There is a theory in psychology books concerning birth order that shows first borns are wired to achieve, middle borns seek diplomacy, and later borns are risk takers. Based on observation of my personality and my sibling's personalities, I feel these assumptions are not true. Even though these assumptions have no substantial correlation with birth order and personality, many popular books suggest these findings according to our textbook. My sister, who is the oldest sibling of us three, is quiet and not incredibly outgoing. However, she is not independent too often and enjoys not being alone. The biggest personality problem I see with her is that she can never make important decisions. She tends to let others make decisions instead amongst groups even if they let her decide for fear of making a mistake. I feel this hinders her ability to achieve and decreased her chance of graduating college in four years because she could not decide for a few years what she wanted to with her life. With myself being a middle child, I feel I do have a good sense of diplomacy because I am an easy-going, type B personality. However, I do not see diplomacy as a "character label" for myself and I have other qualities that define me better than diplomacy. My younger brother is the youngest child of our family and he is definitely not a risk-taker. He is still maturing and trying to become independent as well. I think independence correlates with risk taking to a certain degree.
Birth Order doesn't mean anything towards personality
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I completely agree with you! I don't think birth order truly can determine different personality traits or even shape our personalities. There are usually other factors at play that shape how individuals react in social situations and behave with others. For my family, my sister who is the middle child is probably most "driven to achieve," because she has always taken school seriously and known she has wanted to be doctor since she was eight. As the eldest, of course I want to succeed in my schooling and future career, but I do not think I am as ambitious as my younger sister. With the idea that younger borns are usually more prone to risk taking activities, I almost wonder, if by the time parents have their last child they are less strict and more easy going in their parenting style, compared to how they raised their first child, that later born children take that advantage of that freedom and become risk takers.
I definitely agree that birth order as a predictor of personality is a flawed concept. Within my family I can find exceptions too, and I'm sure this evidence can be found in any family. I am an older sister, and I suppose that I am more "driven to achieve" than my younger sister, but I am also more prone to risk taking activities and new experiences. I feel that the roles you take on and the groups you associate with outside of family ties also play a large role in who you become. So many factors other than birth order account for personality traits that the idea seems somewhat absurd.
I do agree that birth order is a poor predictor of personality. I base this conclusion mainly off the specific personality types of those that I am close to. My older brother has graduated from college but this might very well be overshadowed by my likely acceptance into dental school. Me being the youngest, I find that I am a very calculated and methodical person, unlike what the previously mentioned study supported. I would be interested in reading more on this research and others like it. I wonder what the sample size was and what psychological theories they use to support this. This also makes me curious as if this type of dynamic will be present in my future family.
Agreed. I don't think there is anything that makes one person have specific personality traits based on the time of their conception. I think it has more to do with nurture rather than nature. In my family, I am the youngest and am no more of a risk taker than my other siblings, and the same is said for the other two traits for my siblings.
I agree that birth order does not predict personality. My older brother is a very outgoing person and is very good with people, but was never good in school. I am also good with people and outgoing, but am better in school. I am probably less of a risk taker than him. I agree with the person who said it's more nurture than nature. I have always wondered if birth order had anything to do with athleticism in the child, since I have seen plenty of families with the youngest child being the best athlete in the family.
I absolutely agree with you that birth order has nothing to do with personality. In my family, it's just me and my younger sister who is 17. Growing up I was always the risk-taker. I was the one to push my parents buttons. My sister has always been more reserved, quieter than me, and more of a home-body. We both always have done well in school and have both been actively involved in sports, although my sister is definitely the better athlete.
I agree with you in that birth order doesn't affect personality. I am the first born in my family and I feel like your sister and I are fairly similar. I am not really good with making decisions at all, even if it is just small decisions. And I definitely don't think that my brother is the diplomatic type. I feel like he is definitely more of an attention seeker than anything else.