What Is Birth Order?

Decent Essays
What Is Birth Order?
Birth order denotes the order a child is born, for example first born, second born etc. Different birth orders depict different characteristics and personalities. It also answers the question “Why You Are the Way You Are?” Birth order is believed to have a fundamental and long-lived effect on psychological development. It has been repeatedly challenged by researchers, yet birth order continues to have a strong presence in psychology and popular culture.
Types of Birth Orders:
Birth order is divided into some different types. Following are the three main types of birth orders:
1. First Born
2. Middle Born
3. Last Born
4. Only Child
First born children are usually very sensitive yet responsible and high achievers. They are

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Future studies should examine the different family dynamics that go into play. Single moms or dads, blended families, same sex marriages, adoption, death and divorce can have a huge effect on the child’s personality regardless of their birth order. Adler did not address birth order effects in blended families, because they were uncommon in his time. However, they are much more common now.…

    • 211 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    ABO, or actual birth order, is the order in which you are numerically born. ABO affects children in many ways, even ways that are not visible to the human eye. All children are treated differently. Two children, both age sixteen, one male, one female, placed in a home for a week with a family…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Essay On Randall Pearson

    • 1805 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Adler’s theory of birth order mainly focuses on the dynamic of only children, first-borns, second-borns, youngest children, and only children, but she also does have some research on multiples and adopted children. She took each of these children and describes them by their characteristics, struggles, and likely outcomes. Adler says that the position of a person’s birth order has an impact on their personality development throughout childhood and into adulthood. Adler describes the youngest-born children as the ‘pet’ of the family and can potentially be dependent on caretakers as they have the tendency to be “babied”. They are said to develop at a fast pace and surpass the other children.…

    • 1805 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Birth Order "The one thing you can bet your paycheck on is that the firstborn and second born in any given family are going to be different," (Voo 1). Doctor Leman, a psychologist that has been studying birth order since 1967 has noted this throughout his years of research. Whether first born, middle child, or the youngest in a family, there are going to be certain personality traits that are commonly found in a person depending on the order of their birth. For an example, usually it can be quite difficult to find a comedian that is a first born child (Cowley 17) because usually the youngest is the more of the out going person and not as much of a conscientious and structured person.…

    • 1713 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I am a middle child. I was born two years after my sister Meredith, and Caleigh came six years after me. Within my family and friends, I am known as the quiet, quintessential middle child. For the first 16 years of my life, I was always an afterthought to the craziness of the first-born and the baby of the family, and I loved it‒ it made me independent and self-reliant. I was very comfortable being the easy-going child, happily accepting anything that came my way.…

    • 210 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    According to Sommers-Flanagan and Sommers-Flanagan (2012), Adlerian theory stressed on individual psychology where individual keenly shape themselves and their surroundings. The concept birth order is one of the components in this theory. Basically, birth order is used to define and describe one’s personality and to predict human behaviour. The reason I choose Adlerian birth order theory is that it has impact me in developing certain…

    • 1688 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Birth Order Every family is unique, not one person is the same, and everybody has different personalities. In the article “The Achiever, the Peacemaker, and the Life of the Party: How Birth Order Affects Personality” by Dr. Gail Gross, she explains these scenarios about the birth order and how you may relate to them. Living with my aunts and being the youngest makes me relate to the last scenarios. But later on when my mom had my brother I became the oldest and, I matured, then I started to relate to the first scenario more. Living with so many girls (five), plus my grandma, I have learned so many things, bad and good.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In psychology, there is a very contentious topic called the “nature vs nurture” debate. The “nature” of the argument states that a child's personality, behavior, culture, etc. is shaped from their genes, and it is all hereditary. The “nurture” side of the debate argues that all these things are shaped from a child’s environment and experiences. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates written by Wes Moore, supports the “nurture” side of the debate. The book follows the lives of two young boys, both with the same name, and how their environments and people around them influence their decisions and their futures.…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are many popular beliefs about birth order involving personality and intelligence. While some of these beliefs have research evidence to confirm them; there are also multiple factors that determine a child’s development that can affect birth order. Researchers must consider mechanisms, series of measurable events that can be link to the outcome. Examples of the mechanisms are different prenatal environment or social and emotional changes. In addition, parents may be more skilled in care, be less excited about a later-born, and experiences with siblings.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagery is used as a key device to show how birth order influences the personality traits of siblings. In the case of The Hunger Games and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe imagery is used to reinforce Katniss’s role as Prim’s guardian figure. This is evident when Katniss wakes up one day to find out Prim is gone, “When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother(Collins 3)”.…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A problem with middle children is that they tend not to be as driven and are more laid back. They are good at going with the flow when the time is right, but when presented with opportunities they tend not to jump on it like others would which can become a slight downfall in their lives. The traits of being irresponsible and charming are often found in the youngest child. The youngest child is different from its siblings in many different ways.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In class, we discussed the topic of birth order and how it shapes and affects the children in their respective order. Many people believe that birth order automatically says something about an individual: such as how they think or how they act. While discussing this topic during class and in our small group discussions, I began to reflect on my personal experiences relating to birth order. After becoming more informed, my views and thoughts of birth order reformed based on the new knowledge I gained. Birth order is not a reflective of personality it is a result of parenting styles.…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Birth Order Research Paper

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages

    I agree with Dr. Adler’s idea that birth order can influence someone's expectations, personalities, and experiences. Birth order sets expectations for the oldest child to answer to duties in their families. According to Adler’s theory, families set roles for their oldest child…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My Literacy Analysis

    • 2103 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Although the experience of being the oldest and having some kind of influence towards my three sisters was a blessing, I can say being the first child wasn’t all fun and games, there were some rough patches along the way.…

    • 2103 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Personal Response Human beings are forced to face certain adversities in life to define who they are? And what do they stand for in ethical values to reinforce who they are. In life each individual is different as the circumstances are not the same to everyone however how we react in those circumstance made who you are. Certainly everyone reacts different, but some factors help in shaping who we are as is the cases of baby, they relieve in their parents, their environment and the values they grow up are the tools and make a great difference in how they will react and allow those decisions to shape their identity. Some psychologist belief in the theory that depend their environment and parents enroll in their life will mark in their identity…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays