Birth Order by Frank J. Sulloway Certainly, many individual traits and tendencies among brothers and sisters are the products of a unique arrangement of genes. But birth order also plays a key role in shaping a child’s personality: Sam and Henry, as well as their 3-year-old brother, Joe, are all different from one another in part because of the order in which they were born. We ” ve all heard the stereotypes: Firstborns tend to be perfectionists; middle kids, peacemakers; babies, spoiled rotten. But the reality is much more nuanced. Though kids in the same birth position often do share certain character traits, the variables within each family determine the degree to which they fulfill or defy the propensities of birth rank.
The youngest of any family may be more freewheeling than the firstborn but won’t necessarily turn out to be a brat. In this reading titled, “Birth Order”, Sulloway focuses on birth order and evolutionary psychology, birth order and personality, gender age and achievement, and creativity. Sulloway believes that birth order fosters differences in personality that in turn correlate with differences in creative achievement. There are many aspects in ones life that shapes a person’s creativity and self-worth in the world. When you are born in your family could possibly shape who you are.
Sulloway explains in his article the birth order and how it is different for each child. The Oldest child: Highest achievers; Highest IQ; Greatest educational success and fewest academic problems; Highest motivation and need for achievement; Over represented among college students, graduate students, college faculty, and other learned groups; Most affiliate under stress; Least conventional sexuality; Most affiliate. Middle child: Fewest “acting out” problems; Sociable; Greatest feeling of not belonging; Successful in team sports; Relates well to older and younger people; Competes in areas not attempted by oldest; Lowest need for intellectual achievement. Youngest child: Greatest over-representation of psychiatric disorders; Most likely to be an alcoholic (increases with family size); Empathetic; Highest representation among writers (especially autobiographers and family historians); Over-represented in activities involving social interplay; Most popular. Single child: High need for achievement; Highest achievers (except for Oldest Child); Most likely to go to college; Most behavior problems; Lowest need for affiliation; Most need for affiliation under stress; Loners and lonely. In this reading it states that through research and testing they have found that birth order plays a huge part in shaping someone’ creativity as well as self worth.
The Term Paper on Birth Order Children Born Richardson
... people in other birth orders. In addition to not having any experience in dealing with younger children in the family, they are unaccustomed ... have. They tend to be less concerned about the child's safety and achievements and have more of a 'laissez-faire' attitude ... jobs or invest in high risk financial ventures. (Richardson 104) Careers held mostly by last born children include; actors and actresses, ...
My Ideas I believe a lot of what Frank Sulloway said in his article. There are so many factors that shape who we are and birth order is definitely one of them. In my personal experience, I am the middle child and I have an older brother as well as a younger one. We have some of the characteristics and personality traits that Sulloway described. There are some many things in our environment that molds us into who we are. Being the middle child, I was always the mediator, the one that did everything moderately.
I tried to be social able at all times. These personality traits have followed me throughout my life. Some of these traits might be brought on by my surroundings, some might be inevitable or biological. Maybe it is a coincidence but many children follow these characteristics that might be brought on by birth order.
