Question

Some theorists believe birth order affects your personality behavior more than you may think. Dr. Frank Sulloway, a psychologist that studied birth order and its effect on personality.

Consider your own birth order and Dr. Sulloway’s findings and conclusions. Do you agree or disagree with his findings? Use examples from your own life, family or friends, and the reading to support your discussion about birth order and persona

Answer 1

• In his book Born to Rebel, Frank Sulloway suggests that birth order has strong and consistent effects on the Big Five personality traits. He argues that first-borns are more conscientious, more socially dominant, less agreeable, and less open to new ideas compared to later-borns.
• I dont particularly agree with his findings as I am a first born and my personality is a mixed bag. Sometimes I am dominant but sometimes I am extremely shy and quite and my second born sibling is quite similar time and less achievement oriented as compared to me. Its not really necessary to have the same traits as explained in theories but the family environment and our own personall experiences shape our personalities over time. Its is quite subjective.
• The factors in the family are myriad and all have some effect, more or less, on every child and while birth order may play some part, the complexity of the family environment will have more of an effect. Every individual is unique and so different traits as well.
• Your life and personality are always changing. You are always under the influence of different factors, even before birth. If I am more extroverted than my second born sibling then theres nothing wrong,I guess we all choose from the experiences what we want to be.