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For centuries, it has been disputed among social psychologists all over the world as to whether or not birth order has any influence on one’s personal characteristics. Theorists such as Alfred Adler and Frank Sulloway have provided extensive amounts of research and evidence suggesting that the order of one’s birth within the family does in fact have a profound and lifelong effect on individuals, influencing numerous aspects of live including personality, intelligence, and relationships. Alfred Adler was the first theorist to propose the idea that an individual’s birth order has an effect on various traits. He based his theory on the psychological findings of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, further developing their ideas on how the human mind functions. In the book “Born to Rebel”, author Frank Sulloway explains in depth how birth order has a lasting effect on individuals, and furthermore, has an impact on what is called the “Big Five” personality traits which are attributed to all humans. Sulloway argued that the personality traits which people possess are directly correlated to the order of their birth in their family. The “Big Five” of psychology traits include openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism- all of which can be present on either side of the spectrum. For example, in regards to neuroticism, first born children are more likely to portray unstable characteristics as opposed to their younger siblings who may possess qualities reflecting a more stable personality. At the same time, Sulloway’s theory suggests that when dealing with the factor of openness to experience, the youngest children of families tend to seek more adventure and overall risks in all facets of life. In “Born to Rebel”, S... ... middle of paper ... ...ore and more parents are finding ways to counter the negative effects associated with the different birth orders. Works Cited "Birth Order." Child Development Institute. 2002. 05 Apr. 2009 . DeBroff, Stacy. "What are the effects of "middle child syndrome"?" MSNBC. 14 Aug. 2006. 06 Apr. 2009 . Esping, Amber. "Human Intelligence: Does Birth Order Affect Intelligence?" Indiana University. Fall 2004. 06 Apr. 2009 . Haines, Cynthia. "Birth Order and Personality." Medicine Net. Feb. 2006. 05 Apr. 2009 . Kluger, Jeffrey. "The Power of Birth Order." TIME. 06 Apr. 2009 .
Being the middle child can be very difficult. Molly is going to learn that she is loved, wanted and can do many fun interesting things that her brothers might not be able to do. Her self-esteem will grow as she grows and the bond between herself and brothers will grow. Adler’s theory gives us much insight into birth order of children and adults and helps in developing the treatments that are needed to help them grow as individuals.
Without the results of studies done on the birth order, by people like Jeffery Kluger, the power of birth order would remain a mystery to us and we would not have as deep of an understanding of siblings. While there is still much about the workings of oldest, youngest, and middle children that we have not yet discovered, the studies conducted on birth order so far have enlightened many parents on how their children’s relationships work. However, while scientists have unraveled many mysteries about the birth order, the constant variables presented to scientists as they study the birth order does hinder the progress of their research, but there is always a hope that someday scientists will be able to completely understand the impact and function of the birth order in sibling’s
Birth order is a key element in gaining an understanding of one's self as well as other people. Through birth order placement, one develops a behavior pattern as well as ways of thinking and emotional responses. This effects all aspects of living such as, expectations, mental weaknesses, marriage, and spirituality. Understanding the birth order characteristics is a simple method in determining how and what makes another individual "tick."
“Most people have an intuitive knowledge that birth order somehow has an impact on development, but they underestimate how far reaching and just how significant that impact is.” Birth order describes not only what order a child is born into a family but also has an effect on an individual's personality, social skills, and success in life. If you are a first born child, does that mean you are a perfectionist, tend to be a natural leader, and are more successful than your younger siblings? Does being born last make you less able to compete in life?
The study of birth order began over a century ago with Sir Francis Galton. A nineteenth century British anthropologist, geographer and statistician--- who believed that human species was ultimately improvable. In his research, he concluded that first born and only born children become well known scientists (Kluger, 2011). His findings resulted from the the fact that the nation still followed Primogeniture, when the first born son inherits the family’s fortunes. In today’s society, several families still put most, or all of, their first born son on a pedestal compared to their other children. Shortly after Galton’s discovery, Alfred Alder and Frank Sulloway came along and decided to take a deeper look into the relationship between a child’s birth order and their personality.
There is a big controversy between whether inherited genes or the environment influences and affect our personality, development, behavior, intelligence and ability. This controversy is most often recognized as the nature verses nurture conflict. Some people believe that it is strictly genes that affect our ways of life, others believe that it is the environment that affects us, and some believe that both of these influence us. A wide variety of characteristics have been considered in such debates, including personality, sexual orientation, gender identity, political orientation, intelligence, and propensity for violence or criminality (Wright, 1998).
