Birth Order, as in the order a child is born in their family, has been a popular topic for researchers and the general public for decades. Originally it was claimed that personality was determined by birth order, and even now there are many stereotypes of the firstborn being mature and driven while the youngest child is often described as wild and rebellious (Bleske-Rechek and Kelley, 2013). Nowadays researchers find birth order and personality are unrelated. Whether or not intelligence is related to birth order is not completely clear as there have been many studies supporting both sides. However, based on the newest research the prevailing attitude is that intelligence is linked with birth order. Last of all an individual’s health seems to have a connection …show more content…
Black et al. (2016) found “First-borns are more likely to be overweight and have high blood pressure and high triglycerides. However, later-borns are more likely to smoke and have poorer self-reported physical and mental health” (Black et al., 2016: 3). According to this study, birth order does seem to affect health but it’s not in a way that is advantageous to firstborns or later-borns. Another study was done on birth order and childhood obesity, taking place in Ina Town, Japan where they studied fourth graders. The results suggested the youngest child had the highest chance for being overweight, while the oldest was more likely to be not overweight (Ochiai et al., 2012). Since overweight children tend to become overweight adults, this contradicts the findings of Black et al. (2016). The difference in results may be due to the differences in where the data was gathered for each study or the generational difference in the subjects used in the studies. Despite the possible inconsistencies between the two studies, both come to the same conclusion that health is affected by birth
The speech “Birth Order Effect” discusses the effects of being born as a first, middle, or last child. After intense reviewing and critiquing on the online speech subject, purpose, thesis, research, organization, delivery, and presentation aids. I’ve have determined this speech to be well presented only having small errors that could have been easily avoided.
The nature- nurture debate has many different case studies, which often questions environmental and hereditary aspects of the nature- nurture debate. A tangent which is focused on in this essay is how the case studies of schizophrenia and IQ, specifically affect twin and adoption studies. This essay will firstly, give a brief outline of the nature-nurture debate and the definitions of twin and adoption studies. Secondly, it will illustrate two main case studies, which are IQ and Schizophrenia studies. Thirdly, will contrast and compare the two and research’s impact on the case studies in regards to nature vs. nurture and finally, will conclude with the impact of the nature-nurture debate and twin and adoption studies.
There are many theories about how an individuals’ personality develop or how different characteristics and traits are formed in people. Psychiatrist Alfred Adler was the first person to suggest that the order a person was born in had a profound effect on the development of his/her personality. He called his idea the Birth Order Theory. Adler’s work on this theory cover the oldest child, commonly referred to as the first-born, as well as, the middle, youngest, and only children. The work of other experts in the field have expanded on his theory to include multiplies (twins, triplets, etc.), step-siblings, siblings with disabilities, and siblings with more than a five years gap. So according to the Birth Order Theory, how does a person’s order of birth contribute to their personality, and what are the commonly shared characteristics in each birth position? Are there other factors that can contribute or influence an individual’s personality development in relation to the Birth Order Theory that needs to be considered? If so, than how accurate is the theory really? I will attempt to answer these question.
Does birth order really affect who we are? Sigmund Freud was the first psychotherapist to say, " a child's position in the sequence of brother and sisters is of very great significance for one course of his later life." The type of person that we become stems from many things including birth order position, gender and the genders of the other siblings. Although personality is affected by many different factors, such as heredity, family size, the spacing and the gender of other siblings, education and upbringing, birth order plays a very important role and gives many clues as to why people are the was they are. Dr. Alfred Adler, a renowned psychiatrist, wrote that a person's position in the family leaves an undeniable "stamp" on his or her "style of living."
Birth order is a key element in gaining an understanding of one's self as well as other people. Through birth order placement, one develops a behavior pattern as well as ways of thinking and emotional responses. This effects all aspects of living such as, expectations, mental weaknesses, marriage, and spirituality. Understanding the birth order characteristics is a simple method in determining how and what makes another individual "tick."
