If you’re a psychology student like me, then you’re probably familiar with the idea that order of birth can influence psychosocial development.
This concept was formally introduced to academia by Austrian Psychologist Alfred Adler, who believed that the birth order of a child plays a significant role, specifically, in their personality development.
Adler argued that even though children may have the same parents and may live in the same household, they do not have identical social environments. He believed that being older or younger than your sibling and being exposed to different parenting styles create different childhood conditions that can predict personal attributes.
The Influence of Birth Order: Research on Sibling Ranking
Research on birth order suggests that the rank in which a child is born within a family can influence various aspects of their personality and behavior.
In a survey of 200 birth-order studies, researchers concluded that typical characteristics were associated with people of specific birth-order positions. Examples include high success and achievement for first-born children, high need for achievement for only children, high sociability for middle children, and high social interest for youngest children.
First-borns were more likely to become accountants, lawyers, astronauts, and college professors, while later-borns were more likely to become teachers, musicians, photographers or social workers (Eckstein, et al., 2010).
Even more fascinatingly, simply having older or younger siblings can affect personality and apparently even sexual orientation.
Studies of nearly 20,000 people in England, Wales, and Scotland, and some 3,500 people in the United States, found that the number of older brothers a man had could predict his sexual orientation.
Boys with older brothers were more sexually attracted to men than boys who did not have older brothers. The greater number of older brothers a man had, the greater the attraction to the same sex. Having older sisters did not appear to predict sexual orientation in women (Bogaert, 2003).
Research on First-Born Birth Order Effects
The study of birth order and its impact on individual psychology has given rise to intriguing theories about how a person’s rank in the family can influence their behavior, personality, and even career success.
First-born children, in particular, are often at the center of such research, presumably because they are the first to experience their parents’ parenting style and any subsequent socioeconomic conditions.
Academia and The First-Born: Succeeding on Paper
Research has frequently pointed to the idea that first-borns tend to outperform their younger siblings academically.
Studies in the United States and in Poland found that first-borns scored higher in intelligence assessments, completed more years of formal education, and worked in more prestigious positions than later-borns (Herrera, Zajonc, Wieczorkowska, & Cichomski, 2003). This may be due to:
- Focused Attention: With resources and attention not yet divided, first-borns may receive more intellectual stimulation in early years.
- Raised Standards: They often feel a need to meet or exceed the high expectations set by parents.
Second-born Children
Indeed, much less research has been conducted on second-born children, however, one study of second-born and first-born siblings, conducted over 3 years, found that the attitudes, personalities and hobbies of second-borns were influenced more by their older siblings than by their parents (McHale, Updegraff, Helms-Erikson, & Crouter (2001).
Last-born Children
According to Adlerian theory, more last-borns than early-borns will develop alcoholism, on the basis that last-borns tend to be more pampered and thus less able as adults to be able to cope with the demands of everyday life.
This assumption has been corroborated by research on alcoholism and birth order. Binge drinking in college has been found to be significantly higher among last-borns than first-borns (Laird & Shelton, 2006).
Order of Birth as a Major Social Influence: A Matter of Belief?
And now, we come to one other piece of research. People who did not believe that birth order had a significant effect on psychosocial development were found to be different from people who did.
People who did not believe in differential birth-order effects, one study suggests, score significantly higher in being open to new experiences and significantly lower in neuroticism than those who did believe. So, do you believe?
In conclusion…
While there’s evidence to suggest that birth order can influence life trajectories, these observations are not hard and fast rules.
The individual context, parental practices, and changing environments all contribute to shaping one’s experiences and attributes, regardless of their position in the sibling hierarchy.
