More handpicked essays just for you.
The impact of birth order on personality development
The impact of birth order on personality development
The impact of birth order on personality development
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
“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? First born children often possess personality traits such as being conscientious, very organized, and goal oriented which causes them to be very successful in life. Often times, the first born child is extremely driven with perfectionistic tendencies which enable them to achieve their life goals and expectations. To illustrate this point, we need to look no further than the following statistic. Sixty-four percent of the United States presidents have been first borns or functional first borns, which is a term based on how many years there are between them and their next closest sibling in age. This statistic about first born presidents compares to only five presidents who were the babies of their families. Most presidents display the majority of the characteristics described previously as well as being natural born leaders, scholarly, and critical. There are many other areas and careers where first borns have been more successful than their younger siblings. Some examples include Lee Iacocca who was a CEO, Mia Farrow who is an actress, and Cal Ripken who is a Hall of Fame baseball player. Birth order affects social skills and relationships as well. Unlike the ... ... middle of paper ... ...0. Web. 17 Feb. 2012. Pawlik-Kienlen, Laurie. "How Birth Order Changes Your Life - Family aaaaaPsych."Suite101.com. Suite101 Media Inc., 1 Nov. 2007. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. Pickhardt, Carl. "The Adolescent Only Child | Psychology Today." Psychology Today: aaaaaHealth, Help, Happiness + Find a Therapist. 19 July 2009. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. Richardson, Ronald W., and Lois A. Richardson. Birth Order and You: How Your Sex and Position in the Family Affects Your Personality and Relationships. North Vancouver, B.C.: Self-Counsel, 1990. Toler, Sarah. "Understanding The Birth Order Relationship." Women's Health Issues. Lifescript, 18 Oct. 2007. Web. 17 Feb. 2012. aaaaa Zupek, Rachel. "Can Birth Order Determine Your Career? - CNN.com." CNN.com International - Breaking, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment and Video News. 22 Oct. 2008. Web. 30 Jan. 2012.
Erikson, E. H. Late adolescence (1959). In S Schlein (Ed.), A way of looking at things (pp.
Pickhardt, Carl. “Surviving (Your Child’s) Adolescence: Risk Prevention in Adolescence.” Psychology Today. Psychology Today, 27 Dec. 2009. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
There are many theories about how an individuals’ personality develop or how different characteristics and traits are formed in people. Psychiatrist Alfred Adler was the first person to suggest that the order a person was born in had a profound effect on the development of his/her personality. He called his idea the Birth Order Theory. Adler’s work on this theory cover the oldest child, commonly referred to as the first-born, as well as, the middle, youngest, and only children. The work of other experts in the field have expanded on his theory to include multiplies (twins, triplets, etc.), step-siblings, siblings with disabilities, and siblings with more than a five years gap. So according to the Birth Order Theory, how does a person’s order of birth contribute to their personality, and what are the commonly shared characteristics in each birth position? Are there other factors that can contribute or influence an individual’s personality development in relation to the Birth Order Theory that needs to be considered? If so, than how accurate is the theory really? I will attempt to answer these question.
‘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
Oakley, Ann. “Beyond The Yellow Wallpaper.” Reproductive Health Matters 5.10 (1997): 29-39. JSTOR. Web. 7 April 2011.
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.
Lowdermilk, D. L., Perry, S., Cashion, K., & Alden, K. R. (2012). Maternity & women's health care (10th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Since I am interested in birth order, and the differences between my brother and I, I chose to read an article entitled What Parents Learn From Experience: The First Child as a First Draft? Shawn D. Whiteman wrote this article, with corresponding research by Susan M. McHale, and Ann C. Crouter. This particular article explains the differences in parenting between two children within the same family that are about two years apart in age. The words describe what many parents learn the first time around with their first-born child, and how their parenting styles change with the second child. Parents tend to be more easy going with the second child, and therefore discipline is seen less towards the younger child compared to the older child. Also, this article explains that most parents are less worried about the older child when they are out of the house, compared to the younger child one. Younger children tend to be checked up on more then the older kids, but older children tend to have less opportunities then the younger ones do.
...ement motivation has nothing to do with birth order, and others say otherwise. Few studies show how the birth order does not affect the achievement motivation in individuals (Toni Falbo 1981, Healey and Ellis 2007, Reese, Averett and Argys 2008, Srivastava 2011). What careers do each of these groups most commonly pursue? First borns since they are considered the very intellectual ones they tend to go for high professional careers. For the middle- borns and the babies of the family, with their risk-taking, and laid back personalities they go for artistic careers (Brooks 1984, and USA Today 2002). This once again comes down to the influence parents put on their children, they put a heavy load on first borns on getting a really good career, but the time later borns are choosing their career paths they have eased up and allow them to take more risks (USA Today 2002).
There are too many factors that shape a person than someone could count. However, according to many recent studies, birth order has the most to do with personality. It could make a person bold and cheerful, or shy. As I am a middle child, the attributes that describe me the best are that I am easygoing and very social. My own personal opinion is birth order doesn’t have very much to do with personality. Factors like the people they hang out with and the environment they live in have more to do with it.
'Chapter 4: Development Across the Life Span' and 'Chapter 13: Self and Personality' would be beneficial for the Society of Pediatric Psychology (Division 54.) These two chapters touch base on the sense of self as well as adolescent development which are both things that are needed to be able to assist children in promoting their health and psychological well
Keating, D. (1990): Adolescent thinking, in: S.S. Feldman and G.R. Elliott (eds.) At the threshold: The developing adolescent , Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 54-–89.
Carl Pickhardt, Ph.D. "Surviving (Your Child's) Adolescence." 12 December 2011. Psycology Today. 7 May 2014 .
This journal was useful for me because it gave me the background details on why women are opting for delayed motherhood by the age of 30 or 40. Accordingly, I was able to build up my points on how it will affect the health conditions of both baby and mother and also the risk of taking that challenge.
The Characteristics of Adolescents Works Cited Not Included Adolescence, the period of life between childhood and maturity, may be regarded as one of the most crucial stages through which the human individual passes in his journey from conception to death. For many, it is seen as the key stage in development. Changes in physique and the maturation of the reproductive system bring with them associated changes in emotions and the whole pattern of psychological characteristics is restructured as the individual strives to attain a sense of identity. Development in intellectual functioning provides the adolescent with the ability to question himself, his family, his world, and his values (Garrod, Smulyan, Powers, and Kilkenny, 1992). Adolescents begin to develop principles- not necessarily those that adults would like to have them develop-