Does Birth Order Affect the Way You Are?
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.
Using "Bob" as an example, he enjoys being the center of attention. He is obviously an only child. "As an only child, one will develop those characteristics from always having to cope with playing alone and with having to fend off adult intrusion" (Stein 1). Children that are the only child, found from research, seem to have the "Leave me alone, I’d rather do it myself" attitude (Isaacson 1). This would definitely have a thing or two to do with how this child would act and go throughout life. "This child will usually stay on the path" (Isaacson 1). With the few characteristics shown, one can tell that because of being an only child, this person will end up going through life looking at things in a different way than those that grow up with siblings.
Likewise, a child that was the only child, but then has a younger sibling brought into the family will also have different characteristics. "Once the second child is born, there is a feeling of abandonment to the first born child" ( Isaacson 3). "The first born child will show a demanding behavior" (Isaacson 3). "They may even show off just because they want to get the attention that they have lost" (Isaacson 3). Once the second child comes along, the first born child feels that they have the power (Isaacson 2). "This child will usually pursue many different goals quickly" (Isaacson 3). Further on in life this child will more than likely have a different attitude toward life than a child born second or third. "First borns, grow up knowing they are bigger, stronger, and smarter than their younger siblings" ( Cowly 68). In the long run, they will continue to act in this manner and be successful in their own way.
Along comes the second or middle child, which is assumed to get all of the attention. "Yet, the attention toward the second born is lost as the first born aggressively takes it away" (Isaacson...
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...attributed in part to their belonging to a unique social group based on their order of birth in the family" (Kasschau 21). A lot of studies were done and it was found that in most cases, when there were no intrusions on how the family was raised, birth order had an effect on people’s personalities (Leman 33). Just think about it. If one was the oldest, they would feel far more superior than the other siblings (Isaacson 2). On the other hand, if one was the youngest, or the baby of the family, they would get spoiled and wish to be older than the others (Isaacson 4). The middle child usually feels stuck, as if they do not get their way in any situation (Isaacson 3). All of these would affect how a person grows up.
Each individuals personality and characteristics are determined by their birth order. When "Bob," the only child grows older, his attitude and personality upon things will be different than "Joe’s," who is the first born child. Same goes for the second born, third born, and so on. All of these children will grow up with different parenting, caused by when they were born. They will be unlike each other since they were born in that specific order.
The character’s is the movie, Parenthood, are a perfect example of Adler’s birth order theory. Throughout the movie we witness five siblings interacting with each other and raising their children: Helen, Gil, Susan and Larry Buckman. It is quite interesting to see how these five siblings, although they grew up under the same roof, are so vastly different in personality and in their parenting styles. It is also interesting to see how the environment in which each sibling was raised in, had such an impact on the way they raise their own children.
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 smaller families perform well socially and academically. Parents have the means to put their children in better schools and extracurricular activities to ensure that their child is social. Their personality is the biggest factor of how a child is, not because they don’t have another child in the home to interact with. Just because a child does not have a sibling, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have friends and family members to interact with. A child’s personality is what makes them social or not, not the siblings or lack of that they
‘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
There are other factors that impact each sibling such as physical circumstances that include income of the parents and the residents of their community. Emotional stability plays a large part in the development of each person, examples include well adjusted parents, parental experiences and the career of the parents. For instance, what decade and country you were born in and the economy of that country also plays an important role. All of these factors can determine what type of person that child will become. In a large part, birth order and gender determine how other people in your family react and treat you. It also determines your self-image and how you react and treat others inside and outside of your family.
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...
We were raised as a nuclear family. This wasn’t typical in my culture. Due to the belief of not using contraceptives because of religious reasons, families tend to have more than two children. It is our belief that we are blessed with as many children as our Lord will allow us to have. The oldest child is looked upon to help the parents with the little children. As soon as they’re old enough,
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.
Birth order affects everything from personality and character traits to future relationships and career choices. The difference in birth order combined with how parents treat their causes the children to grow and develop differently from the siblings they may or may not have (Voo, Jocelyn). Family is the greatest influence on children growing up, and in what order they were born determines how their family treats them (Leman, Kevin). There are many contributing factors that cause children to grow up and become who they are, but birth order is considered to be one of the most crucial (Gross, Dr. Gail).
An only child and a child with siblings are different in many ways. It all depends on the character of the child. A lot of the differences have to do with how the parents raise the child. If a parent lets their child tell them what to do then obviously the child will display negative traits. This doesn’t just go for an only child it goes for a child with siblings also. Whether you are an only child or a child with siblings, your life can be happy. As long as you feel loved and you give love it doesn’t matter how your family is made up. It is how you choose to live your life.
Many people grow up with a sibling, in fact eighty percent of people in the United States and Europe grow up with a brother or sister (Dunn 1). Most people can agree with the statement that growing up with siblings has impacted their development and personality. This topic has been researched by psychologist and sociologist for decades; which has provided both positive and negative outcomes of growing up with siblings. Children can benefit from growing up with siblings because they can learn from their siblings, gain social skills, and their siblings may become a valuable asset in one’s life.
Before a child has friends they have their family. Everything that they know and love about the world mostly comes from what they see around in their house. Children usually find role models in their family most of the time it is the child’s sibling. Yet only children don’t have that experience of living with another child and begin to develop their personality and traits from what they see in their parents. An only child’s role model is usually their mom or dad. Most of their time is anyway spent with them. Looking up to an adult rather than a younger being can really change a lot about the child’s personality. Only child are mostly known to be responsible and develop good language skills because they are around their parents so much. They may see the responsibility that the parent has and learn how to be responsible from that. They don’t have any influences of seeing a child being lazy and not listening to their parent they just see the work of the parent. Also because an only child’s main person to speak to is an adult they learn how to speak more properly and are able to talk better because they are learning from an expert of speaking that will not make mistakes at saying common words. This is a great advantage later in life for these only children. (Brophy, 1989)