According to Myers (2011), intelligence varies immensely among groups. For example, there are differences between men and women and among racial groups, and these differences can be attributed to many factors such as genetics and location. To note some of the different influences on intelligence, Myers discusses genetic influences. Identical twins that have been reared together have such similar scores on an intelligence test that it is almost as if one person took the test twice. Conversely, fraternal twins produced scores that were not as similar, demonstrating that the more similar genetic makeup of the identical twins played a role in their similar scoring on the test. Myers then discusses the influence differences in environment will have on intelligence, citing that adopted children will have an intelligence level more similar to their biological parents than their adoptive parents as they grow into adulthood. Children in destitute human environments such as third-world orphanages suffered delayed development as opposed to children in nur...
Heritability is a term from the population of genetics. It refers to"the capability of being passed from one generation to the next [1]. Intelligence has for centuries been considered as fixed trait. A number of investigators have taken an approach that intelligence is highly heritable, transmitted through genes [3]. Kinship studies have shown that the habitability of IQ is significantly less than 1.0, and recent attempts to model kinship correlation especially in children have agreed that IQ is influenced both by the child's parent and the environment. Other factors such as parental affection, birth order, gender differences, and experiences outside the family, accidents, and illnesses may account for IQ.
“Most people have an intuitive knowledge that birth order somehow has an impact on development, but they underestimate how far reaching and just how significant that impact is.” Birth order describes not only what order a child is born into a family but also has an effect on an individual's personality, social skills, and success in life. If you are a first born child, does that mean you are a perfectionist, tend to be a natural leader, and are more successful than your younger siblings? Does being born last make you less able to compete in life?
The hypothesis of this study is that in families the eldest child’s personality is Type A and the youngest child has a personality of Type B.
One of the most interesting and controversial areas in behavioral genetics, human intelligence is currently assumed to be subject to both genetic and environmental influences.
Hartshorne, Joshua K. “How Birth Order Affects Your Personality”. Scientificamerican, 22 June 2002. Web. 30 April 2014.
Undoubtedly, humans are unique and intricate creatures and their development is a complex process. It is this process that leads people to question, is a child’s development influenced by genetics or their environment? This long debate has been at the forefront of psychology for countless decades now and is better known as “Nature versus Nurture”. The continuous controversy over whether or not children develop their psychological attributes based on genetics (nature) or the way in which they have been raised (nurture) has occupied the minds of psychologists for years. Through thorough reading of experiments, studies, and discussions however, it is easy to be convinced that nurture does play a far more important in the development of a human than nature.
Someone can physically look like their parents, siblings or even ancestors from the third generation. When a baby is born, it is common to learn in a natural way. No one teaches a baby how to crawl or how to react when he and she is hungry. However, talents, qualities and personalities are developed through experiences. The environment in which people grew up can have a lasting effect or influence on the way they talk, behave and respond to things around. According to Steven Pinker, Behavioral genetics has shown that temperament emerges early in life and remains fairly constant throughout the life span, that much of the variation among people within a culture comes from differences in genes, and that in some cases particular genes can be tied to aspects of cognition, language, and personality (2). Researchers believe that the origin of behaviors occur in genes in the DNA or even animal instincts which this concept is known as nature of human behavior. Other researchers believe that people are they were they are because they are taught to do so. This concept is well known as nurture in human behavior. In society, there will always be the doubt between Do we born in this way or do we behave according to life experiences? I strongly believe that nurture plays an important role in the upbringing of a child and the decisions that one makes in the future. Firstly, humans learn from their environment and other’s behaviors. Secondly, culture is a huge remark in people’s life. Finally,
Personality involves a blend of characteristics that make one unique. In reviewing personality, we consider the influence of the interactions that one is engaged in, the nature or the environment of one's upbringing and genetics. The characteristic traits may change over time while some of them becoming a lasting part of a person’s personality. In this essay will analyze the theories that relate to the character and the various stages that children undergo during development. We will use the same theories and developmental stages in analysis my progress from childhood up to date.
During the 1920’s Alfred Adler began research into a topic that would forever impact the behavioral sciences; he studied the role of one’s birth order and how it influenced personality (Eckstein & Kaufman, 2012). This concept arouses my interest because of how personal it is to me; I come from a larger family and witnessed the very traits they discuss in the article in my siblings and myself as well. Indeed I am a firm believer that birth order is significantly related to presence of certain personality traits in a person because of the different experiences and parenting styles each child grows up with. Additionally, I have devised my own type of principle relating to middle children, like myself, in larger families with lengthy age gaps.