Birth order and personality

Abstract

Objective. Birth order is believed to influence many aspects of one’s personality. Alfred Adler, since 1928, was the first to theorize about the differences birth order could make, and presented his theory of birth order and personality among siblings. Adler suggested that where a child was placed left a mark perceivable in adulthood, indicating its effect on adult personality. The aim of the present study is to shed some light, and fill in the gap in the existing literature concerning the relation of each sibling position in the family (i.e. first-born, second/middle, last-born and only children) with the Big Five personality traits, as well as identify differences not only among the different sibling groups but to examine the role of gender. Method. The sample consisted of 121 college students who were recruited online and filled out a self report questionnaire (TPQue). Measure. A general background questionnaire assessing participants’ demographics (age, gender, educational level, order of birth, number of siblings, educational level of parents, etc.) was administrated along with the Greek version of the Traits Personality Questionnaire. The test has been translated and adapted for use in the Greek population by Tsaousis (1999). Results. The principal results of the present work showed that individual differences in a person’s personality are associated with the order of their birth. Briefly, firstborns seemed to rank higher in neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness, while laterborns ranked higher in openness and agreeableness. Gender played a significant role only in the case of firstborns. Only children had no significant association with personality traits.