Same-Sex Dyads and Toman's Theory of Birth-Order Compatibility

Toman ( 1962, 1969) has offered evidence that opposite-sex relationships exhibit interpersonal stability to the degree that dyad members are compatible for birth order. Birth-order compatibility means the absence of (a) rank conflict, e.g., older brother of sisters marrying an older sister of brothers, and ( b ) sex conflict, e.g., older brother of brothers marrying a younger sister of siscers. The present research extended Toman's theory to relationships between dyad members of the same sex. Toman's theory should predict that those dyads exhibiting least interpersonal conflict would be those in which members' birthorders reflected sibling relations of the same sex and were appropriately matched for rank. The oldest sister of sisters, for instance, would be expected to get along better with the youngest sister of siscers (no rank or sex conflict) than with the older sister of brothers (rank and sex conflict). Pairs of dormitory roommates (50 pairs of females, 27 pairs of males) at Vassar College indicated ( a ) their familial birth-order relations and ( b ) the degree of interpersonal conflict experienced with their roommates. Conflict was defined as the degree of controversy, disagreement, and argumentativeness among roommates; it was operationalized on a 5-point scale, with 1 representing conflicc and 5 representing much Each pair was then classified as (1) compatible or incompatible for birth order (presence of rank and/or sex conflict) and ( 2 ) experiencing high interpersonal conflict (scale value of 3 or higher) or low interpersonal conflict (2.9 or below). Twelve pairs exhibited high interpersonal conflict and conflicting birthorders; 20 pairs, low interpersonal conflict, conflicting birth orders; six pairs, high interpersonal conflict, no birth-order conflict; 39 pairs, low interpersonal conflict and no birth-order conflict. A test for independence yielded significant results (x2 = 4.82, df = 1, p < .05). The findings offer some support of the applicability of Toman's theory to dyadic relations with members of the same sex

Birth order · Compatibility (geochemistry · Developmental psychology · Sociology · Clinical Psychology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Psychology