Birth Order Report

Birth Order Report

Introduction

Birth order effects are complicated by the sex of the children, the number of children, and the age differences between them. There are also potential differences between one's actual birth order in the family and psychological birth order based on such factors as the death of siblings and the presence of stepsiblings and half siblings. In addition, differences in the patterns of behavior observed in firstborns and later born may appear only in the presence of their parents; that is, the differences may be context specific. The first theorist to stress the importance of birth order was Alfred Adler. Adler noted how the firstborn is “dethroned” by the birth of the next sibling, often becomes a surrogate parent, emphasizes the importance of law and order, and becomes a power-hungry conservative. If firstborns fail to regain favorite status with their parents, they may rebel. The second born try to catch up with their older sibling and try harder at life's tasks. They find it hard to follow other leaders. The last born is never dethroned and so may become lazy and spoiled, often experiencing a feeling of inferiority. An important influence on all subsequent human life has the order of his birth in the family and its role playing position. Different positions in the family leads to huge differences in the personality of the children of the same parents. The number of possible positions in the family role is dependent on age, sex and birth spacing. If the age differences is more than five or six years, then every child with characteristics close to the only child, although it will add some quality sister or brother. It is useful to analyze how the combination of the role and serial position effects on the relationship of your spouse. All other things equal, some couples get along better than others because of their role positions that complement each other (Eckstein, 2000).

Discussion

Birth order may also impact other interpersonal relationships. In one study, middle borns had the most positive views of friends and were the least likely to cheat on their sexual partners as compared to firstborns and last borns. Research has shown that firstborns report a significantly greater number of irrational beliefs about romantic relationships than last borns, while a study in the Netherlands found that later borns had higher scores on measures of reactive, possessive, and anxious jealousy even ...