Birth order

828 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Literature Review of Birth Order Effects on Personality and Achievement Within Families

Birth Order 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. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...vin Leman said, “Once you figure out your birth order and the birth order of those you love, you’ll be way ahead of everyone in the game of life” (1). Parents and scientists agree that how a child turns out insists on birth order. Birth order makes every person unique. Works Cited http://www.cbsnews.com/news/personality-traits-linked-to-birth-order www3.ag.purdue.edu/counties/Delaware/documents/birthorderpkglesson.pdf http://innerself.com/content/relationships/family/3870-borth-order-personalities-by-cliff-isaacon-and-kris-radish.html http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1673284,00.html http://apps.cignabehavioral.com/web/basicsite/bulletinBoard/birthOrder.jsp Leman, Kevin. The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are. Old Tappan, NJ: F.H. Revell, 1985. Print. www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/974203/does-birth-order-affect-personality

Show More
Related

  • The Power Of Birth Order By Jeffery Kluger

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Birth Order Theory Essay

    610 Words  | 2 Pages

    ‘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

    Read More

  • Reflection On The Business Of Being Born

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before watching The Business of Being Born in class this week, I never really thought about in home or natural births. I learned that American women are losing the right to have a natural birth. More and more hospitals are pushing for caesarian surgery during labor when it is not necessary and it is not as safe for the mother or child. Hospitals are encouraging these unsafe procedure to make more money. Hospitals want to get people in and get them out as quickly as possible. Medical professionals frown upon home births because they find it to be unsafe. This is almost laughable considering how much safer the home births are compared to the standard hospital birth in America. However, I had some concerns with the movie as well. As a film about women’s reproduction, they did not really accept the other choices women may make concerning their bodies. I know that this film was specifically comparing home births to hospital births, but I feel that they should have been more careful with the language that they used about women and

    Read More

  • Sibling Order Stereotypes

    1443 Words  | 3 Pages

    Growing up in my family I was the first born of two children. For me this meant that I was the ultimate guinea pig for my parents, and therefore how I was raised was much different from how my younger brother was raised. I notice, now that I am older, there were many differences on the parenting techniques that were used to raise us both as individuals. Ultimately this caused my brother and I to be totally opposites. To this day I feel like birth order plays a large role in my family, and sometimes it is hard to watch my brother get of easy when I am living a more difficult life.

    Read More

  • Parenting Style In The Movie Inside Out

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    Only children tend to be more egocentric than children who are raised with siblings. This is shown in the scene where Riley is video chatting with her friend, Meg, from Minnesota, and she begins to ask about her hockey team. Meg tells Riley that the hockey team is doing great and that there is even a new girl on the team that she has befriended; the scene cuts to Riley’s emotions freaking out about Meg having a new friend. Riley’s mood instantly changes to anger and she hangs up on her friend, slamming her computer shut (Jiao, Ji, Jing, & Ching 2002). However, even though only children are stereotyped as egocentric, they tend to do well in school and form close bond relationships with their parents. Unlike Riley, 80% of children living in the United States grow up with at least one sibling (BOOK). Siblings create strong bonds with each other; they teach other things like friendship, the act of sharing, and how to resolve conflicts. Siblings are in some ways teachers for each other; older siblings can help with homework or issues with friends. Older siblings can step in, as a parent figure to a younger sibling in times when they are needed to provide emotional support while a parent is unavailable for a short period (CITE Sibling Relations and Their Impact on Children’s Development ) Birth order also has affects on child development; a first born child needs to take charge and figure things out by themselves, where-as a second or third born child can take after their older sibling in a “follow the leader” style. This is important to note for only children too, because it causes them to be more independent due to the fact that they do not have a sibling to follow or learn from. Growing up with three other siblings, I can relate to the statement that people with three or more children are happier, because I could not imagine life with out my siblings. They are friends, teachers, and someone to always lean on. Being the

    Read More

  • The Influence Of Birth Order On Personality

    2494 Words  | 5 Pages

    In each of this 5 broad category, there are more personality traits that describe an individual. It is said that individual in the same birth order will have similar traits with others, for instance, the eldest child of the family would be a natural born leader or will be a responsible person. Past studies have claimed that these assumptions are true, but other findings have showed that these assumptions may be vary.

    Read More

  • Oldest Child’s Traits

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    The oldest child owns strong leadership characteristics. When the oldest child gets younger siblings, they have the chance to become a leader (Renkl, 2). They take care and lead their siblings while the siblings look up to the oldest child. As a result, the oldest child develops leadership skills (Teague, 2). This trait can be beneficial or harmful. Leading their siblings can boost their self-esteem (Renkl, 2). Also, the oldest child likes to be in charge of projects, and they like it when people stick to rules and order (Pressner, Whitbourne, 1). They want to be in charge and in control of what is happening. The oldest child may want people to do something a certain way. When people do not listen, they get upset. They can be bossy and controlling because of their leadership skill (Anders, 2). This can give the oldest child trouble with making friends (Renkl, 2). Some oldest children may feel like everyone relies on them (Birth Order, 5). This attribute may seem bad as a child, but it will serve them well as an adult. The firstborn is most likely to take a leadership position. George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush are...

    Read More

  • Birth Order

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Middle Child Birth Order Myths And Stereotypes Analysis

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    Does birth actually make a difference in the family?in this case it does matter being the Middle Child in between a big family. In the article Middle Child Birth Order Myths and Stereotypes, Darlene Oakley States that “ These children are neglected, Overlooked, not talkative or outgoing, that they are left out and feeling like they don't belong for example think of Lisa in The Simpsons.” They feel like they are not like by anyone in the family. As if they are forgotten but yet they think the older and youngest sibling get all the attention.Which leads up to them thinking why do they exist if nobody going to pay attention to them. They often on their own doing their own stuff without anyone checking up on them no motivation not support no nothing.

    Read More

  • Biological Approach To Personality

    2791 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Biological approach to personality places emphasis on the genetic influences related to the development of an individual’s personality. Some may believe that children and their parents can have very similar personalities, for example a young boy having his father’s anger (Stelmack, 1990). Though this approach has often been questioned by psychologists, it is not disregarded all together. Some believe that genetics do have a role in an individual’s personality development; however environments, as well as personal experiences all work in forming personality.

    Read More

  • Dominican Culture

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Chinese cultures, birth order has major impact over the entire family, given that the oldest is expected to have the most responsibilities such as watch over my the siblings. At thirteen, I had to take over all

    Read More

  • Summary: How Birth Order Influences Personality

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    How Birth Order Influences Personality The influence of birth order plays a large significant role in determining the personality of children. In “Birth Order”, by Kelly Gfroerer and Kelli B. Ritter, Alfred Adler, the founder of the theory known as Individual Psychology, first introduced the concept of birth order. Alfred Adler developed theories of personality to understand an individual within the conditions of social environment. While “Birth Order and Personality”, by author Russell Eisenman consider the differences between firstborns and later-borns in regards to creative differences, achievement and risk taking.

    Read More

  • The Effect of Being an Only Child on the Child's Personality

    1164 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sulloway, F. J. (September 1997). Birth order and personality. Harvard Mental Health Letter, 14, 5-7

    Read More

  • Nature Vs Nurture Personality Development Essay

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nurture has a more stronger influence on your personality than nature does. They both have a huge role in contributing to your personality development, it is a proven fact. Identical twins have a lot of differences, but also many similarities. Your personality can keep changing while you're growing up. Studies have shown that your personality is based off your surroundings and how you have been raised. From now on when you watch how people act, be sure to remember this debate and think about what their personality is based

    Read More

  • Personality Development Essay

    1602 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Birth order

Open Document