Birth Order & Personality Alfred Adler Birth Order & Personality

Birth order is believed to affect the way a person responds to people, the career you will choose, and the person you marry.

Oldest’s tend to: Have some of the characteristics of only’s since they were only children for a period of time Be high-achievers who take life seriously Be competent and conscientious but quite discouraged if they don’t succeed Strive to please Be critical of themselves and others Have ‘to-do’ lists Be the center of attention Feel rejected at the birth of a second child Have love-hate relationship with a younger sibling Enjoys demonstrating superiority or control over younger siblings Feel that their parents have higher expectations for them and are stricter with them than with younger siblings Enter challenging, high-pressure professions like politics, medicine, law or engineering. 52% of U.S. presidents have been oldest children

Middle’s tend to: Choose to do the exact opposite of their older sibling Have more unpredictable personalities Feel they never have their parents’ undivided attention Have the fewest pictures in the family album Show an extreme loyalty to their peer group with friends being very important Avoid conflict Make excellent managers and good mediators because they have learned to negotiate and compromise Be the most adaptable and tenacious because they are used to life being rather unfair Be creative, artistic or musical Be independent or the maverick of the family Not be as driven as the oldest but not as compulsive either Get less attention than the oldest or youngest but more training for life

Youngest’s tend to: Be labeled the ‘baby’ of the family regardless of their age Be absentminded or expect others to do things for them Feel no one takes them seriously Be outgoing and charming, carefree and vivacious, a ‘people person’ Be the ‘clown’ prince or princess since they can’t be the ‘crown’ prince or princess Learn to manipulate the family system, ‘setting up’ older siblings or gaining special privileges Have feelings of insecurity and inferiority Be treated with ambivalence, coddled and spoiled one minute, laughed at and criticized the next Be taught by brothers and sisters rather than mom and dad

Youngest cont. Align themselves with the oldest sibling against the middle Gravitate toward people-centered professions, making particularly good salespeople and entertainers Have an ‘I’ll show them’ attitude Become a ‘speeder’, overtaking older siblings in achievements In a study of CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies, youngest’s were over-represented compared to their numbers in population

Only’s tend to: Be reliable, conscientious and well-organized Be the focus of attention Use a divide and conquer strategy to get their way Be independent and self-reliant Refuse to cooperate if they don’t get their way Lack of skills of sharing and negotiating when young Strive to please Be quite creative Be more comfortable relating with adults than their peers Set high expectations and be demanding of themselves Have the achievement characteristics of the oldest plus the demand characteristics of the youngest Be drawn to professions demanding strict mental discipline and attention to detail Of the first 23 astronauts, 21 were only or oldest children Some well-known only children include FDR, Leonardo da Vinci, Sammy Davis, Indira Gandhi and Albert Einstein

Factors that modify birth order influence Age Difference between siblings a space of 5+ years may create a 2nd family with birth order characteristics being repeated Gender if a 2nd born child is the 1st born male/female, siblings may have characteristics of oldest child

Factors that modify birth order influence Physical Differences if a 2nd born male is 5" taller and 30 lbs. heavier than the 1st born brother their birth order roles may be reversed. Also, a sibling with a serious physical disability or illness may create role reversal

Factors that modify birth order influence Birth order of parents Parents tend to over-identify with the child in the same birth order position as they held.