Season of birth contributes to variation in university examination outcomes

Martin Fieder, Hermann Prossinger, Karoline Iber, Katrin Schäfer, Bernard Wallner, Susanne Huber

Publications: Contribution to journalArticlePeer Reviewed

Abstract

Epidemiological studies show that birth season influences a wide range of biological parameters such as growth, reproduction, mental illnesses, dyslexia, personality, and success in school. The present study is aimed at examining birth season's relationship to examination marks achieved at a university in a very large contemporary sample of male and female undergraduate students. We find that female university students born in spring and summer achieve better marks than those born in autumn and winter. Male students born in spring receive worse marks than those born in other seasons of the year. Furthermore, we find a birthweek periodicity in examination results of female students, with highest examination results for those born in May. We suppose that biological mechanisms might explain part of the observed effects. Œ 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)714-717
Number of pages4
JournalAmerican Journal of Human Biology
Volume18
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2006

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 1060 Biology

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