Does Birth Order Actually Have An Affect On Personality?

For around 100 years people have believed that your personality and chance of success changes depending on your birth order. However, according to Goodnet, many researchers and psychologists are hoping that people will get rid of this stereotype.

The theory that birth order affects personality was created by psychologist Alfred Adler in the early 20th century. He claimed that birth order affects both social status and personality. In 1931 Adler wrote “the position in the family leaves an indelible stamp upon the individual’s lifestyle.” 

To explain this theory Adler said that the birth of younger siblings takes needed attention away from the oldest child which results in the eldest child becoming an overachiever and much more conservative. His theory also claimed that the youngest children are lazy and pampered while middle children tend to be attention hungry and the most competitive.

This psychology theory became extremely popular and recognized internationally. Due to its popularity many other psychologists decided to do the research to figure out if it's actually true or not. So does sibling order actually affect personality?

Personality development is still being studied, but most studies use five different traits to determine personality. These traits are openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Using these traits, many different studies have concluded that birth order does not actually affect personality at all. 

The truth is that people are more influenced by their environment and not their birth orders.

Even though recent studies show that birth order doesn't affect personality, it's hard to get rid of these old beliefs. This is because once an idea is accepted by most people, it's difficult to let go of, even when there's evidence against it.