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the influence of birth order on personality
the influence of birth order on personality
introduction about birth order
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Birth order
Have you ever wondered why you and your siblings never get along, or why you are so different? I wondered the same thing until I read an article about birth orders effects on personality. This had to be why she had never spent an hour away from my parents and I haven’t willingly been within thirty feet of them since I was six, Why I love to read well above my grade level and my sister, a sixth grader, reads mainly Captain Underpants books when not glued to the T.V. and why we are a similar as oil and water.
Before I start explaining what birth order does I want clarify exactly what it is. When I said birth order I know at least one person, probably more thought of something similar to astrology. In some ways they are similar. They both group personalities and have a basis in science, but that’s where the similarity stops. Birth order does not predict the future. Also, while birth orders facts are almost identical anywhere you look, I have found horoscopes where the methods used are so different that one source can say today’s you lucky day while another source for that same day may say that you will be brutally murdered by a dark stranger.
For those of you who are only children you often have to deal with the presumption that you are spoiled and self centered, this is shown to be true in many cases, but remember every birth order group has its share of annoying traits. On the good side only children tend to be very confident, have a good eye for detail, and are v...
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.
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."
Zupek, Rachel. "Can Birth Order Determine Your Career? - CNN.com." CNN.com International - Breaking, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment and Video News. 22 Oct. 2008. Web. 30 Jan. 2012.
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.
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...
Numerous studies have shown correlation between birth rate and personality. Birth rate can be defined as the ratio of total live births to that of the total population, in a specific community during a certain period of time. It is usually expressed in numbers of live birth over 1000 population in a year. Birth order is believed to have a lasting effect on psychological development. On the other hand, personality refers to a set of behaviors and mental characteristics possessed by an individual that makes him/her unique, in another words, it’s the distinctive qualities of an individual, and it is made up of the way we think,
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...
It has been observed across many studies that members of each rank—oldest, middle, youngest or single children—tend to have similar personalities as members of the same rank (Ernst & Angst, 13-16). It can be presumed that birth order will have an effect on all aspects of life, specifically interpersonal relationships.
Environment determines to some extent the personality of a person. There are numerous factors in the environment which could determine variations in the personalities of different individuals. There are factors which are inherent to the environment and there are those determined by the manner by which individuals enter into a particular environment. In much the same way, how an infants entrance into the world determines in large part how parents and others will respond. In this paper particular view will be taken on the matter of timing that an infant is born.
There are so many deciding factors that go into birth order that must be considered to completely understand why someone is the way that they are. A lot of it goes back to the parents and how they treat their child or children growing up, but in what order you were born in causes the parents to treat the child how they do.
Do you ever wonder how you and your sibling can be so different in the way that you each handle situations and your temperament, but be from the same bloodline? I often sit and notice that the way I interact and respond to situations, in most times, differs greatly from that of my family. How is it possible to be from the same family, have so many of the same qualities and features, yet respond to situations and stimuli differently? Different behaviors or temperament styles vary amongst each individual and can affect social interactions between themselves and others.
395). The most significant relationships I had during my childhood were with my older sister and the sister subsequent to me. My older sister and I, being similar of age were raised as though we were twins. Mother often dressed us in matching outfits, and we were referenced to as a pair rather than individuals. Our mother even started us to school at the same time, holding my sister back a year so we could move through school together. Until my sister and I became older, indeed looked like twins and most people could not tell us apart. In fact, it was not uncommon during middle and high school for us to switch places. Unbeknownst to many of our peers and instructors, we could fill in our counterpart in class. My sister was indeed my counterpart and still is in many ways. We also fulfill what Sulloway (1996) states, “ Within each family, the first two siblings manifest the greatest disparities, followed by the second and third” (p. 96). While my sister and I had somewhat indistinguishable phenotypical traits, we are contrasting intellectually. This contrast keeps us in a perpetually challenging and delightful yet somewhat distant relationship.
I felt that I was very much impacted by my birthing order. I wanted to learn more about why I was the inferior one. Sibling rivalries are a given, but there is so much that derives from the order you were born in. Whether you are the first born, second born, middle child, or 10 years apart from another sibling. Every middle/ second/ third child has heard the phrase; Why can’t you be like your older sibling? I can only remember so many times that this has happened to me. In one specific situation I was given back a report card that was rather disappointing. I was looked straight
Walcutt, Diana. (2009). Birth Order and Personality. Psych Central. Retrieved on December 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/07/22/birth-order-and-personality/