Birth order 2
Birth order 2Birth Order and Personality
Does being first born make people more responsible? If someone is the middle born child, is he or she going to be rebellious? If people are last born are they more likely to be on television? Are first born children inconsiderate and selfish or highly motivated? A person's birth order can affect his personality. Birth order… definitely affects your personality, your attitude, your children, your occupational choice, and even how well you get along with God (Leman, Birth Order 10). There is an awful lot of research and plain old "law of averages" supporting the affect of birth order on personality. It doesn't explain everything about human behavior--no personality test or system can--but it does give us many clues about why people are the way they are (Leman, Birth Order 11).
There are four basic classifications of birth order: the oldest, the only, the middle, and the youngest. Each has its own set of advantages, as well as its own set of disadvantages (Leman, Birth Order 10).
First born children tend to be high achievers in whatever they do. Some traits customarily used to label first born children include reliable, conscientious, list maker, well organized (Leman, Birth Order 11), more oriented toward authority and responsibility (Moore and Cox 19), and tough-minded (Stephens 356).
The first born child is typically the success story in the family. They are the ones that are driven to succeed in high achievement fields such as science, medicine, and law (Leman, Birth Order 13). For example, of the first twenty-three astronauts sent into space, twenty-one were first borns or the very similar only child. In fact, all seven astronauts of the original Mercury program were first born children (Leman, Birth Order 12). Another trait that is often typical of the first born child is the tendency to choose careers that involve leadership. For instance, fifty-two percent of the United State's presidents have been first borns (Leman, Birth Order 44).
First borns are "first come" and they are "first served" by eager parents who want to do this job of parenting better than anyone has done before (Leman, Birth Order 42). This idea helps support research that indicates first born children walk and talk earlier than later borns. They get more coaching, prodding, and encouragement than later borns (Leman, Birth Order 40). When it comes to school work, first borns tend to have higher IQs and be more productive than their younger siblings (Brown 147). Many times the most attention is paid to the first born and along with getting the most attention, the first born gets the most work (Leman, Birth Order 46). More is expected from first borns; therefore, they often grow up faster because they are the ones setting the example for younger brothers and sisters (Leman, Birth Order 46). Many first borns feel...
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