Essay on Does Birth Order Affect the Way You Are?

According to Alfred Adler, the birth order of the children in a family will largely affect how they age and the personalities which they will form. First borns enter the family as the only child. They revel in the love and full attention from their parents, that is, until the second baby comes along. Suddenly, first borns are dethroned and lose the undivided attention they are used to receiving. As a result, they tend to develop a strong sense of responsibility and protectiveness over their siblings at an early age, which often leads to them becoming authoritative adults. Moreover, when there are multiple children in the family, parents will set high

The second-born has a lot that goes against them, for example, they can go through something called de-identification. Krugar writes that de-identification happens when a sibling sees what their older sibling does and proceeds to do the opposite in order to stand out, so if a first-born were to make good grades and get a job the second-born may go down the slacker route in order to receive attention. Also, second-borns tend to act out or rebel when the parent compare the second-born to the first-born, for they don’t like to be compared to their older sibling, but who likes to be compared to another person all the time anyway

M. Farouk Radwan, MSc., notes that first-born children who are used to getting all of the attention until the second child arrives may develop feelings of jealousy because they blame their younger sibling for their dethronement. If properly developed, the first born can acquire positive qualities like strong leadership traits and being responsible. However, poor development can lead older siblings to manifest jealousy or

Sibling rivalry is not the only issue that was triggered by birth order, child’s personality and his or her intelligence is also involved. Some researchers say that first-borns are smarter because they are pressured to set-up the boundary for the younger siblings. They are more enthusiastic in their education for them to be role models of their other siblings. As for the younger ones, life may be or may not be easy, depending on how they will view it. They may view it positively by keeping in mind that since their older sibling get through it, they also can. Otherwise,

First born children who later have younger siblings may have it the worst. These children are given excessive attention and pampering by their parents until that fateful day when the little brother or sister arrives. Suddenly they are no longer the center of attention and fall into the shadows wondering why everything changed. They are left feeling inferior, questioning their importance in the family, and trying desperately to gain back the attention they suddenly lost. The first born child can become “problem children, neurotics, criminals, drunkards, and perverts” (Cloninger, 2008). However, on the flip side, the first born usually are the peacemakers of the family even though they are a pampered and spoiled child.

Though, birth order illuminates a majority of our personality traits and decisions such as, career and romantic relationships. Parents get wrapped up in the ‘firstborn haze’ and overlook how much pressure they put on older siblings. By creating a pressure to be the best and ‘in control’ the older sibling takes on the leadership role and often becomes more aligned with doing better in school than younger siblings. Determination and intelligence correspond with higher level of career, and that is just what the older sibling strives for. In fact, “100% of astronauts who’ve gone into space were either eldest children or eldest sons” (State). Relationships work better if partners differ from each other and aren’t in the same birth order. The competition can be detrimental and problematic. Alfred Adler’s birth order theory provides us with useful information to reflect our decisions and explain how you think about things. By becoming aware of it we can become more familiar with ourselves and get out of the all too familiar comfort

Though there are specific temperaments and personality traits commonly found in each birthplace, it does not signify that each characteristic perfectly fits a single child or adult in that order. Many variables interfere with the general traits found in each birthplace and can easily change the personalities of that specific order. A complete change in birth order characteristics can also result from these specific interferences. Both circumstances in the outside and inside world take effect and are called the variables of birth order. These variables are very important to keep in mind while looking at this subject. Dr. Kevin Leman, an internationally renowned psychologist, and New York Times Bestselling Author, lists some of the major variables found in many children and adults in his book The Birth Order Book. The spacing of up to five years or more, gender, physical and mental disabilities or difference, deaths in the family, and also spacing will interfere and alter the personality traits found in each birth placement. This list of variables can continue on, but looking at these can provide insight to those dealing with doubts towards their specific birth order or where they may fit

The household members continued helping the last child even when they were old enough to be doing it themselves. They could not help but believe there was someone to help them with everything. Although they perhaps could not see it, the last child was considered to be coddled. Parents became more lenient because of experience. Realization has come over them in a sense that there was no need to restrain the oldest. There had been no harm in allowing them to do certain things. An unexpected answer from 9 out of the 10 people was that they were not as social as the oldest. They tended to be more shy. It also seemed they were less rebellious because of parents letting go of rules. Biggest priorities leaned toward having fun rather than school. School was more secondary compared to the oldest. The youngest was much more competitive than his/her sibling(s). They grew up in a house where everyone was better at whatever they did. This is what pushed the youngest to try harder at what they

