The Possibility Of Birth Order

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.

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.

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

1. The four birth orders that Toler analyzes are the only child, the first-born, the middle child, and the youngest child. The only child is known for always getting what they want, which helps them later on in life with succeeding in their careers. First-borns develop leadership qualities, are independent, and are over-achievers in almost everything they do.

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,

Birth order refers to the order in which children are born into their families. Common examples of this include the first-born, second-born, youngest and the only child. Birth order is considered to have profound lasting effects on the psychological and behavioural development of children. For this reason, it is essential to study birth order and its impacts on children within families in Canada because it reveals more about the individual in society. A child’s birth order is incredibly influential in regards to their upbringing, shaping their personality and how they grow up to be as individuals. First-born children generally have a great amount of pressure and responsibility placed on them. The youngest children of families

In Adler's theory, the first-born gains the exclusive attention of his or her parents for a season at least. This prompts the first-born to explore confidently his or her areas of interest knowing that any accomplishments he or she attains will give satisfaction to his or her parents (Adler, 1964). However, upon the birth of the second child, the parents attention shifts to the younger child. This causes the

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.

CNN news examines the theory saying, “A recent survey by CareerBuilder.com found that workers who were the firstborn child in their families were more likely to earn $100,000 or more annually compared to their siblings. The oldest tend to pursue vocations that require higher education, like medicine, engineering or law. Firstborns from the CareerBuilder.com survey reported working in jobs in government, engineering, pharmacy and science” (Zupek). The strict rule enforced by parents and competition between siblings instill pressure and determination to be better. Moreover, the leadership role that the older sibling practices in early life is also implemented in their careers as they generally exert themselves to jobs that are more prestigious. Ohio State’s Frederick T.L. Leong conducted a study along with many other doctors and researchers who found that among, “119 undergraduate students majoring in a wide variety of academic fields at a Midwestern university; one of the strongest findings was the fact that only children and first-born children tended to have more cognitive and analytical interests, while later-borns were more artistic and oriented to the outdoors” (Birth). Different sets of rules and demands are implemented on different siblings which contributes to contrasting personalities and interests of children. These varying traits carryover into their adult life and play a role in the career they

Only children, though they have some of the same characteristics as firstborn, will at times be self-centered from the outpouring of undivided attention received by parents. Also, because only children do not grow up in environments with other siblings, they usually never learn to share or overcome family conflict. Most become unforgiving of themselves and others and also develop selfishness and anger from being the only kid in the family to please parents. Very high expectations do usually come from parents, which put extreme pressure and stress on an only child's life. Along with first-borns, only children are seen leading in the outside world and succeeding in

The object of this experiment was to determine whether or not birth order actually affected personalities and to see if oldest/youngest stereotypes were true. Oldest children are said to be bossy and rule followers while youngest tend to be ambitious and outgoing. To find out whether or not these assumptions were true, ten people were asked a series of questions about oldest and youngest children and what it was like growing up.

If researchers hypothesis are supported and birth order affects first born children then, they will score high in Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, low in Openness to Experience, and Extraversion. Middle children score low in Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and high in Neuroticism. While youngest children will score high in Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Extraversion and low Conscientiousness. Current research will support the fact that birth order certainly plays a role as it pertains to personality and findings by Saroglou & Fiasse (2002) as well as Healy & Ellis (2006) supports the fact that parents expectations and treatment shape a child’s temperament.

“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,

Although there are a number of scientists supporting for the idea of being the firstborns is beneficial and advantageous, recent studies assert that the effects of birth order no longer are significant. The children’s intelligence depends on many factors such as family size, child spacing, prenatal factors, gestational factors, not only birth order