Birth Order Theory False

In “that Elusive Birth Order Effect and What it Means for You,” the author, Susan Krauss Whitbourne, explains that she does not believe your “actual birth order,” really affects your behavior or position in your family. “Your actual birth order need not have the same impact on you as the birth order you believe you have,” (Whitbourne ll 25,26). “Actual” birth order, or ABO, is the numerical rank order in which you are born into your family or origin and “psychological birth order, or PBO, is your own perception on your position in the family.

Some say that people are just who they are, that a person no matter their origin or upbringing will end up exactly how they are and ultimately who they were meant to become, but what if they were wrong? Why am I loud and vivacious, yet my younger sister is quiet and shy, and my brother is more protective over my youngest sister and ignores me? What makes anyone the person that they are? Sure, the things that happen at school mold people, but the real developments happen at home. An individual's personality is solely based upon the order and the timing of birth in relation to their siblings, if any. A well renowned psychologist, Dr. Kevin Leman employs effective elements of rhetoric in his book, The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You

In the texts “That That Elusive Birth Order and What it Means for You,” and “How Birth Order Affects Your Personality,” the authors give their interpretation on the importance of birth order in siblings. The author of the first text, Susan Whitbourne, stresses the unimportance of birth order. Conversely, Joshua Hartshorne, the author of the second text, says that birth order is significant to personality, but there just has not been enough evidence until recent studies.

For example, the birth order theory suggests that the firstborn is the one that is more responsible, confident and a natural born leader. The middle child is supposed to have a time of rebelliousness, and they are the ones that are competitive and can bring people together. The youngest child is the one who is charming, and spoiled. They often rebel to show others that they are not like their older siblings. Only children are confident and socially mature.

I first was drawn to Adler and his theory on birth order due to the fact his focus was on personality. Understand why a person is the way he/she is, was a major driving force for me choosing to earn my Bachelors in psychology. Secondly, I have a strong relationship with my parents and siblings. I am the oldest of four siblings. I have a sister who is a year younger that I am, a brother who is three years younger than I am, and a sister who is five years younger than me. We have often had discussions before about our family dynamic. The final decision was that I am the oldest and the goody two-shoes that my parents are extremely proud of, my middle sister is the trouble-maker and is my parents least favorite (in her eyes), my brother is the only boy therefore he is spoiled, and my youngest sister is the baby and is treated like a princess. As I began to read Adler’s theory I could not have agreed more. Adler describes the first-born as a rule follower and a leader. In addition, I also tend to conform in order to please others, which was also a trait found in the first-born child. The middle born, my sister, often felt she did not have a place in the family because she felt the spot light was on her older sister and her younger sister. Now that she has grown up she has found her role and is most often the peacemaker connecting all of the siblings. I do disagree with the middle-born child when relating the theory to my brother. He is also technically a middle child, but I tend

For centuries, one of the most curious stereotypes that have compelled most people is the role birth order has on their personalities and lives. Is birth order necessarily important? Does it honestly affect our personalities? Birth order has been controversial issue since biblical times for example Cain and Abel and Jacob and Esau. Psychologists have a lot of assumptions about how that individual behaves and responds to life whenever a person is a first born, middle child, youngest child, or only child. The questions remains, what difference does birth order make, and how true is it that birth order can even have an impact? Theorist has looked at the various studies regarding birth order most of which have used the example of the Adlerian concept of birth order to suggest intelligence and personality type the following paper will work to better understand if birth order makes a significant difference in the outcome of an individual’s life. Leman believes the key to sibling personality discrepancies lies in birth order and how the parents treat their children due to it. However, there are numerous psychologists responsible for the stereotypes of birth order, and how it contributes to various personality types in the study.

As senior Sociology majors at Augustana College, our final project involves effects of birth order, first generation students and Autism awareness among college age students and we would like your participation. As an Augustana College student, we are inviting you to participate in this research study by completing the survey.

Alfred Adler was most famous for his perspective on how the development as a person based on your birth is progressed. He believes that each family is different and that his birth order scale just happens to be a possible tool to help people understand the general roles of children. Even though Adler states the types of position you were born are important, he also describes his birth order scale as “it is not birth order itself that accounts for differences among siblings, but the psychological situation resulting from it” (Allen, 2006). For example, you may be an only child, but take on many or possible more characteristics of a middle child based on Adler’s description. Although Adler believes in the characteristics he stated for each birth orders, he states that if there are more than three years between the children, that the birth order may appear different or inaccurate.

This theory best firs my personality because I truly believe that birth order and family relationships due to your birth order greatly affect a person’s personality, lifestyle, and choices. As I help those

     One long controversy among behavioral scientist is the existence of a sibling position effect. Birth order research and theories can be criticized because of differences between parents, sibling positions of the parents, size of families, socioeconomic status, and culture. The conclusions drawn from research studies on sibling position are also often contradictory. However for some reason children with certain birth order roles grow into adolescents and adults with similar qualities.

The argument over the relationship, if any, between birth order and intelligence has sparked ongoing interest over the past century from both the general public as well as many notable scientists. Scholastic interest in the association between birth order and intelligence dates back to 1874 with Sir Francis Galton’s English Men of Science: Their Nature and Nurture. Galton, an English anthropologist and youngest of nine children, analyzed a small sample of 19th century English scientists and found the majority to be first-born children. Galton then theorized that first-born children received special attention from their parents that allowed cognitive growth. After much subsequent research and heated debate during the past century over Galton’s

The role of birth order is still taught and preached around today. People still follow this theory and made this theory the benchmark for sibling attributes. However, the Individual Psychology can be misleading in some aspects. This theories main criteria is the superiority and inferiority complex and unfortunately it doesn’t go into more nurture aspects such as environment, which can also shape up an individual’s attitude. Alfred Adler was an interesting psychologist to pick due to his past, and how that affected his theories as an adult. It is also unique to see how Adler’s disagreement with Freud led to his theories on individual and their personalities. Overall, Adler had a big influence on psychology and his contribution as a Neo-Freudian caved many other theories that explain

Almost all of us are familiar of the Birth Order theory that Alfred Adler presented almost a century ago. Adler theorized that our personalities are hugely influenced by our chronological place in the family because

Throughout the years, researchers have come to believe that birth order is an important factor in our lives, almost as important as gender or even genetics. This ties back to the old Nature vs Nurture theory, where it is not only our biology that defines who we are and what we do, it is a mixture of both our environment and our genes that help us develop as a whole. Whether you are an only child, a first born, last born, or somewhere in between, some researchers have found that this is important in defining your character, your values, goal orientation, and life successes. Psychology has gone through periods of accepting these

Birth order refers to the order a child is born in their family; first-born and second-born are examples. Birth order is often believed to have a profound and lasting effect on psychological development and achievements. (Rodgers, Cleveland, Van Den, Rowe, 2000)