Birth Order and Personality Alfred

Birth Order and Personality

Alfred Adler (1870-1937), an Austrian psychiatrist, was one of the first theorists to suggest that birth order has an enormous affect on an individual's style of life, friendship, love, and work. But ever since Adler proposed that there are birth order personalities, other studies have been devised that prove additional factors may influence a child's attitude and adjustment as he or she grows to be an adult. These other strong factors are: parental attitudes; organ inferiority, illness, and disability; gender confusion; or social, economic and religious circumstances. Whether a child is born first, second, middle or youngest does have some effect on how they see themselves, barring any major problems in the above areas. There are some areas where birth order has a definite effect. For instance, research on ordinal position shows first-born children are more likely to go to college than children in any other position in the family (Birth 2007).

A number of researchers say birth order determines how one fits into one's family, has a big influence on how one will act, how well one does in school and how much money one will make, as first-borns tend to earn the most. Birth order definitely influences personality, said Adler, Sulloway and many other researchers in the field. The question that this research is seeking to answer is how much does it affect one's attitude and actions toward life?

Many researchers attempting to prove or disprove the sole effects of birth order, cite the complexity of other influences besides simple order of birth. Adler suggested that birth order does not create direction in personality development, but may be used by individuals as a building block for their freely chosen style of life and imagined final goal. For instance, in the Cowan home, a North Carolina family who agreed to let 20/20 videotape some of their family interactions, the first-born child, Jonathan, is very serious, while his younger sister, Ellen, likes to torture their youngest brother, Jameson. These three children are the perfect example of the stereotypical first, middle and youngest child.

Most researchers say that being first-born makes one more responsible. In the 20/20 program Jonathan is taped intervening in his younger siblings' fight and drags his sister to the kitchen, to tell his mother to discipline her. Jonathan agrees he's responsible. He says it's his job to help parent his younger siblings. "You have to watch over them when the parents are gone," he said (Stossel, 2007). Some paradigms and perspectives are outlined below in the examination of past research and their resulting theories.

Sulloway's Theories look at the literature on the subject of birth order turns up two or three theories on the subject. One of them is by Frank Sulloway, author of Born to Rebel. His 1997 book provides a detailed statistical analysis of thousands of individuals' responses to 28 scientific innovations, such as Darwinism, Copernican revolution, Einstein's theory of relativity, and others. Sulloway finds most of these have been initiated and championed by later-borns, and that first-borns tend to reject new ideas. Sulloway claims later-borns often can't do what their older siblings do, so they tend to rebel and trying to find other ways to get attention, even dangerous ways. "Younger siblings are more inclined to try these experimental, sometimes dangerous things," said Sulloway (Sulloway, 1997, p. 55).

Younger brothers tend to be rebellious and to lead rebellions. Sulloway points out leaders of revolutions, such as Thomas Jefferson, Karl Marx and Fidel Castro were rebellious younger brothers. Older brothers tend to be more conservative, such as former Presidents Carter and Clinton. These two presidents' younger brothers, Billy Carter and Roger Clinton, tried more daring, but less lofty pursuits. Billy had a beer-making business, and Roger tried a singing career, both far cries from trying to become president. Younger siblings "tend to pick interests that are diametrically opposite to those of their older siblings. They're the risk takers, the adventurers, the people who are constantly trying to find something new and different to do," says Sulloway. Sulloway also says later-borns rebel by choosing different professions from their older siblings. Later-borns rebel because they're controlled by the first-born. "Typical first-born strategy is to use the advantages of age, size and power to dominate a younger sibling" (Sulloway, 1997, p. 608).

Conley's and Others'Theories

But Dalton Conley, author of the Pecking Order, another book on the effects of birth order, says, "birth order makes about as much sense as astrology, which is almost none.." The Pecking Order talks about how many other factors affect the behavior of first-borns and last-borns much more strongly than birth order. Conley responds to Sulloway's data with the claim that it is quite selective, relying on cases that support his claims and ignoring those that don't. "Early death of a parent, timing of economic shocks to the family, gender expectations and roles in the family, you name it," it claims, "outside influences, random events -- birth order is basically at the bottom of that list" (Conley, p. 5) .

In his book Born to Rebel, Frank Sulloway suggests that birth order effects on the Big Five aspects of personality (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism) are strong and consistent. He argues that firstborns to be more conscientious, more socially dominant, less agreeable, and less open to new ideas compared to laterborns. However, critics such as Fred Townsend, Toni Falbo, and Judith Rich Harris, claim to have refuted Sulloway's theories (John, p. 66).

