This study is about the connection between the position of birth and the personality traits of siblings. The study focuses on family designs to establish relationships as per the research done by other scholars. According to the existing literature, there is a significant association between birth order and structural traits in siblings due to the development of psychometric intelligence and life dynamics that change as one grows. The research focuses on enlightening the audience on the need to substantiate between scientific reality and pseudoscience; hence, the review aims to explore whether it is true or a stereotype to say birth positions affect the sibling’s personality traits.
Literature Review: Sibling Birth Order Personality Stereotypes and Structure
The purpose of this paper is to explore various perspectives surrounding sibling birth order personality stereotypes and structure. Birth order has been severally associated with the personality traits of different people, although that has been subject to debates and controversies surrounding the issue. For example, there is a notion that the firstborns grow while intelligent with a measure of responsibility by creating risks and becoming parents’ assistants (Cotterill, 2022). Various studies suggest that birth order does not influence the personality of siblings. The reason why this topic is of importance to research is due to the requirement to substantiate the reality of the matter by focusing on the scientific part of it to bring clarity (Raxmonova, 2021). There will be clarity about whether or not sibling birth order has a relationship with personality for siblings if the studies are well explored.
It is significantly difficult to determine whether there is a connection between the variables in this study: birth order and personality. There seem to be pseudoscientific observations made by ancient philosophers and explorers about sibling birth order and the character development of the individuals. For instance, according to Francis Galton, firstborns are more likely to be successful in life than other siblings due to their parents’ attention (Makino, 2018). The unique distribution system referred to as primogeniture insinuates that raising children is different depending on their maternal position and may influence their structure of individual structure in terms of personality. Through this literature review, the audience will be able to learn about the connection between science and stereotypes and how that can be avoided by using evidence-based studies to justify claims.
Psychometric Intelligence
The longstanding question about the position of a sibling and the outcome it has on the person’s life needs to be answered by empirical research on how the variables relate. For example, Boccio & Beaver (2019) conducted their research and found a convincing power that shows a decline of psychometric intelligence from the firstborns to people born later. The trend has been shown consistently by other complementing research that supports the argument. Birth-order effects could be related to the aspect of growing while defining characterization for people who are from the same family. Güler & Hazer (2022) energized the scientific controversy by suggesting a Family Niche Theory that discusses birth-order defects in late. According to Güler & Hazer (2022), there is an adaptation to divergent roles that come with the family system; hence, the possibility of reduction of competition brings cooperation.
There is potential to enhance fitness in the way persons grow to be due to the effect of adaptations facilitated by birth order. In this case, siblings become similar to Charles Darwin’s finches since birth order, reflecting age, size, and power disparities. Based on the outstanding matters, there should be a determination of niches that siblings inhabit in a given family setting. The distinct adaptations to the family metrics are assumed to translate into stability in the personality differences, which is where stereotypes structure from (Fles & Lakey, 2017). For example, the firstborns may have superiority in terms of physicality over the other siblings who are younger than them. Hence, they have high chance of showing dominant traits, which fits the proposal by many theorists that birth order determines attitudes and personal conduct. The dimensions used to measure these matters include the Big Five personality trait, a standard taxonomy commonly applied by psychologists.
Conscientiousness with Age
There is an inherent change in personality as one grows old. Within a family design, people born earlier than their siblings may lead to a spurious relationship between their attitudes and their sibling’s expectations. Where there are large sibships, the differences may be significantly evident between siblings due to the gap in the growth patterns associated with changes that come as time goes on (Usman & Khairullah, 2019). Some people may be born when there are socioeconomic constraints that determine how they reflect on life, unlike others who find a difference in the current and past life occasions.
Specific birth-order effects may be a result of obscure sibship aspects. According to Stillman & Velamuri (2020), the prenatal hypermasculinization of people born later leads to the establishment of attitudes between females and males. It is important to mention that between siblings, those born later have underestimated cognitive ability compared to firstborns. That is why older people prefer to attend sensitive sessions on various matters compared to young individuals. However, birth positions do not have a long-lasting effect on personality since there is an establishment of personality domains from the external world apart from the family.
