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Birth Order Research Paper

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Effects of Birth Order
How does one’s order in the family affect their personality? "The one thing you can bet your paycheck on is that the first-born and second-born in any given family are going to be different," says Dr. Kevin Leman, a psychologist who has studied birth order since 1967 and author of The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are (Revell). How can two people with the same genes be on opposite ends of the personality spectrum? Birth order. Psychologists such as Leman believe that this is the truth; one’s personality and how one is treated by their family relates to the order in which they were born. Birth order definitely makes a difference in one’s personality. Beginning with the first-born child, parents are presented …show more content…

They have an idea of the things that work; but this child will be completely different. Therapist Meri Wallace says, "The middle child often feels left out and a sense of, Well, I'm not the oldest. I'm not the youngest. Who am I?"(Parents). This may cause them to seek attention with peers and reject parents. “In general, middle children tend to possess the characteristics of people-pleasers, are somewhat rebellious, thrive on friendships, have a large social circle, and are peacemakers”(Parents). Middle children are commonly rebels and not as high of achievers as the first child is. However, Dr. Leman says, "Middle children are the toughest to pin down because they do play off their older sibling"(Parents). There are always factors that will determine who one’s child is. Gender and age distance between the first child play a role in the characteristics also. “If the firstborn child is a boy and the middle child is a girl, she may possess first born characteristics because although she is technically second-born, she is also the firstborn female”(Parents). The middle child’s strength is being flexible and social. They compromise. The characteristics of middle children are not lost as they grow up. “Common career fields for middle children include public service, caretaking, education, construction, and law enforcement”(Best Psychology Degrees). “Famous middle children include: John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Princess Diana, and Cindy Crawford”(Best Psychology

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