12/01/13 11:25 AM

China's one-child policy creating pessimistic

adults: study
Press Trust of India / Beijing January 11, 2013 16:35 IST

China's "little emperors" - kids born under the controversial one-child norm are
less competitive, more risk-averse and significantly more pessimistic than
those born before the policy was implemented in 1979, a new study has
claimed.
While concerns about the "one child" practice in China, the world's most
populous nation, have been expressed before, Australian researchers have
now presented proof that these worries may not be totally unfounded.
"We found that people born under the one-child policy were significantly less
trusting and less trustworthy, significantly less likely to take risks and less
competitive than those who were born before," lead author of the study
Professor Lisa Cameron, from Monash University in Victoria, told the BBC's
Science in Action programme.
"We also conducted personality surveys and we found that those born under
the one-child policy were less conscientious, slightly more neurotic and
significantly more pessimistic than those born before," Cameron said.
Researchers said the one-child policy has significant ramifications for ageing
Chinese society, leading to less risk-taking in the labour market and possibly
fewer entrepreneurs.
China's population-control policy was introduced in 1979, and it restricts
couples in urban areas to have only one child.
The study compared people who were born just before the policy was
introduced with those born after.
They used economic games and surveys to assess behavioural and
personality traits of 421 adults, half born a few years before the policy was
introduced and the other half were born a few years after.
"In China, there is a very common belief that the one-child generation is spoilt
and selfish and they are not hardworking, even though it is a common belief,
no-one has ever tested this thing, or given hard evidence - and that is why we
decided to study this," said Professor Xin Meng, from the Australian National
University in Canberra.
She said that China was currently reconsidering its policy, and she hoped the
results of the study would be taken into account.
The team added that the one-child policy was not strictly enforced throughout
the country, so the results should not be applied to everyone in China.
Professor Stuart West, from the University of Oxford, said that the team was
making a very strong claim and the differences between the two groups might
not be solely down to the policy.
The new study was published in journal Science.

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