In their book Sibling Relationships: Their Nature and Significance across the Lifespan Michael E. Lamb, Brian Sutton-Smith, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates make the point that sibling relationships often last an entire lifetime. They point out that the lifespan view proposes that development is continuous, with individuals continually adjusting to the competing demands of socialization agents and endogenous tendencies (Lamb, 1982).

Adler's Evolutionary Theory of Birth Order states that competition between species, within species and within genders for status, power, resources and mates are what evolution depends on. "There is competition also within the species between the genders for less relative investment in their offspring. Within the species there is competition between parents and children for resources. Within species and between siblings there is competition for power and resources" (Stossel, p. 3).

While siblings compete for emotional, physical and intellectual resources from the parents, certain "niches" in the family are available. Depending on sibling position, they try different patterns of adaptation and different personalities to fit into these niches. The adult personality is determined by how the child adapts to the niche in the family and is also a strong determinant of their thought and behavior out in the world. (Stossel, p. 3).

Dattner and Theories about the First-born

Ben Dattner is a business consultant and professor at New York University. Dattner believes there is a greater probability that first born children will support the status quo relative to later born siblings, and tend to be more extroverted, confident and assertive,. Negatively, they tend to be conformist, politically conservative, authoritarian, dominant and inflexible. First-born tend to be task-oriented, conscientious and disciplined. However, they are concerned about and fearful of losing position and rank and defensive about their errors and mistakes (Dattnet, p. 3)

Research shows that as the first-born is an only child for period of time; and used to being center of attention. The first-born also: a) Believes they must gain and hold superiority over other children. b) Believes that being right, and controlling others is important. c) May respond to the birth of a second child by feeling unloved and neglected. d) Strives to keep or regain their parents' attention through conformity. e) if this fails, the first-born chooses to misbehave. f) May either develop competent, responsible behavior or become very discouraged. g) Sometime strives to protect and help others. h) Strives to please (Birth, p. 4).

While Dattner finds lots of variation in the first-born, Sulloway's studies generally show that firstborns are more conscientious than later-borns, a difference that is exemplified by their being more responsible, ambitious, organized, and academically successful. Later-borns emerge as being more agreeable than firstborns, in the sense of being more tender-minded, accommodating, and altruistic (Sulloway, 2001, p. 46).

Second-born

Dattner claims that second-born children cannot occupy the first-born's niche, so they tend to be less responsible, but open to new experiences, rebellious and unconventional. They are more likely to embrace change and innovation and focus on relationships. Less academic, they are better at using social intelligence and humor. Second-born children may take on first-born attributes if there is a high degree of conflict between the first-born and the parents or if the first-born is disabled or extremely shy (Dattner, p. 7).

The mainstream research indications are that the second-born: a) Never has the parents' undivided attention. c) Always has a sibling ahead of them who is more advanced. c) Acts as if they are in a race, always trying to catch up or overtake the first child. d) if the first child is "good," the second may become "bad." e) Develops abilities the first child doesn't exhibit. f) if the first child is successful, they may feel uncertain of themself and their abilities. g) May be rebellious. h) Often doesn't like their position. i) Feels "squeezed," if a third child is born. j) May push down other siblings (Birth, 5).

Laterborns tend to use low-power strategies, such as whining, pleading, humor, social intelligence, offers of reciprocal altruism, and, whenever expedient, appealing to parents for help. Two or more laterborns may also join forces against the firstborn, or laterborns may team up with their elder siblings in an effort to dominate their juniors (Sulloway, 2001, p. 47)

Middle Children

Middle children may not employ the oldest's rank and strategies for success. Neither can they use the youngest's ploys to gain approval and power. To make their way in the world they must be more diplomatic and skilled at negotiation, peacemaking and compromise. They tend to have good friends and because of differentiation between adjacent siblings, tend to be similar to the siblings who are not next to them in birth order. The middle child of three is usually different from the middle child of a large family. The middle children of large families are often less competitive as parents don't have as much time to give each child and so the children learn to cooperate to get what they want (Birth p. 5).

The Middle Child is the one most pitied by researchers who find the middle child to be beset on all sides with unassailable barriers. He or she cannot compete with those older, nor can they compete with a youngest, who has the undivided attention of the parents. Most research finds that he Middle Child: a) Has neither rights of oldest nor privileges of youngest. b) Feels life is unfair. c) Feels unloved, left out, and "squeezed." d) Feels as if he or she doesn't have a place in the family. e) Becomes discouraged and a "problem child," or elevates him or herself by pushing down other siblings. f) Is adaptable. g) Learns to deal with both older and younger siblings.

