How Does Birth Order Affect Personality

Birth Order and Its Impact On Personality Psychologists have been interested in the subject of birth order and its effect on personality for over twenty years. The long-standing theory has been that there is little we can do to change our personalities; since this is predetermined by the order in which we were born. Modern research has attempted to debunk this theory, and prove just the opposite. One author, Julie Beck, took notice of a large study done by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Based on this research she penned an article titled, “Birth Order is Basically Meaningless.” Beck lays out a well-organized argument as to why she believes birth order has no lasting effect on personality. I find her article not only credible, but insightful to the critical reader. Beck adds credibility to her claim by acknowledging the other side of the argument early in her article. She writes how influential both Alton Alder and

There were no prejudices made to the opposing theory other than criticism of their research methods. The author relates this message, “People do love to sort themselves into categories, though, whether they’re scientifically sound or not. And any idea that’s permeated culture as much as birth order has is bound to have an effect on how people see themselves” (Beck). This lets the reader understand it’s easy to bottle ourselves in with certain traits out of habit instead of facts. She mentions how if you are assumed to be a certain way based on external ideas, internally that’s how you perceive yourself. Beck leaves room open for the reader to come to their own conclusion on whether birth order has an impact on them personally. She does hold fast to stating that earlier research on this subject was flawed, and that it shouldn’t be used to determine who we are without further examination. She makes her claim, but does not tie the reader to agree with her