Essay on The Effects of Birth Order

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

There are many things that effect a person’s personality and future success. Things like gender, race, ethnicity, and economic stability are all examples of what can affect a person’s development, but what about someone’s birth-date? Can a person’s birth-order really effect someone’s future? In “The Power of Birth Order” Jeffrey Kluger writes about how birth-order can determine a person’s personality and success; throughout “The Power of Birth Order” he established three categories: first-born, second-born, and third-born.

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

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

What exactly does the term intelligence mean? Intelligence is defined as the ability to gain and apply knowledge and skills. Does birth order affect intelligence? According to researchers, there have been some evidence that prove that birth order does in fact affect intelligence; however, critics remain skeptic about it and claim that the evidence are inconclusive and biased (Carey, 2007). The relationship of birth order and intelligence has been an ongoing scientific debate that goes back to the late 1800s

After reading “That Elusive Birth Order Effect and What it Means for You” by Susan Krauss Whitbourne and “How Birth Order Effects Your Personality” by Joshua K. Hartshorne, I have come to the conclusion that both authors view birth order differently. Whitbourne was against the idea that birth order affects a person’s life. She does not believe that myths about birth order should be accepted as fact. Hartshorne, on the other hand, was for the idea that birth order affects a person’s life.

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.

Whether you are the first-born child, middle child, youngest child, or only child, you each have individual traits that make you who you are. According to birth order research, the order at which you were born in your family determines your characteristics. I happen to be the only child. The majority of the birth order research on only children describes me, however there is one characteristic that does not accurately describe me.

There has been significant research over the past century in regards to birth order, however some conflicting results have been reported. A few common items have been found. Primarily, that first borns enjoy a more favorable position within the family as opposed to later borns (Kalliopuska, 1984). This is based on the variable of maternal warmth, which is how much time a parent spends with their child (Smith, 2014). On average parents spend 3,600 more hours with first and only born children as opposed to the ones who are born later (Smith, 2014). ) This could be the factor that is noted as the perceived maternal warmth that impacts the idea of the “more favorable position.” Another key finding is that first born and only children 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.

Whether it 's noticeable or not, the way in which siblings are born can have massive impacts on their lives. Many characteristics set aside by the concept of birth order are known to us already, such as a parent liking one sibling more than the other, parents being more lenient with one sibling, etc. We are able to pick out a person as being the only child or the youngest of the bunch just by talking to them for even a couple of minutes. With this in mind, it’s reasonable to believe that the order you’re born in shows in your personality. But surprisingly, it can also affect how you live and prosper throughout life. This idea that birth order controls how you are going to end up can be seen in the screen adaptations to Tennessee Williams’ plays Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire. Gooper and Blanche, the eldest siblings in the movies respectively, are shown as taking on the burden of their families whereas Brick and Stella, the youngest siblings in the movies respectively, seem to be able to do as they please. Over the course of these two movies, we are able to see these characters fit into their stereotyped birth order characteristics, while also seeing their growth in either out of them or deeper into what they’ve become because of it.

I believe that think that the birth order theory is false because I believe that life experiences are what affects the way our personality is what shapes a person’s persona. In class, we learned that birth order determined our personality in the case of my little brother, I find this to be completely false. For example, in the PowerPoint that was given in class we saw that if you were the older brother you were more of good role model to he or she’s younger siblings and more scholarly and the youngest brother was shown to be the brat of the family being spoiled, blames other etc. From how I perceived my brothers and I’s identity I would say that this is false because in my family we were both treated equally and raised in a similar fashion

As other studies have shown (Roberts & Damian, 2015), birth order had little change in GPA, but still do affect it . They tested 377,000 high school students to come to their final conclusion which is, firstborns usually have a 1-2 point higher IQ than later borns. The studies also show that children with less siblings, usually are from wealthy families who have the money to pay for a better education and tutors which can increase their IQ drastically. The conclusions Roberts and Damian made were, birth order made such a small difference in IQ and GPA that later borns it's had no practical relevance to people's everyday lives. The difference in first and later borns is “statistically significant but meaningless” said Damian (2015).

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

Birth order and personality traits are very negotiable because the past and present life situation have a big role in how an individual will turn out, but if it’s an average Joe family then I wouldn’t be surprised if they were like what has been studied and concluded for obvious reasons. All of the traits one can have are unlimited depending on the type of parents, environment, and there intelect. These things can either be good or bad, still depending on the person and their thought process.