Why Birth Order Really Matters
"I'm not important. All of their attention goes to my older sister and younger brother. Why am I stuck being the middle child?" This might sound familiar, because it shows the stereotypical thoughts of a common middle child. Some psychologists would use this as evidence to support the Birth Order Theory. The theory that states that the order in which one has been born affects their personality has been a controversial topic since the theory was created itself around the 1900's. However, there have been dozens of studies that either prove the theory correct or the exact opposite. Despite the numerous studies that contradict against the theory, the order that one was born actually has a huge impact on his or her …show more content…
Since firstborns have had so much control and attention from their first-time parents, they are usually reliable, well-behaved, careful and smaller versions of their own parents (Gross). Clearly, since the children could only look up to their parents, they would either get the valuable traits that their parents possess like organization, however, they could get also get the not-so-good qualities like stubbornness. This ties together that their order of birth can help with some aspects of their life or not, depending on what they need. Also, “a study of Norwegians born between 1912 and 1975 found that educational achievement was highest in first-borns and diminished the further down the birth order you got, despite little difference in IQ” (“The Birth Order Effect”). This exemplifies that firstborns tend to do better in school, which improves their career-readiness and skills they need for potential employers. This is key because even though the other siblings have close IQ to the firstborn, the other siblings might not be as prepared for their adult life. Even though some of these traits might seem like they are just stereotypes, they define some of the most dominant qualities of a
"I'm not important. All of their attention goes to my older sister and younger brother. Why am I stuck being the middle child?" This might sound familiar, because it shows the stereotypical thoughts of a common middle child. Some psychologists would use this as evidence to support the Birth Order Theory. The theory that states that the order in which one has been born affects their personality has been a controversial topic since the theory was created itself around the 1900's. However, there have been dozens of studies that either prove the theory correct or the exact opposite. Despite the numerous studies that contradict against the theory, the order that one was born actually has a huge impact on his or her …show more content…
Since firstborns have had so much control and attention from their first-time parents, they are usually reliable, well-behaved, careful and smaller versions of their own parents (Gross). Clearly, since the children could only look up to their parents, they would either get the valuable traits that their parents possess like organization, however, they could get also get the not-so-good qualities like stubbornness. This ties together that their order of birth can help with some aspects of their life or not, depending on what they need. Also, “a study of Norwegians born between 1912 and 1975 found that educational achievement was highest in first-borns and diminished the further down the birth order you got, despite little difference in IQ” (“The Birth Order Effect”). This exemplifies that firstborns tend to do better in school, which improves their career-readiness and skills they need for potential employers. This is key because even though the other siblings have close IQ to the firstborn, the other siblings might not be as prepared for their adult life. Even though some of these traits might seem like they are just stereotypes, they define some of the most dominant qualities of a