.6 20.3 18.9 12.7 11.2

Careful in doing things 21.3 22.9 9.1 10.0 18.7 19.8 6.9 7.3

Do things at his/her own pace 28.8 25.9 27.6 34.2 28.1 25.8 26.9 34.4

Strongly opinionated (egocentric) 38.6 28.8 41.0 32.7 49.8 44.8 57.0 52.9

Timid 12.0 16.8 6.1 7.4 5.8 8.3 2.0 2.2

Unyielding 25.3 20.2 29.8 25.0 31.8 27.8 36.5 34.3

Honest 26.1 28.3 21.4 23.5 23.7 24.6 17.4 19.9

Independent 38.3 35.3 40.1 36.8 49.5 46.8 55.1 49.5

Persistent 17.5 17.9 14.4 15.2 14.0 14.7 10.3 10.7

Curious 44.2 41.5 41.6 37.8 43.7 39.9 37.8 32.9

Fickle 21.2 21.8 9.3 10.4 23.3 22.4 9.4 10.8

Restless 34.3 33.7 21.4 23.2 25.4 23.9 13.2 16.8

Bashful 32.6 36.2 29.4 32.2 35.0 37.9 33.4 34.5

Dependent 63.6 56.0 67.4 60.7 51.8 43.4 53.4 49.1

Easygoing 8.7 11.3 5.9 10.1 7.9 9.5 4.7 8.2

Impatient 8.8 7.4 4.2 4.2 8.1 7.7 4.1 3.8

Other 4.4 5.0 2.9 5.1 4.5 5.2 2.8 6.3

Not sure 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.5 1.1 1.4

Notes: 1) The figures are based on the responses to the 4th survey (total replies: 41,557).

2) The total includes the number of samples with "unknown" for each item.

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