The Effect of Birth Order on Who We Are

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The Effect of Birth Order on Who We Are 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." There are other factors that impact each sibling such as physical circumstances that include income of the parents and the residents of their community. Emotional stability plays a large part in the development of each person, examples include well adjusted parents, parental experiences and the career of the parents. For instance, what decade and country you were born in and the economy of that country also plays an important role. All of these factors can determine what type of person that child will become. In a large part, birth order and gender determine how other people in your family react and treat you. It also determines your self-image and how you react and treat others inside and outside of your family. Furthermore, the only child can be described as a first born who never loses his or her parents' undivided attention. Onlies are generally super responsible, confident and get along great with adults. They often ha... ... middle of paper ... ...ve their children more freedom. Some disadvantages to being the youngest can include the fact that they feel no one takes them seriously. They may often have feelings of insecurity and have long periods of self doubt. This is caused by one minute the child feels like the "baby of the family" and the next minute they are being compared to an older, more stronger sibling. In contrast, the youngest child often goes on to become quite successful. Some examples of famous youngest children include, Ronald Reagan, Eddie Murphy, Paul Newman, Mary Lou Retton, Billy Crystal, Yogi Bera, Ted Kennedy and Kevin Leman Bibliography: References Internet: www.ncn.net Internet: www.oppapers.com Internet: www.shmp.com Dr. Kevin Leman. "The New Birth Order Book". 1998 chapter 7, 131-133, 136-137,150-151, 154-157. Frank J. Sulloway. "Born to Rebel". 1996. 65-70

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