Birth Order

I just finished doing a lot of research on Birth Order and it's effect on personality for one of my classes. I find it really interesting. So I thought I'd post a little bit of it. These are the qualites that firstborn, middles, and babies of the family usually have. See if it fits. ANd my graph wouldn't copy and paste over so it's just the words sorry if it's confusing. Also so I don't get sued this particular part is from Dr. Kevin Leman's book on the subject. (p.s. Erica when I told you you have a lot of the first born qualities, I was only meaning the good ones).

First Born Children
Typical Traits Strengths Weaknesses

Leadership ability
Take charge, know what to do
May undermine the initiative of those who lean on them too much or may come off as too overbearing or aggressive
Aggressive
Command respect; others want to follow their unflinching leadership
Can run roughshod over others; may be insensitive and tend to be selfish; too focused on the goal and not on the feelings of others
Compliant
Cooperative, easy to work with, good team player
Can be taken advantage of, bullied bluffed
Perfectionistic
Always do things right and leave no stone unturned to do a thorough job
Tend to criticize themselves and/or others too much; never satisfied; may procrastinate because they fear they cannot do a “good enough job”
Organized
Have everything under control; always on top of things; tend to be on time and on schedule
May worry too much about order, process and rules and not be flexible when it’s needed; may show real impatience with anyone who is “disorganized” or not as meticulous; can be upset by surprises
Driver
Ambitious, enterprising, energetic, willing to sacrifice to be a success
Put themselves or those they work with under too much stress and pressure
List maker
Set goals and reach them; tend to get more done in a day than others, planning the day is a must
May become boxed in, too busy with the to-do list to see the big picture and what needs to be done right now
Logical
Known as the straight thinkers; can be compulsive or to go half cocked
May believe they’re always right and fail to pay attention to the more intuitive opinions of others
Scholarly
Tend to be voracious readers and accumulators of information and facts; good problem solvers who think things through
May spend too much time gathering facts when there are other things that need to be done; may be so serious they fail to see the humor in situations


Middle Borns
Typical Traits Strengths Weaknesses

Grew up feeling squeezed and rootless
Learned not to be spoiled
May be rebellious because they feel they don’t fit in
Reasonable expectations
Because life hasn’t always been fair, they are unspoiled, realistic
Being treated unfairly may have made them suspicious, cynical, even bitter
Social Lion
Relationships are very important; they make friends and tend to keep them
Friends can be too important and not offending them may cloud judgment on key decisions
Independent thinker
Willing to do things differently, take a risk, strike out on their own
May appear to be bullheaded, stubborn unwilling to cooperate
Compromising
Know how to get along with others; can be skilled at mediating disputes or negotiating disagreements
Can be seen as willing to have peace at any price; others may try to take advantage of them
Diplomatic
Peacemakers; willing to work things out; great at seeing issues from both sides
May hate confrontation; often choose to not let their real opinions and feelings
Secretive
Can be trusted with sensitive information; know how to keep secrets
May fail to admit it when they need help- it’s just too embarrassing


Last Borns
Typical Traits Strengths Weaknesses

Charming
Likable, fun to be around, easy to talk to
Manipulative, even a little flaky; seeming to be too slick and a bit unbelievable
People oriented
Read others well and know how to relate and work well one on one or in small groups; social settings and events are their cup of tea.
May come across as undisciplined’ prone to talk too much and too long, the kind who talks a good game but can’t always produce
Tenacious
Keep on coming with tireless persistence, not taking no for an answer
May push too hard because they only see things their way
Affectionate and engaging
Caring, lovable, wanting to help; like to get strokes and the give them
Can be absent minded, a little out of focus- like an airhead
Uncomplicated
Appear relaxed, genuine, and trustworthy- no hidden agenda
May appear to be absent minded, a little out of focus- like an airhead
Attention seeking
Entertaining and funny, know how to get noticed
May appear self-centered, unwilling to give others credit’ having a big ego’ temperamental’ spoiled’ and impatient