Friday, April 20, 2012

Birth order traits

I don't feel like I did a good job laying out the birth order traits earlier this week at book club. So I gleaned some more information today. Alot of the stuff out there is a bit negative, but I liked these descriptions because they're more positive.


The First Born

Strongest Personality – First borns are usually the leaders. They usually have the characteristics and qualities that enable them to make decisions easily. This maybe due to the special attention they receive since they are the first, and parents would be very excited with them.

Family Minded – First borns take the position of their parents when they are not around, making them the decision makers. They would then think of the family as their own, thus they are protective and responsible for their siblings. They are unselfish and caring by nature.

The Middle Child

Peacekeepers – Middle children are peacekeepers by default. They are the mediators between the siblings. They are sometimes associated as “people pleasers” due to their weak personalities, but not all of them have this characteristic.

Attention Getter – By being born at the middle, middle children do not receive much attention. This causes them to get attention whenever they can through any means possible, so often they become the black sheep of the family. Lack of attention can cause a chain reaction making them lose confidence, friends and so on.

The Last Born

Smartest – By being the last, they have seen the rights and wrongs of their siblings, making them the smartest. Often, the youngest will be exposed to matters between their siblings which are older, thus making them a bit mature for their age.

Spoiled – By this time, the parents are tired of their children. Most of their energies in disciplining the children have been used up, thus having none for the youngest. Because of this, the child becomes accustomed to no discipline at all, making them spoiled and hard headed.

Note: There are a lot of cases where the birth order traits are not consistent. Some factors may alter the effect of birth order, like gender, death and other unusual circumstances.

MORE
Alfred Adler (the pioneer of birth order theory) believed there were four basic types of birth order positions. The oldest child is supplanted by the younger child, which can lead negatively to insecurity or positively to responsibility. A middle child has an older sibling to model his behavior after, which can lead positively to healthy ambition or negatively to rebellious behavior. The youngest child is typically showered in attention, which can lead positively to confidence or negatively to feelings of inferiority. Only children who enjoy the undivided attention of both parents may become spoiled in the negative and confident in the positive. Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/73327-adler-birth-order-theory/#ixzz1sUzAcRQl

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