Birth Order Does being the eldest child make people highly intellectual, people pleasing, perfectionists? Are the middle children always impatiently competing for parental attention by rebelling against the rules? Are all last-born children the spoiled, selfish, favorites? Birth order, a highly controversial topic, is defined as the dynamics of an individual’s place in the family compared to that of their siblings. Birth order has been in a fiery discussion for over one hundred years; some say it’s the very foundation of each one of our personalities, while others claim that the margin of error is just too wide for these coincidental patterns to bear any meaning. Alfred Alder, the first to study birth order and the family dynamics that go with, used the term “family constellation” to describe the personality patterns seen in families. Alder gave rise to the idea that the family position a child is born into genuinely manipulates their personality (Wood). The birth order theory seems to neither stand up to nor fall to its critics, but why? The stereotypical eldest child is one that is a people pleasing perfectionist who is undoubtedly smart and can be trusted and relied upon. Typically, the first born is the most dominant of all the children simply because they feel dominant to their younger counterparts. Many studies have come to prove that the eldest child is undoubtedly the model child. Take for example this Norwegian study that revealed the eldest children as the smartest of all with a three point IQ difference between them and their next eldest siblings. This point gap is not entirely surprising because first born children are expected not only to achieve the highest grades, but also set examples and keep their siblings in ... ... middle of paper ... ...s have leaned toward this theory shaping our life before we even pop out of the womb, they cannot pin every family down to the statistics. The fact is families are too complex, too messy, and too full of emotions, moods, and competitiveness. These dense, tangled vines of family dynamics are better understood by the people in the think of them than by observers through the laboratory window. Works Cited Kluger, Jeffrey. “The Power of Birth Order.” Time Magazine Oct. 2007: n. pag. Web. 01 March 2011. Murphy, Samantha. “The Effects of Birth Order on Personality.” N.p. 2005. Web.01 March 2011. Neal, Rome. “Personality Traits Linked To Birth Order.” The Early Show – CBS News. N.p. 11 June 2002. Web. Tierney, John. “The Myth of the Firstborn,” Science Magazine, Dec. 1983: 16. Print Wood, Danielle. “How Birth Order Affects Personality.” 2006. Web. 01 March 2011.
In the article, Born First, Born Smarter?, researchers, Robert Zajonc and Gregory Markus, clarify and elucidate the mystery as to why firstborn children tend to have a higher intelligence than that of a subsequent child. The research given in the article was influenced by the data and findings of Belmont and Marolla, as well as other nameless researchers.
Blair, L. (2011). Birth Order: What Your Position in the Family Really Tells You About Your
‘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
Adler’s birth order rings true for many people. As I was reading over the different birth orders, I started thinking of different family members and friends. I wanted to see how they measured up to Adler’s concept of birth order. I found myself stereotyping my friends and family, which is hard
Does birth order really affect who we are? Sigmund Freud was the first psychotherapist to say, " a child's position in the sequence of brother and sisters is of very great significance for one course of his later life." The type of person that we become stems from many things including birth order position, gender and the genders of the other siblings. Although personality is affected by many different factors, such as heredity, family size, the spacing and the gender of other siblings, education and upbringing, birth order plays a very important role and gives many clues as to why people are the was they are. Dr. Alfred Adler, a renowned psychiatrist, wrote that a person's position in the family leaves an undeniable "stamp" on his or her "style of living."
The biggest emphasis Alder placed on his theory was the order in which an individual was born. He felt that people who share birth positions may have more in common than siblings from the same family. His theory showed that oldest child may become authoritarian or strict, feel that power is his or her right, can become helpful if encouraged, and may turn to father after birth of next child. That second born children ...
Family heavily impacts society as a whole. In that case the author of “Maus 1 and 2” displays
“individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another, but rather as a part of their family, as the family is an emotional unit. Families
Many factors can shape a persons a personality, it could be their environment, peers, family, siblings, but one wouldn’t think that their birth order can too. The last factor will be the one topic I will be getting into more depth in this essay. Either being born first or last it will have a huge impact on your personality (Parents magazine 2006). The first to introduce the theory of the impact birth order has on personality was psychologist Alfred Adler in the early 20th century. This started a new interest in many on this research (Lesley Ogden 2013). His theory suggest the common personality traits each first, middle, and last borns have. Let me start off with the first born of the family and work my way down. The first born is the child the family “practices” on you could say. First time parents have no experience on parenting, and they want to try their best on raising a good child which causes them to be stricter. This causes them to put more pressure on the first borns to do better at everything they do. Which can make them become perfectionists and high achievers. But they want to be noticed and praised by their parents when they do well. This too however develops them to become leaders, especially if they have siblings their parents want them to set an example for (Brooks 1984). Independence, reliability, and respect for authority are other traits that this group may has. They are highly intelligent and get high qualifications in school. They can also be serious and very mature for their age. Because of this nature, this group tends to get along really well with their elders. The pressure of carrying responsibilities (and at times even being forced upon) at an early age can bring negative factors. For the reason that it c...
Smith, S. R., & Hamon, R. R., (2012). Exploring family theories. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
As we have learned through Skolnick’s book, as well as Rubin’s research, the make up of the family is influenced by many factors. The economy, culture, education, ethnicity/race, and tradition all help to create the modern family. The last few decades have heavily influenced the family structure, and while some try to preserve the past, others embrace the future. Through it all, we find you can have both.
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 looking at family systems, you must begin by looking at Murray Bowen’s family systems theory and “his views on the eight interlocking forces that shape family function,” (Haefner, 2014). Within Bowen’s family psychotherapy research, he noted that “family patterns and problems often repeat over generations, he also noted that families make up their own emotional systems, and within these systems they try to maintain stability and reduce conflict,” (Haefner, 2014). The eight interlocking forces noted by Bowen through (Haefner, 2014)
families have struggles, both internal and external, and while this is undoubtedly true, the struggles that
Family structure can greatly impact the day-to-day activities of a family. A family with one parent may have a very different dynamic than one with two parents, or possibly even more parents. It is no surprise that these differences exist and families and that one’s family impacts their way of life. However, does it make a significant difference? Or is it simply a difference in how people react to their situations. That is what I wanted to learn from this assignment.