6

The Mennonite Quarterly Review

Number of ChildrenNumber of FamiliesPercentage of Total
Defecting Per FamilyNumber of Families
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0195883
11557
2944
3783
4+803

TOTAL2365100

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Table 3 depicts the impact of birth position on defection. Although
defection is not clearly linked with any single sibling position, older
siblings are more likely to defect than are those in younger positions. A
child is more likely to defect if he or she is in one of the first three

positions and less likely to do so if positioned later in the family.¹⁷
The table also suggests that in each successive position after the second,
the number of persons defecting decreases and the number of siblings
who have also defected decreases.

Table 3. BIRTH POSITION AND THE DEFECTION OF OTHER
SIBLINGS^a
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Number DefectingNumber of SibsNo Sibs
in Each BirthDefecting Defecting
Position
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1703832
2805723
3725220
452457
543421
639318
725250
820182
916151



17_{. Although the emphasis here is on siblings, parental attitudes have a significant}
impact upon a child's decision to remain Amish. Unfortunately, data are not readily
available to test the impact of parental influence.