They are always the youngest born of the family so they are pampered and cared in diffirent ways. This later birth position was associated with both advantages and disadvantages in terms of family background and personal history in a study conducted by Fergusson, Horwood, and Boden, (2006). The parents already have experience with the previous children so in the last born, care and parenting was lost rigid and instead is a loose part.  Therefore, the youngest child usually breaks the rules in family and more liberal. The parents slack off when the youngest discipline that last born child has rebelled and impulsive. they tend to want to get attention from others and often impatient with the hard work of life because they always get help form parents or siblings. because of getting good experience things from others, last born child often expect good things from life and tend to be optimists. The last born has less expectations from parents so instead making decision for themselve, the parents or siblings often make decisions for them and they will have less confidence about decision-making because of be less ambitious than other . they will consider to creative or artistic pursuits . Last born children are followers much more than leaders, and will happily follow a leader they respect as they always follow brother when they was

Something I learned about birth order is that many people have different personality because of birth order. Discussing with my group we agree that the first born child is the most responsible . In my group no one was the first born child but we do have our big brother/sister and we all agree that they are responsible and their personality is more matured. On the other hand , some of us didn't agree about the middle child of how they are rebellious and are the black sheep of the family ;but we do agree that the middle child wants attention and whatever to get that little attention from their parents. Also, they are creative to do things as projects and many more. I do rely to this because I'm the middle child and I dislike it because

Adler was one of the first theorists to suggest that birth order plays a part in personality traits. These character traits develop from development issues; birth order being one of them. The first born or the oldest child becomes “dethroned” when another sibling is born. The first born have a strong need to regain approval from adults and they have a need to be right. The second oldest tends to be the exact opposite of the first born. They tend to be competitive and aggressive, possibly because of “avis complex” (always trying to overcome the first born). The middle child tends to believe that life is unfair because they do not receive the benefits of being the oldest or the youngest. They are good listeners and problems solvers. The youngest child is often babied. They tend to receive the most attention. This results in them being socially aware. Lastly, the only child has a lot in common with the first born. They have a strong awareness of right and wrong. They also prefer small groups and alone

“Eckstein and Kaufman point out that perceptions and beliefs about birth order may have their effects, in large part, because parents impose their own stereotypes onto their children. By assigning these stereotyped birth-order roles, which may interact with gender roles, parents create self-fulfilling prophecies among their brood. You come to feel like the leader, if you’re a first-born, because you were handed this role early in your life. Say if a mother has more than one child, the oldest (to the parents) should be the best behaved. “As explained by Stewart, using Adler’s framework, the first born (or one with the “oldest” role) would be most likely to take on a leadership position, like when people stick to rules and order, and strive toward achievement goals. The firstborn may be sensitive to being “dethroned” by younger sibs who drain away the attention of parents that the firstborn enjoyed before they came along.” (pg. 4, 30-34) “Firstborn items on the PBOI tap feelings of being powerful, important, leading, and achieving (It is important for me to do things right”). (pg. 5,

Being the third children always had an impact on how I felt growing up. My older brother was smart and naturally received a lot of attention since he was the first child. My sister has been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease which constantly requires a lot of attention from my parents. As I got older, I had to find a way to differentiate myself. Besides my schoolwork, the only way that I could stand out was to play a sport. Being able to play the sport nicknamed “The Game of Failure” changed my perception on how to react to life. No matter how many times I failed, I kept going.

Alfred Adler, a psychologist, proposed the idea that has been experimented and ultimately has been proven correct. The order in which children are born has an extreme effect on the children in a household. The youngest child is often showered with affection, which leads to the child becoming overly dependant on his parents. The eldest child however, learns responsibility at a young age, and learns self sufficiency. This is because when a new member of the family is introduced, the oldest child is forced to fend on their own in terms of attention. They learn how to clean up after their siblings, and also care and respect for younger children. An older child may feel jealousy and possibly depressed when the attention is suddenly divided unevenly towards them and their younger sibling. At times, the oldest child is even neglected. Although the order of birth has been proven to have effect on children, there are no specific patterns as to how a child will definitely turn out. Zane A Maus conducted an experiment. In his experiment he wanted to figure out if birth order did indeed have an effect on personality: “According to Adler, middle-borns have attributes and needs that are much different from that of their first or later-born siblings. Middle-borns tend to have the need to “dethrone” the oldest born by beating the expectations set for by their parents and to eventually become the dominant

Have you ever thought about if your mom treats you differently than the oldest or the youngest kid? If you are the youngest or the oldest have you ever thought that the middle child was treated better than you just because it's the the middle child like everyone always thinks and everything is just easier for them. Well it just might be true in another way. The birth order does affect things that happen to you. In many ways such as allergies, ADHD, and PTSD. Birth Order of when kids are born can have effects on them for the rest of their lives.