Birth Order Report

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Birth Order Report Birth Order Report Diana Orr Grand Canyon University: PSY 255 June 9, 2013 Professor Julie Carpenter Birth order refers to the order in which a person is born into a family. There are four types of birth order: 1) the first born, 2) the middle born, 3) the last born, and 4) the only child. Some experts say that the order a child is born into a family will affect what type of person they become and their personality traits. In saying this it is only fair to also say that not all experts believe in birth order. This paper will look at those experts who do believe in birth order and the affects they believe arise from birth order. Alfred Adler is considered to be the pioneer in the birth order theory (Roberts, 2011, par. 5). Adler thought that the best way to understand a person’s behavior and personality was to know their birth order and status in their family. Adler believed that there were positive and negative repercussions, depending on how a person responded to their position in the family (Roberts, 2011, par. 4). Frank Sulloway described the stereotypes associated with birth orders. The first-born tends to be more intellectually oriented, more conscientious in their work and studies, and attain higher levels of professional status in life (Salmon & Shackelford, 2007, p. 169). In family studies done by Sulloway and other experts from 1996 through 2007 both parents rated their first-born children as being more self-disciplined, organized and deliberate then their younger children (Salmon & Shackelford, 2007, p. 169). The reason believed to be responsible for these differences is that the first-born children have experienced a different family environment than other siblings have. First-born tend to become a second caretaker for the younger children in the family, which causes first-born children to become more responsible
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