Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Genetic and environmental influences on development
The impact of birth order on personality development
The impact of birth order on personality development
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Genetic and environmental influences on development
Birth Order Birth Order of children can affect many things. Such as their personality, success in life, the way they act, and even their romantic partners later in life. Birth Order is the rank of siblings by age. Meaning in what order they are born, like only child, first born, second born, third born, ect., and the middle child. (www.parents.com) (www.cbsnews.com) (www.devinecaroline.com) (www.childdevelopmentinfo.com) An only child has many privileges and luxuries, but also some troubles. They are often faced with loneliness, lacking siblings to play with. They do get all of their parents undivided attention, though. Which is the sole reason as to why they are self-focused, and highly motivated, making them perfectionists. Unsurprisingly this category is separated by gender also. The female species are more comfortable and okay with getting their advice and reasoning from others before doing anything for themselves. But, the male species, on the other hand, set high goals and standards for themselves when dealing with their careers, making them driven to succeed independently. Only children usually get along with their elders rather than people their own age. These children are often spoiled and pampered, by their parents and other people in their family, making them rely on others to do their tasks for them. The reason being that they feel incompetent because everyone around them is older and more capable of everyday tasks. They mostly enjoy being the center of attention because they feel special. But when they don't get their way, they feel mistreated and misplaced, making them refuse to cooperate. When these children grow up, they don't drop the need to model society. They strive to have everything in order at events t... ... middle of paper ... ...y will still be attention seekers and normally pampered. (www.parents.com) (www.cbsnews.com) (www.devinecaroline.com) (www.childdevelopmentinfo.com) Different children, whatever their birth order, they are all unique and specialized into an incredible person with their own personality and creativeness waiting to blossom when they grow up and become the phenomenal person they are destined to be. Works Cited Voo, Jocelyn. "Birth Order and Personality." Parents Magazine. American Baby, Aug. 2006. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. Rice, Susan, and Haley Barbour. "Personality Traits Linked To Birth Order." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 10 June 2002. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. "Birth Order." Child Development Institution. N.p., 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. Santillano, Vicki. "Does Birth Order Affect Romantic Compatibility?" Divine Caroline. Divine Caroline, 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
The achievers, the gamblers and visionaries, and the undefined, this is how Jeffery Kluger describes the oldest, youngest, and middle child in his article “The Power of Birth Order” (409). The birth order is a phenomenon, studied by many scientists, that has been impacting the way siblings think and act for years. The birth order classifies the oldest child, who is the achiever; the middle child, who is a hybrid of the oldest and youngest; and last but not least, the youngest child, who is the adventurer of the family. The fact that the birth order affects the personalities of siblings is becoming more and more evident and the classifications of the firstborn, middle child, and youngest child have been proved to be very accurate.
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.
Children in large families are always forced to share. Children in smaller families believe that they are the center of attention because their parents have only one or two kids to support. Only children are often anti-social because they haven’t always been exposed to other children. Children who are not exposed to other children will become loners.
‘Birth order theory can help explain why children raised in the same family environment with a strong genetic relationship can have such different personalities’ (Drysdale, 2011). The birth order theory says that ‘first-borns are leaders, the drivers and the responsible type. They love to feel in control and feel uncomfortable with surprises or feeling out of their depth. They are conservative in their outlook’ (Grose, 2013). The personality theory says that last-borns are majorly different to first-borns in their characteristics and traits. It states that last-borns are ‘the
Well, I am the first born out of 5 children, this, in a certain way has a lot to do with my particular
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."
The patterns of birth order have been seen for centuries, although it was not studied exclusively until around the 1980s. There are many factors that play into a persons personality, such as their genetics, the way they are raised, and their environment. Birth order looks at a persons place in their family—if they are the oldest, middle, or youngest child—and provides commonalities between them and others in the same location in other families. While there are many variations, the general traits do apply. Research shows that the first born is typically a leader in the family and in other areas of life. The youngest child is usually light hearted and social. The one that is hardest to put a type to is the middle child. He or she will frequently try to blaze their own path, straying from the one that their older sibling made. I believe that birth order plays a part in a person’s personality, but that the way they were raised is also a very important variable. A child’s birth order, along with the way they were raised, is a major factor in the way they interact within their family and other groups.
