Influences of Birth Order on Personality.
"If there is any recognition of the soul, then it must be as a goal-directed unity, whose parts can only be understood if one has come to understand the whole."" Alexander Neuer makes a good point that if someone wishes to fully understand another they'll succeed if they try to understand the whole individual and every aspect of their life. So, which factors should be considered when trying to appreciate and identify with someone else? Well, there are many factors of course. Some simple elements would be gender, age, ethnicity, race, social economic status, income, and the list can go on. However, when it comes to understanding people, the aspects of birth order have a lot to offer. This factor might not seem any more relevant but, one's birth order can have a major influence on one's own personality, communication patters, and social life, all of which can help in understanding the depth of someone's "soul."".
Generally speaking, birth order is defined as the position of being either an only child, first born, second born, middle child, or last born in a family (Leman, 9). This may sound simple at first, but birth order has many different levels and can be very complex. On the whole, birth order suggests that one's birth position in a family can help explain certain areas of our personality. For example, there are certain characteristics that are linked to first born and only children. In short, they are usually characterized as being perfectionist, determined, dependable, motivated, over-achieving, loyal, self-reliant, and people pleasers (Leman 39). In fact, "of the first twenty-three astronauts sent into outer space, twenty-one were first borns or only children- (Leman 12). The oldest or only child in a family also tends to mature and grow up a little quicker than their younger siblings. First and only borns have more one on-one-adult interaction than other siblings and therefore their parents often have higher expectations for maturation.
