Birth Order

1907

Alfred Adler (1870–1937)

Why are children from the same family so different from each other in personality and intellectual ability? This is a question posed by psychologists for over a hundred years. Psychoanalyst Alfred Adler proposed a theory of birth order that posited that firstborns receive the lion’s share of parental attention and affection. With the birth of a second child, however, the elder child feels dethroned, while the second child is likely to suffer from feelings of inferiority. The last-born child in a family may suffer from being spoiled by parents. Adler theorized that the poorest outcome would be for the firstborn, due to the responsibility of being the eldest. The middle child, in Adler’s theory, was most likely to be the strongest psychologically. Research since Adler first proposed his hypotheses, in 1907, has not supported his contentions.

Personality theorists have suggested that early-born children were more likely than later-born children to seek to conserve traditional family values. Historian of science Frank Sulloway used this idea to further explore birth order’s effects on creativity and openness to experience in his book Born to Rebel (1996). He argued that first- or early-born children find an advantage in maintaining family connections. Later-born children, however, are more likely to try new ideas and practices, and many find success by breaking away from family traditions. Charles Darwin is a prime example of Sulloway’s Born to Rebel hypothesis: he was the fifth of six children.

Psychologist Robert Zajonc proposed a confluence model of birth order in which he theorized that with each additional child, the family’s intellectual resources are diminished. Other implications of larger families are that there are simply fewer resources of all kinds available to each additional child.

More than a century’s worth of research indicates that firstborn children tend to greater accomplishment than later-born children. This is not the same as saying that only firstborns are likely to be accomplished; in fact, there have been great achievements by persons born first, born fourth, and even born tenth.

SEE ALSO Baby Biographies (1877), Psychosexual Development (1905)

The Marx Brothers (top to bottom): Chico, Harpo, Groucho, and Zeppo. Photograph by Ralph F. Stitt, 1931.