More handpicked essays just for you.
Child growth and development
Child growth and development
Birth Order Effects on Personality and Achievement Within Families
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Child growth and development
The purpose of the first article reviewed was to examine if birth order can have an impact on personality development. This directly correlates to personality development because the researchers are trying to see if your birth order influences how someone’s character develops. The hypothesis of this study was that first born individuals are the achievers and last born tend to be rebels. The authors were trying to claim that birth order influences your personality traits involving obedience, goal orientation, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The variables used were personality traits such as scholastically achieving and rebelliousness and were compared to the birth order of the individuals. Each participant was told to write down which sibling received the best grades, who was the rebel, and in what birth order everyone fell in. …show more content…
The relationship between birth order and personality traits has been studied many times prior to this research. The view on personality in this article compares with historical views of personality because prior to this experiment, it was already a theory that the birth order influences people to have certain personality traits. The researchers in this article conducted four separate studies; each with different numbers of participants and different strategies. The researchers used a correlational design to conduct the four
The achievers, the gamblers and visionaries, and the undefined, this is how Jeffery Kluger describes the oldest, youngest, and middle child in his article “The Power of Birth Order” (409). The birth order is a phenomenon, studied by many scientists, that has been impacting the way siblings think and act for years. The birth order classifies the oldest child, who is the achiever; the middle child, who is a hybrid of the oldest and youngest; and last but not least, the youngest child, who is the adventurer of the family. The fact that the birth order affects the personalities of siblings is becoming more and more evident and the classifications of the firstborn, middle child, and youngest child have been proved to be very accurate.
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
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.
Personality predispositions can determine levels of extraversion, which determine the levels to which one seeks social support, thus determining positive affect. Similarly, personality predispositions can determine levels of neuroticism that may influence one’s style of coping in the face of both positive and negative external factors which can determine negative affect (Diener, 1996). Happiness, a core aspect of positive subjective wellbeing, involves maintaining a superior level of positive affect in comparison to negative effect, based on specific positive or negative emotions linked to the recent experiences in one’s life (Emmons & Diener, 1985). Positive emotions such as joy and pride must trump negative emotions such as frustration and sadness in the recent past or present in order for an individual to feel happy. Life satisfaction builds on this and is a cognitive valuation of the quality of an individual’s experiences as a sum throughout their entire life (Emmons & Diener, 1985). Individual personality traits have been found to influence the different patterns and levels of life satisfaction, positive and negative affects and simply general, overall happiness (McCrae, 1983).
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...
There are many factors that make your personality. One that is usually overlooked is birth order. Scientists have given traits to every child based on when they were born and most of them are correct. In The Birth Order Book by Kevin Leman stated,” Your birth order-whether you were first, middle, or later in the family-has a powerful influence on the kind of person you will be, the kind of person you will marry, the type of occupation you will choose, even the kind of parents you will be.” (3). Birth order is what makes someone who they are; these characteristics apply to almost every child depending when they were born in their family, but in rare cases, the child doesn’t act like the personality given to them by science.
Discuss the nature/nurture debate in language acquisition in light of evidence from atypical language development.
Hartshorne, Joshua K. “How Birth Order Affects Your Personality”. Scientificamerican, 22 June 2002. Web. 30 April 2014.
For my essay topic, I have decided to write about the struggles of finding my identity while being a twin. When my peers find out that I am a twin the first thing they ask What is it like? And sometimes it is hard to give a straight answer. Mainly because being a twin has its good days, and sometimes has its bad days. For identical twins, one fertilized egg splits and develops two babies with the same genetic information. For fraternal twins like my sister and I, two eggs are fertilized by two sperm and produce two genetically unique children.
Sulloway, F. J. (September 1997). Birth order and personality. Harvard Mental Health Letter, 14, 5-7
Gross, D. G. (2013, December 23). The Achiever, the Peacemaker and the Life of the Party: How Birth Order Affects Personality. Retrieved May 7, 2014, from The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-gail-gross/how-birth-order-affects-personality_b_4494385.html
No one in the whole world has the same personality, but have you ever thought of how their personalities came to be? Personalities are built and influenced by many things and many people. The real question is what affects and molds a personality into what it is today? I believe that these are the four most common things that I believe influence personalities the most: where you grew up/environment influences, genetics/attitude, peers/friends and/or family, values/beliefs.
Where do you think your personality came from? The nature vs. nurture has been going on for many, many years and will probably keep going on for many more years. The purpose of this debate is to determine which one has a bigger influence on personality. It is a proven fact that both nurture and nature have a huge role in contributing to your personality development. Identical twins have many similarities, but also many differences. Your personality can change while you are growing up. Studies have shown that your personality is based off your surroundings and how you grow up. In most cases nurture has a more stronger influence on your personality than nature does.
Personality involves a blend of characteristics that make one unique. In reviewing personality, we consider the influence of the interactions that one is engaged in, the nature or the environment of one's upbringing and genetics. The characteristic traits may change over time while some of them becoming a lasting part of a person’s personality. In this essay will analyze the theories that relate to the character and the various stages that children undergo during development. We will use the same theories and developmental stages in analysis my progress from childhood up to date.