Birth Order Research Paper

N. Himmons – 8pd – Final Exam Research Paper: Birth Order Page 1 of 7

Psychology of Birth Order
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.
Alfred Alder was one of the first theorist to suggest that birth order influences personality. He argued that birth order can often leave a lasting impression on a child. Alder analyzed other birth order factors such as the spacing in years between siblings, the total number of children, and the changing

Alfred Adler believed that birth order was the way a child interpreted his or her perceived positions in the family, which is the most important to him or her. The psychological birth order has a greater influence on how the children’s personalities will be formed in their world (Kalkan, 2008). With each placement, the child develops characteristics and behaves in the matter where they reciprocate the parent’s energy. For instance, a first born basks in their parents’ presence, which may explain why first born children tend be mini-adults (Voo). Birth order displays characteristics that give insight to a child’s