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By Leslie Pittman

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Pittman, Leslie Ms. Verdun AP English IV February 24, 2014

Birth Order and Its Effect on Society

Do your younger siblings agitate you? Is your older sister the epitome of Hitler? Does it seem like your sister gets away with everything? All that and much more should be answered in my essay on birth order. Birth order is defined as the rank of siblings by age.(Birth Order) I believe that birth order is a true and well developed point in psychology, and clearly describes why humans are the way that they are and their sole purpose in this world. Whether you are an only child, older sibling, middle child, or the youngest of 12, you will feel the weight of your age and order of your birth on you.

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Alfred Adler, a theorist who branched off of Sigmund Freud, was the first individual to study the psychology behind birth order. He was born in Vienna and in his later life began working at the Long Island College of Medicine, where he initially studied birth order.(Zimbardo). He concluded

that birth order can leave an impression on the way a person interacts within society and deals with their relationships at home as well as in their careers. He also noted that his theory can be challenged with factors such as the amount of years between siblings, the amount of children in the family, as well as the financial circumstances within the household. (Alderian Overview). The only other issues is if the child in mentally challenged and is forced to take the role of the younger sibling.

Adler began with the oldest sibling, stating that the oldest sibling is more responsible, goal oriented, and organized. The oldest sibling may try to attain power in a situation, which may explain strong leadership skills and helpfulness. They may also feel dethroned or less appreciated when the next child in line is born. This later affects their life because an oldest child may try to embark on a new journey such as finding a new job or developing a new career. An oldest child may also feel a smothering and

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attached feeling to their mother. The parents may place more pressure upon the oldest for perfection. The oldest feels competition when the next child is placed into the household. That is why individuals experience sibling rivalries. Many older siblings develop careers such as president or CEO of a company. Some famous older siblings include Hillary and Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and Winston Churchill.

Adler describes the youngest child as the wildflower. They tend to be spontaneous and different. They are more creative and tend to be more outgoing and sociable than the other siblings. Younger children may develop and make plans that fall through or flake. On the more dismal side of things, the youngest child may be spoiled by the parents. The older sibling may try to imply knowledge on the younger sibling. Later on in life, the youngest child may be less likely to go along with family traditions and may embark on their own. The parents of the youngest child may be more experienced, and thus be more lenient with the youngest child and expect less. The parents of a younger child also may have spoiled the child to dependency and the youngest child may never want to leave home. Some famous babies of the family are Jim Carrey, Steve Martin, and Rosie ODonnell.

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The middle child is a more complex child. The middle child is the child that simply falls through the cracks in the birth order role. They are indifferent to decisions in the household and tend to feel pushed out of the family by the youngest child and outshined by the oldest sibling. Therefore the middle child has the most difficult time being placed into society. They tend to feel more insecure and left out. They dont possess proper motivation and tend look to the oldest sibling for support and guidance. A middle child is more prone to depression. But on the brighter side, a middle child is more known as the mediator. They step in and deal with issues between the oldest and youngest sibling. The middle child might pursue a career as an entrepreneur or mediator because of their problem solving behavior. Some popular middle children are David Letterman, Richard Nixon, and Princess Diana.

Adler discovered many other situations in siblings. He saw cases in twins where the parent treats one twin as the oldest. Twins also are attached to each other and when one twin reaches a milestone in life such as finding a spouse and mating, the other twin may feel lonely and dwell in depression because unlike plain siblings, twins are more naturally attached to each other

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than in a normal sibling relationship. Some well known twins are Tia and Tamara Mowry and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen.(Personality) The only child is considered to be a gift and there are no other children to take its place. They can either take the form of the oldest or youngest child. Therefore Adler says that the only child is spoiled and tends to learn to deal with themselves and work alone. They enjoy being the center of attention and receive the total love and affection of their parents. They are then adapted to adult behavior and can engage easily in adult conversations. Some famous only children are Tiger Woods, Jack Welch, and Maria Sharapova. Adler discusses another particularly interesting child known as the ghost child. It is the child who was born after the death of an older sibling. The parent of the child becomes overprotective. They try to make the new child a mirror image of what they dead child could be. The ghost child then tries to rebel from their parents and journey off from their dead siblings shadow. Adler briefly discusses the changes in humans if they are in a home with all female or all male. For example if a male is in a home with all females, they will be more prompted to assert their manly abilities or the total

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opposite and be feminine. Likewise, a girl with all brothers will be more in tune with her father and develop more tomboyish behavior.(Personality)

Also, in stranger situations, modern scientists have has discussed the role that birth order play in the gay community. They have discussed that prenatal care can determine the sexuality of a child. Author David Puts discusses that with the birth of a son, the chances of a child developing a gay sexual orientation is increased by a third with each child being born. In conclusion, I believe that these traits are accurate, and that in my own personal experience, I have found that Alfred Adlers findings have been proven true. My sister is the youngest daughter and is prone to acting out and misbehaving to seek attention. Im the oldest daughter, which is why I now understand why I tend to have bossy leadership skills. My parents tend to enable my sister, and allow her to misbehave with a simple slap on the wrist and are more strict on me, pressuring me to have good grades and be the perfect student pushing past my potential. So I have understood from doing my extensive research on this research paper that without the science that Alfred

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Adler had created that we as humans would not be able to clearly understand our role in society, nor would we be able to understand why the individuals around us are the way that they are.

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Works Cited

"Adlerian Overview of Birth Order Characteristics - Alfred Adler Institutes of SanFrancisco and Northwestern Washington." Classical Adlerian Psychology - Alfred Adler Institutes of San Francisco and Northwestern Washington. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. "Birth Order and Personality in the workplace." Dattner Consulting. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. "Can birth order determine your career? - CNN.com." CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. Puts, David A., et al. "O brother, where art thou? The fraternal birth-order effect on male sexual orientation." The University of NebraskaLincoln | Go Big | Undergraduate, Graduate and Law Degrees from a Research 1, Big Ten University. N.p., Apr. 2007. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. "Personality." The Stutz's Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. Zimbardo, Philip G. Psychology: Ap* Edition with Discovery Psychology. Boston, Mass: Allyn & Bacon, 2010. Print.