Population Used
The population used to include a group of young and older individuals who were given the task of analyzing the two variables that would constitute the final, conclusive argument. The people used in the research included ten ladies and ten gentlemen, according to Güler & Hazer (2022). Among the 20 people in total, 8 were university students, 5 of the remaining number were young scholars, while the rest included parents, psychologists, and observers. The empirical studies for Fles & Lakey (2017) required them to present a system of qualitative data about the topic to ensure its clarity. The population included Germans, British, and American citizens. All the individuals performed a thorough analysis of concepts to facilitate the two sides of the matter, which helped deliver academic prosed findings that opened the chance for further investigations.
Measurement Used
The measurement in most of the studies was achieved by describing a phenomenon that adds value to the study. Some of the measured scales by Flies & Lakey, 2017 included nominal, interval, and ratio scales that attributed most of the findings to the critical exploration of figures as per the intervals used. For example, one of the data showed that few people in a family are likely to have immeasurable differences due to the extent of bond created by the family design (Van et al., 2017). One of the participants supported the argument that birth order affects siblings’ personalities by analyzing a framework used in social attitudes as per historical figures in family settings.
Through their observation, detecting subtle effects on people’s characteristics was made possible by variables such as economy, sociology, and mental elements in human life. From all the measurements used, the systematic impact regarding birth order on influence on personality is a key matter in verifying the claims using the existing studies (Volkom et al., 2019). Data were checked for validity and reliability in offering substantial claims in science and reality.
Limitations
Various limitations are evident in the research on this matter. The first limitation is the testing of birth-order effects by using available family designs and between the time frame given (Van et al., 2017). The other limitation was that only data with a single assessment of siblings’ attitudes were used, meaning that other credible information might have been omitted, making the research have gaps not addressed (Volkom et al., 2019). Lastly, multiple channels were put together to obtain data that would be enough to test even a small portion of the variables with adequate influence (Boccio & Beaver, 2019). These limitations do not make research works to be ineffective in addressing the matter.
Conclusion
This study sought to understand why birth order is connected to sibling personality. Through psychometric tests and dynamics that come as one age, it is alleged that firstborns are more intelligent than the later-born fellows since they often attempt to dominate the superiority initiated at early stages. There are also claims that there is no longstanding relationship between the two variables. This topic is important since it covers the gap in the credibility of the stereotypes associated with personality structures. The limitations of personality attitudes include aligning the research to only sibling growth dynamics while sidelining other possible grounds that would help fill the literature by other authors.
References
Boccio, C., & Beaver, K. (2019). Further examining the potential association between birth order and personality: Null Results from a national sample of American siblings. Personality and Individual Differences, 139(8), 125-131.
Cotterill, B. (2022). The relationship between psychological birth-order position and personality type. The Journal of Individual Psychology, 78(2), 238-256.
Fles, E., & Lakey, B. (2017). The personality traits of consensually supportive people. Personality and Individual Differences, 104(3), 87-91.
Güler, K., & Hazer, P. (2022). The relationship between psychological birth order, social anxiety, and childhood trauma. International Journal of Health Sciences, 6(3), 2224-2240.
Makino, M. (2018). Birth order and sibling sex composition effects among surviving children in India: Enrollment status and test scores. The Developing Economies, 56(3), 157-196.
Raxmonova, Z. (2021). The influence of family values on personality development. An International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 11(3), 1855-1857.
Stillman, S., & Velamuri, M. (2020). Are personality traits fixed, and does it matter? SSRN Electronic Journal, 5(2), 11-19.
Usman, O., & Khairullah, H. (2019). Influence of personality, entrepreneurial passion, family environment, and business opportunity on interest in entrepreneurship. SSRN Electronic Journal, 8(4), 7. Web.
Van, M., Guerguis, A., & Kramer, A. (2017). Sibling relationships, birth order, and personality among emerging adults. Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 5(2), 77.
Volkom, M., Dirmeitis, D., & Cappitelli, S. (2019). An investigation of the connection between parenting styles, birth order, personality, and sibling relationships. Journal of Psychology & Behavioral Science, 7(1), 2.