Throughout the text "That Elusive Birth Order and What it Means for You," Susan Whitbourne displays her true feelings about birth order and how it affects children and adults alike. By dismissing and questioning the psychological studies done on birth order, it is clear how she approaches the subject. Whitboune even considers these theories "myths both in your family and in psychology as a whole" (LL 1). Although she feels these studies are untrustworthy, Whitbourne still analyzes two studies performed in 2012. Most of the text is conveying information from the studies, but Whitbourne does provide personal opinions throughout.
For every child born there is a different set of characteristics set for them. First borns tend to be the leaders of the family. They are the ones that turn out to be newscasters or presidents (Neal,1). They are well organized, scholarly, and usually perfectionists (leman,27). Also, parents tend to favor the first born over the others because of their achievements and hardworking attitude (Vowels,1). The first and second child will become complete opposites (Vowles,1) A second child is the trouble maker of the family. They feel less important than the rest of the children (Neal,1). They have strong relationships with their friends because they feel they cannot share things with their family members and are not valued in the family (kelger,). Second children help avoid conflict and keep the family members out of fights (Leman,28). They are expected to live up to the oldest which to have self esteem issues and makes it hard for them to open up to anyone (Kluger). This child has the most varied char...
Adler’s theory of birth order shows how parents change through raising children and gives reason to consistent parenting.
As I said, I do not believe birth order has very much to do with the personality of a person. If a last child grows up penniless and has a lousy home life, he will not act like a last child who has a rich family and a marvelous suburban home. However, multiple of the things that many people said about how birth order affects the personality do describe me. The one that relates to me the greatest is definitely the fact that I am easy going. I never really let anything get too serious and I let things go once they are in the past. Also as Jocelyn Voo claims the middle child is very social, I would have to agree with her. I would rather be out with my pals having a wonderful time than be stuck at home doing nothing. Another quality that describes be excellently is the middle child takes pleasure in having a great time. If there is chance I can have good time, I will take that chance and expect for the best.
When an infant is born determines in large part the emotions of his or her parents and relatives. Moreover, whether or not the infant is the first child, has older siblings, or is the youngest child to be born to the family impacts the environment he or she is to grow up in. These three different scenarios are descriptive of birth order. A persons rank by age among his or her siblings is called birth order (Sulloway, 2001). Birth order thus determines the environment into which a child is born and the responsive and adaptive responses of the child. This cycle of interaction extends all the way up to adulthood (Stewart, Stewart, & Campbell, 2001). Thus, one can reasonably infer that birth order determines the relatively constant pattern of personality observed in individuals. Birth order therefore significantly affects the personality of the individual.
‘Birth order theory can help explain why children raised in the same family environment with a strong genetic relationship can have such different personalities’ (Drysdale, 2011). The birth order theory says that ‘first-borns are leaders, the drivers and the responsible type. They love to feel in control and feel uncomfortable with surprises or feeling out of their depth. They are conservative in their outlook’ (Grose, 2013). The personality theory says that last-borns are majorly different to first-borns in their characteristics and traits. It states that last-borns are ‘the
The patterns of birth order have been seen for centuries, although it was not studied exclusively until around the 1980s. There are many factors that play into a persons personality, such as their genetics, the way they are raised, and their environment. Birth order looks at a persons place in their family—if they are the oldest, middle, or youngest child—and provides commonalities between them and others in the same location in other families. While there are many variations, the general traits do apply. Research shows that the first born is typically a leader in the family and in other areas of life. The youngest child is usually light hearted and social. The one that is hardest to put a type to is the middle child. He or she will frequently try to blaze their own path, straying from the one that their older sibling made. I believe that birth order plays a part in a person’s personality, but that the way they were raised is also a very important variable. A child’s birth order, along with the way they were raised, is a major factor in the way they interact within their family and other groups.
Gross, Dr. Gail. “The Achiever, the Peacemaker, and the Life of the Party: How Birth Order Affects Personality”. Huffingtonpost. 2014. Web. 30 April 2014.
The level of genetic influences on a person’s behavior is called the heritability of the behavior. Based on previous research intelligence as measured by IQ scores is thought to be attributed mostly to genetic influences. However it has been suggested by several researchers that genetic influences are moderated by the environment a person grows up in. There have been several studies that have explored the effects of environmental effects on heritability. However these studies have been methodologically limited because they did not have a large enough sample size or they did not measure the zygosity of the twins they use. Other studies measured change in heritability across different birth cohorts. However these studies might have been influenced by the different circumstances that might have been present during the different time periods these people lived in.