How Does Birth Order Affect Children

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 family environment in which an individual grows up, has substantial effects on the kind of person they become later in life. It has even been argued, that the functional birth order, which is affected by the environment one grows up in, plays a bigger role in moulding them into the people that they become later in life than the biological birth order (Sulloway, 1996). Courtiol, Raymond and Faurie (2009) investigated the significance of birth order on trustfulness and reciprocation of individuals, with their hypothesis being that birth order would influence adults’ behaviour towards non-kin. The results of the experiment speak for themselves, as they indicate that a distinct trend can be seen in the characteristics of people depending on their birth order. According to Sulloway, it has been argued that the characteristic differences the birth order forms, are the consequences of sibling competition for parental investment

Firstborn children in families develop a higher I.Q. than their siblings. The New York Times used a study that found that the average difference in I.Q. was three points higher in firstborn than closest sibling. Even though it is only three points it is significant according to researchers. While three points may not seem like a huge differences, experts say that “it can be a tipping point for some people- the difference between a high B average and a low A” (Carey, 2007). The results also show that it was because of family dynamics and not biological factors. In the study, analyze the data of Norwegian men born from 1967-1976 and found that firstborn had three percent higher than second child and four percent higher than third child. The

Bob likes to be the center of attention. Joe feels that he has authority. Julia tries to outdo everyone and Jimmy just wants to be bigger than the others. What do these all have to do with Birth Order? These all deal with the children’s characteristics depending upon when they were born. Birth Order is the cause of each person’s personality and individual characteristics.

In the study done my McGuirk and Pettijohn, they looked at how birth order not only affects personalities but as well as relationship attitudes and styles.

Personality development is a relatively new research area that many sociologist have devoted many studies to in trying to identify the different factors that influence an individual’s personality development. The topic of birth order is important when considering personality development. This paper attempts to show that birth order is indeed an influence in personality development. The research question that the paper seeks to answer is: “To What Extent does Birth Order affect Personality Development?”.

I let my thoughts scatter one by one through my mind as I waited for my Psychology teacher to arrive to class to lecture us. My Psychology teacher walked in and passed the notes out for today. My eyes rolled over the piece of paper with no interest until the bold, fine print at the top caught my attention which was the title. The title was, “Birth Order and Personality Traits.” The notes interested me because I wanted to know how being born first influenced my personality since I am a firstborn. I chose the topic of how birth order affected first-born’s personality traits and what are the parents’ expectations from a firstborn child because I want to learn more about how birth order plays a role and how it applies to me personally. Furthermore,

When an individual comes into this world they are unable to choose their race, eye color, socioeconomic status, and much less which order they are born into a family. However, much research has gone into the topic of birth order and its effects on the personality traits of individuals.

Effects of birth order and personality is probably something that all siblings would like to know. Things this kinda depends on the environment you and your brother/ sister grew up in because you and your brother/ sister could have experienced two different things which could cause a bigger gap in between you and your brother/ sister’s personality. Speaking from a stereo typical point of view the first born would be leader like . The youngest would be babied so they more of a free spirit. The middle child is usually the peacekeepers. I have a brother and a sister and we don’t really talk to each other unless we see each other over the summer nor do we really don’t act too much alike when we see each other. The way I was planning on experimenting

Every human being has a unique personality caused by either genetic difference or different social interaction based on environment. However, siblings have genetic similarity and grow up in similar environment yet they develop different personality. According to most psychologists, birth-order has an effect on personality. As observed in history, many world leaders/dictators are first-born child as exemplified by Alexander the great, Andrew Jackson, Adolf Hitler, Bill Clinton, Barak Obama, etc., who have ruled the land and share personality of having control over a population along with the charisma of vocalizing their thoughts. Since first-born shows distinctive characteristics, this research paper wants to explore why do first born develop certain sets of personality that differs them from their siblings. Also,

This study was conducted to support Alfred Alder’s birth order theory in regards to personality characteristics. The hypothesis that first born children are more responsible, successful, and obedient than their younger siblings, while last born children are more manipulative, outgoing and rebellious were supported by these results. These findings are similar to Paulhus, Trapnell, & Chen (1999) study, results of the study indicated firstborns were nominated by their siblings as most conscientious as well as most achieving and later born children were more frequently nominated as most liberal, agreeable, and rebellious. Another study supporting the hypothesis is a study conducted by Zweigenhaft and Von Ammon (2000). In the study it was hypothesized that later born children were more rebellious then firstborns. To do this they examined the birth order of a group of U.S. college students who had been arrested for engaging in civil disobedience in a labor dispute. Later born children were more likely than firstborns to have been arrested. This provides evidence that later born children are more likely than firstborns to be rebellious.

Personalities of first-borns are mostly affected by their parents and the high standards that they set for themselves so they strive for success and perfection in everything they do. Parents play an important role in a first-born’s life; this is explained by personality observer, Robert V.V. Hurst when he remarked, “Since the parents invest a lot of their ego in the first-born, they view this child’s behavior personally.”(31). This causes first-borns to desire to please their parents which explains why many first-borns excel in school and tend to be conservative in their beliefs (Hurst, 29). Parents typically expect a lot from their oldest child. They are expected to participate in the family and be an example for their siblings (Leman, 92). This expectation creates a sense of responsibility and reliability found in many older children (Hurst, 29). However, first-borns can be taken advantage of and people rely on

Growing up in my family I was the first born of two children. For me this meant that I was the ultimate guinea pig for my parents, and therefore how I was raised was much different from how my younger brother was raised. I notice, now that I am older, there were many differences on the parenting techniques that were used to raise us both as individuals. Ultimately this caused my brother and I to be totally opposites. To this day I feel like birth order plays a large role in my family, and sometimes it is hard to watch my brother get of easy when I am living a more difficult life.

Does birth order have an effect on personality? Does being first born make people more responsible? If someone is the middle born child, are they going to be more rebellious?

What would people think if a complete stranger could tell personality traits of someone only knowing the order of their birth? “Birth order refers to the order a child is born in their family: birth order is often believed to have a profound and lasting effect on psychological development” (Wikipedia). Birth order has great effects on children, and it is seen especially in firstborn, middle born, and last born children. It is an interesting concept that will be explored in more depth in this paper. First, consider some of the characteristics seen in firstborn children.