Sulloway dealt quite often with the middle child in his research. He found that:

Middle children often respond to their Darwinian handicap by becoming peer oriented and independent of the family. Compared with firstborns and lastborns, middle children are less closely attached to the family, less likely to turn to their parents for help in an emergency, and less likely to report having been loved during childhood. Middle children are also likely to live farther away from their parents. In addition, they are less likely than their siblings to visit close kin (Sulloway, 2001, p. 48).

Youngest Child

The youngest child is the subject of some research, but is often overlooked because so much attention is paid to middle children. However, youngest children tend to have clearly definable personalities. They are both spoiled and dependent, yet often feel inferior and overwhelmed by all the older people in their lives. Sulloway had an interesting resulting comment on the evolutionary aspect of tending to all children of a family and the youngest role:

Whenever resources are scarce and children are still largely dependent on parental care, parents are expected to invest preferentially in eldest surviving children because they are the first to reproduce. Parents are also expected to invest preferentially in youngest children because these offspring are the most needy and vulnerable to disease and, after parents have ceased reproducing, are the last children they will ever have (Sulloway, 2001, p. 48).

Mainstream research finds that the youngest child: a) Behaves like only child. b) Feels every one is bigger and more capable than they. c) Expects others to do things, make decisions, and take responsibility. d) Feels smallest and weakest. e) May not be taken seriously. f) Becomes the boss of the family in getting service and their own way. g) Develops feelings of inferiority or becomes a "speeder" and overtakes older siblings. h) Remains "The Baby" forever, and places others in service. i) if he or she is the youngest of three, often allies with the oldest child against the middle child.

Only Children

Because only children are raised by two adults without the buffer or competition from siblings, youngest children tend to: a) Be pampered and spoiled. b) Feel incompetent because adults are more capable. c) Be the center of attention; often enjoying the position. d) May feel special. e) Be self-centered. f) Rely on service from others rather than their own efforts. g) Feel unfairly treated when doesn't get own way. h) May refuse to cooperate. i) Play "divide and conquer" to get their own way.

Only children are similar to first-born children. They tend to seek parental approval and are motivated to conform to parental expectations. They tend to be achievement oriented and are good students. Since they do not have other siblings, they are more inclined to do any work themselves, rather than delegate. Gaps of more than six years between siblings creates a child with only-child attributes. Only children usually want to be adults, and so don't relate to peers very well. When they become adults, they often believe they've finally "made it" and can now relate better to adults as peers. During their formative years, only children live primarily in the world of adults. They must learn how to operate in the big people's world as well as how to entertain themselves. Thus they often become very creative in their endeavors (Birth, p. 5).

Genetic Factors

While birth order often affects children simply because there are behavioral activities directed toward the child and the child responds, it has also been found that birth order actually affects the chromosome order as a mother has more and more children in some families. The mother may actually become immune to the hormones in her male children and if she has several males, may eventually create males that have genetic differences from their older brothers.

At least one prenatal factor that is under genetic control is linked with birth order. Among males (but not among females), laterborns are more likely to become homosexuals. Unlike other behavioral attributes associated with birth order, tendencies toward homosexuality are influenced by the number of older brothers, not by relative birth rank from eldest to youngest child.... These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that some mothers develop antibodies either to the hormones responsible for masculinizing the fetus or to one of the male-specific minor histocompatibility antigens. Such immunological responses, Blanchard and his colleagues have argued, prevent male fetuses from being fully transformed from female to male (Blanchard, p. 27).

Special Circumstances and Variables

Variables may affect a child's birth order and personality characteristics, so birth order is not a valid way to "peg" a personality. These Variables, which will be examined during the research in question, may entail tradition of one's race, religion and gender (such as when a family favors a boy, even though the oldest is a girl), culture (when males are honored to the detriment of females, or vice versa), socioeconomic factors (when children are separated or are forced to take roles not typical of their birth order roles), family size (when a family becomes so large that most of the children are middle children and are not differentiated by birth order, but by personality and abilities), attributes of parents (when a parent favors one child, or a parent is absent and a child must take its place), or a handicapped child (when all members of the family must support a child who is not able to function normally). Divorce, additional marriages and half-or step-siblings may also change family size and birth order, if older and younger siblings are mixed into a group or are taken away from a group of siblings. Other birth order factors that should be considered Variables are: the spacing in years between siblings; the total number of children; and the changing circumstances of the parents over time. All of these Variables will be discovered during questioning of the subjects.