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Born To Rebel Sulloway

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The growing interest on birth order and how it affects personality started when self-help books about birth order began to surface. These books may have some appeal; however, according to ongoing research, the effect of birth order on personality is sporadic at best. The analysis of the connection of birth order to personality was renewed in 1996 when Sulloway released the book Born to Rebel. The research that has come after the release of Sulloway’s book does not focus on firstborn and laterborn children from the same family, but rather firstborn and laterborn children in general from all different family backgrounds. It has been argued that the only appropriate way to test birth order is through firstborn and laterborn comparisons within …show more content…

This measures openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The participants rated themselves on a five-point scale and at the end of the survey, they provide their age, sex, number of siblings, and if they were firstborn or laterborn. The participants’ siblings were also asked to complete the same survey. Moreover, the participants’ friend completed the same survey with the original participant in mind. The participants’ parents received a personalized copy of the Big Five Inventory and were asked to rate both of their …show more content…

If you study a child’s behavior with their parents and with their peers, you will know that personality alters based on who a person is with. A child will likely ignore parents’ suggestions and comments, but if one of their peers makes the same suggestion or comment, they will readily listen to it. Do genetics and environment influence behavior? The answer is yes. If you study an adopted child and their biological family; they will have many of the same traits as their biological parents. Experience is the other influence on a person’s behavior. If a child grew up in a harmful atmosphere, this experience is likely to change their behavior for the rest of their life. Past research and studies on birth order and personality are not always done properly. The author states there are many complexities that come with studying birth order. There has to be sophisticated, careful researchers and enough participants, ideally thousands from different family sizes and socioeconomic status’. There are five studies the author found that fit these requirements and they all concluded that birth order had little to no effect on

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