Oprah. Winston Churchill. Beyoncé. Over half of the U.S. presidents. What do these individuals all have in common? They are first-born children. These members of society were the eldest child in their family, a position that is supposedly linked to natural leadership, perfectionism and reliability. Leading their siblings into unchartered parental territory the eldest is often the tone-setting member of the family. But what of the siblings that follow? Is the middle child more secretive and independent due to the attention that their siblings obtain? Or the youngest child—is their natural state outgoing and social, finding relative ease in both? These are questions that have interested psychologists for decades, prompting the study of just what the birth order of families’ means. While researching these outcomes and finding their focus on the factors that may have caused them, the studies take on the trends that come from certain methods of childhood development.
Throughout this webpage one will be able to explore various articles discussing birth order and read a brief overview of what each author is discussing in their piece. The overviews will not be riddled with the complicated language of the psychologist, but rather broken down and easy to understand.
Finally there is the literature review, which will allow readers to see how all of the sources connect together in the theme of revealing a trend in the field. For the purpose of organization the focus will be on birth order in its most simplistic terms—first, middle, last. The research that was conducted and sources that were used will not be focusing on twins, or families that have more than one middle child. Sources will discuss IQ, behavior and the benefits of various roles of caretaker, be they parental or not.
The purpose of this review is to see if the trend of categorizing children in a specific birth order can hold water while treading throughout various sources and points of research. We want to see what the contributions of birth order to the developmental process and progress is and how it might continue past adolescence. How accurate is the assumption of birth order, and what is its margin of error—if any?
Throughout this webpage one will be able to explore various articles discussing birth order and read a brief overview of what each author is discussing in their piece. The overviews will not be riddled with the complicated language of the psychologist, but rather broken down and easy to understand.
Finally there is the literature review, which will allow readers to see how all of the sources connect together in the theme of revealing a trend in the field. For the purpose of organization the focus will be on birth order in its most simplistic terms—first, middle, last. The research that was conducted and sources that were used will not be focusing on twins, or families that have more than one middle child. Sources will discuss IQ, behavior and the benefits of various roles of caretaker, be they parental or not.
The purpose of this review is to see if the trend of categorizing children in a specific birth order can hold water while treading throughout various sources and points of research. We want to see what the contributions of birth order to the developmental process and progress is and how it might continue past adolescence. How accurate is the assumption of birth order, and what is its margin of error—if any?