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.
Many factors can shape a persons a personality, it could be their environment, peers, family, siblings, but one wouldn’t think that their birth order can too. The last factor will be the one topic I will be getting into more depth in this essay. Either being born first or last it will have a huge impact on your personality (Parents magazine 2006). The first to introduce the theory of the impact birth order has on personality was psychologist Alfred Adler in the early 20th century. This started a new interest in many on this research (Lesley Ogden 2013). His theory suggest the common personality traits each first, middle, and last borns have. Let me start off with the first born of the family and work my way down. The first born is the child the family “practices” on you could say. First time parents have no experience on parenting, and they want to try their best on raising a good child which causes them to be stricter. This causes them to put more pressure on the first borns to do better at everything they do. Which can make them become perfectionists and high achievers. But they want to be noticed and praised by their parents when they do well. This too however develops them to become leaders, especially if they have siblings their parents want them to set an example for (Brooks 1984). Independence, reliability, and respect for authority are other traits that this group may has. They are highly intelligent and get high qualifications in school. They can also be serious and very mature for their age. Because of this nature, this group tends to get along really well with their elders. The pressure of carrying responsibilities (and at times even being forced upon) at an early age can bring negative factors. For the reason that it c...
Being a dad’s only daughter is by far one of the greatest things in this world I believe. In Sandra Cisneros essay “Only Daughter”, she tends to believe that living life, as the only daughter in her family may not be one of the greatest situations. Throughout her essay she describes how she feels in great depth from her personal point of view. As the only daughter in the family out of six brothers, Sandra knew she needed some motivation in her life. Being the only daughter in a family can have many affects on a person, including making them spend time alone, having high expectations, and holding a specific destiny in life.
Wouldn’t it be funny if we were taught from the top down, makes as much sense as building a house starting with the roof and ending with the foundations? Sometimes is done like this quite often, as a result we have a distinct variety of people known as “Middle Child Syndrome.” Middle Child Syndrome is not something that occurs often in a family, usually only once but it may happen more than once, I would pick up a book on the subject sometime if you are still curious after reading this. There are a lot of qualities that go into the recipe of making the middle child. Lets go into describing them in terms of myself.
Each child is unique. Each a pleasure to watch grow up. Some types will keep you broke, some mad. Others will have you rolling in the floor, while still others will have you so confused you seek a psychologist for better understanding. All types take a different path down the road of life, but all are capable of ending up in the same place with guidance and direction. My advice would be to just enjoy them, love them, and cherish each moment. It doesn’t last long.
In what order children are born in also relates to the size of their family. Someone might be an only child, or have multiple siblings. All that depends on how many children their parents choose to have. Having more children means that money, time, and attention have to be divided between the children (Hartshorne, Joshua). The first born child is likely to receive more attention from their parents, as apposed to a second born, who’s parents are likely to be less attentive the second time around. Kevin Leman said, “Every time a child is born, the entire family environment changes. How parents interact with each child as he or she enters the family circle determines in great part that child’s final destiny.”
First of all, an only child is much more demanding than a child that has siblings. The only child wants to have things done right away. When my friend tells her mom that she needs clean clothes, she expects her mom to wash them right away. Her parents do not know how to say no. If her mom would not wash her clothes right away, then she becomes very upset.
Only children are also commonly known to become more mature faster then other children who grow up with siblings. Their maturity grows faster because again adults surround them most of the time. They copy what they see their parents do and they try to fit in and be like the parents. As other kids with siblings they would try to fit in with their siblings but only children have their parents to fit in with. (Koontz, 1989)