birth order

Michael Borovikov
Anne Tam

Birth Order Project
Note: Both group members are first children.
Michael Borovikov has a 3-year-old half brother and a 7-year-old half sister.
Anne Tam has a little sister that is 14 years old.

2.
A. The only child is spoiled early on, and gets used to having everything they want. This child learns to control their parents since they are the only child that the parents care about at the time.
B. The first child is pampered and becomes used to being the center of attention, until they experience dethronement of this attention when the second child is born. The first child is then obliged to maintain superiority over the next children and help their parents to keep as much attention from them as possible.
C. The second child gets divided attention from their parents because the first child keeps some of it. The second child may misbehave or rebel to bring attention to themselves. They are in constant competition with the first child, often exhibiting opposite traits to overtake the first child.
D. The middle child is lonely because they feel left out, having no rights or privileges that the first child and not as much attention as last child has. Parents naturally focus their attention on the first child’s issues, such as college, and the youngest child’s development to pay enough attention to the middle child.
E. The youngest child is the least capable, therefore relies on everyone else to do things for them, since all the older siblings are more intelligent. The youngest child may not be taken seriously, because the older children’s problems are bigger and more important.

3.
a. Both group members agree that first children:
Commonly strive to help other people
Believe they should gain and hold superiority over other children
Like being right.
Keep parents and others attention by conforming.
Are usually competent and responsible.
Strive to please others.
Both group members agree that the youngest child:
Behaves like an only child: is pampered and spoiled, is the center of attention, often refuses to cooperate, relies on help from other people rather than their own efforts.
Becomes the boss of the family by getting their own way.
Thinks they are inferior, and try to compete and overtake other siblings.
May not be taken seriously.
Feels smallest and weakest.
b. Both group members believe that first children:
Do not misbehave when they do not have their parent’s attention.
Do not become discouraged if they do not have competent or responsible behavior.
c. Anne and Michael believe that the first child is the “good guy” in the family, and likes helping people out as well as being responsible and pleasing others. The first child remains the nicest because they believe it is the best way to keep parents and family members attention. The Youngest child feels that the oldest child and the parents have more superiority and are supposed to make decisions and do things for them.
The oldest child normally does not misbehave to get attention unless they are an only child. If the oldest child does not have an experienced or responsible personality, they do not normally become discouraged; instead, they misbehave.

4) No, my group member does not share any common family experiences or issues that may or may not have impacted our birth order characteristics. However, we still share many characteristics of being a first child, and opinions about our younger sibling(s).

5. Michael Borovikov’s birth order characteristics may have been altered by the birth of a half sister and half brother when he was 10 and 14 years old. The birth of siblings late in someone’s life is known to reset the facts about the birth order since there is a large age difference between the first and second child (ten years). Anne Tam’s sister is only 2-3 years younger than Anne, and, therefore, could have a different relationship with Anne than Michael would have with his siblings.

6) We feel the advantages of knowing about birth order and the impact on an individual’s personality are we know how to treat young children depending on their birth order position. We would also know why children behave the way they do and how we could correct it or guide their behavior.

7) We feel the disadvantages of knowing about birth order and the impact on family dynamics are that we might over think what we know, and we might treat children differently because of their birth order. I think it is good to know how to treat children according to their birth order so they do not feel left out or neglected, but if we treat them solely on what we know about their birth order, it might not be very good.

8)The legitimate criticisms of determining personality according to one’s birth order are that they aren’t always accurate. Everyone has their own personality, and even though they follow some of the birth order characteristics, they probably don’t follow all of them. External factors can also have an effect on a child’s personality depending on the type of parents they have or the conditions that they live in, etc.

9) Overall, we agree with the theories related to birth order for us and our family members because we fit many of the birth order characteristics, and we also agree that our siblings fit many of the characteristics for their birth order.