Birth Order A Theory proposed by Psychologist Alfred Adler

How much of your personality is determined by when you were born into your family?

Birth Order  The majority of your personality is shaped by the time you turn five years old. How you interact with others How you see yourself

First Born (general traits)  Reliable  Mature – adult like (too soon)  Scholarly – does well in school  Leader - serious  Perfectionist – critical of self, activities and others  Organized –list maker

First born babies have drive

Second Born (general traits)  Dethrones the first born  Needs to figure out how to get attention  Finds place in family usually doing the opposite of the first born  Negotiator, diplomatic and friendly  Competes and fights with the first born  Receives all of the first born’s hand-offs

Middle Child (general traits)  Noted for its Contradictions  Feels upstaged by both older and younger siblings and generally feels left out.  Most diverse and hardest child to predict  Tends to be independent. Generally thought to be a “Maverick”  Compromiser and mediator ability to make peace with others  Quieter, shy and avoids conflict  Great sense of justice  Friends and peers are extremely important  Very loyal

Middle Child Cont.  Fewest things  Fewest pictures taken  Not daunted by challenges, must elbow its way through in family situations  Invisible

Last Born (general traits)  Precocious  Engaging and charming  Inconsistently treated spoiled and neglected  Protected by older siblings  Tends to blame others  Walks faster, talks sooner, shows off more  Not as self-reliant  Gets others to do things for them

Only Child (or child born after a 5 year interval)  Tends to be a blend of the first born and last born  Treated as special  Self-reliant and adult like  No competition  Perfectionist

Special Only  Special because of their gender Receives all gender related perks  Special because of how they were born

Blended Family  Birth order remains consistent  Pairing up with sibling of same position for a natural competition  Younger position tend to be more loving and accepting  Older take longer to jockey for position and adjust

Parenting

Birth Order and Parents  Their place in the family influences how they parent  What type of mate they are

Resources & Contributors  Carol Smith  Theorist psychologist Alfred Adler and Rudolph Dreikurs  Kevin Leman author of Birth Order