Is it True That Birth Order Affects the Nature and Character of Children? This is the Answer of IPB University Ecological Genetics Expert
Is it True That Birth Order Affects the Nature and Character of Children? This is the Answer of IPB University Ecological Genetics Expert
In daily conversations, we often hear stories of parents related to their children’s personalities that are associated with birth order.
For example, the first child is more associated with spoiled nature and often dominates. The second child is said to be more responsible and a mediator while the youngest child is more associated with attention-seeking and less responsible.
So is it true that birth order affects the personality and even intelligence level of children?
Prof Ronny Rachman Noor, an expert in Ecological Genetics at IPB University, explained that until now various research results using massive data show that birth order has no real effect on children’s personality.
“These various research results show that the differences in the personality of the firstborn, middle child, youngest child, or only child are more influenced by the genetic device opportunities (blue print) from both parents,” he said.
A child’s personality, if broken down further, is influenced by genetic factors by 50 percent while the rest is influenced by environmental factors.
Adler’s Birth Order Theory
Theories related to birth order affecting the nature and personality of children have long been developed and have quite a number of followers. One of the most famous theories that is often referred to in this regard is Adler’s theory that developed in the early 20th century.
Alfred Adler was an Austrian psychiatrist who tried to connect and conclude that birth order can affect a child’s personality. Andler’s thinking was inseparable from the thinking of Sigmund Freud, an expert psychological analyst.
“Broadly speaking, Adler’s theory states that firstborns tend to develop a strong sense of responsibility, middle children tend to want attention, and youngest children tend to have a sense of adventure and rebellion,” he explained.
Actually, said Prof Ronny, Andler’s thought pattern is not entirely wrong if viewed from the latest scientific developments. Because, in addition to genetic factors, the nature and personality of children are also influenced by environmental factors, including the family environment in which children are raised.
“The development of firstborn children is certainly inseparable from the portion of parental attention. Firstborn children usually get more attention than children born later because both parents are getting children for the first time,” he said.
In addition, parents in the first-born phase are still learning a lot about parenting so they tend to be more careful. Therefore, it is not uncommon for firstborn children when faced with the reality of facing the presence of their younger siblings in the family to experience “firstborn syndrome” which is characterized by a sense of being excluded.
In their development, firstborns have the personality of a leader, have prominent achievements, are more responsible, and more mature.
Later-born children, known as middle children, according to this theory tend to be the family peacemakers as they often have to mediate conflicts between older and younger siblings.
The middle child tends to be overshadowed by the influence of the eldest sibling so it is not surprising that they often seek attention outside the family. Given this situation, middle children are often associated with independence, sociability, adaptability, jealousy, competitiveness, and often a lack of self-confidence.
One character trait that also often stands out from middle children is a rebellious nature that is thought to arise because they want to get away from the influence of their siblings.
As for the youngest child, they are often treated as the baby in the family so it is not surprising that they tend to be spoiled by their parents and siblings. Therefore, the personality of the youngest child is often associated with being friendly, fun-loving, free-spirited, less mature, manipulative, selfish, highly dependent and more risk-taking.
“If you look closely, the personality of an only child is more similar to an eldest child because they are fully spoiled by both parents. They also never experience the situation of sharing affection with their siblings. In this situation, only children show a more mature nature, diligent, perfectionist, full of imagination, imaginative, independent, and tend to be sensitive,” explained Prof Ronny.
Combination of Genetic and Environmental Influences
As explained earlier, Prof Ronny said that the phenomenon discovered by Adler is not determined by birth order. According to him, it is more determined by the environment in which the child is raised.
“Differences in parental attention and parenting in children that affect the development of the child’s personality, are not determined by birth order,” explained Prof Ronny.
In addition, he continued, these differences in traits and personalities are also strongly influenced by the composition of genes inherited from both parents. In genetic science, the difference in genetic blue print is greatly influenced by the chance of meeting egg and sperm cells containing different genetic variations.
Genetic factors (G) will later combine with environmental influences (L) such as parenting style, family harmony conditions, the personality of both parents, and others.
“The personality of the child that has been formed in the family can experience variations in traits when in a different environment. This is known as the interaction between genetic and environmental factors (GxL),” explained Prof Ronny.
Overall, the child’s personality, known as phenotype, is the result of the combined influence of genetic factors, the environment, and the interaction between genetics and the environment described by the equation P = G + L + GxL.
“In general, it can be said that the child’s traits and personality are strongly influenced by genetic factors, family social status, family resources, health factors, parenting styles, and other environmental variables,” he said.
“Other family factors, such as the age gap between siblings, the gender of siblings, the age of parents and the number of children in the family can also affect children’s character,” added Prof Ronny.
Prof Ronny revealed that the results of the study also showed that differences in children’s intelligence levels were not much influenced by birth order. Similar to character, intelligence levels are more influenced by genetic factors and the environment in which children are raised.
Validity of Adler’s Theory
The number of followers of Adler’s theory who claim that children’s personality is influenced by birth order is more likely to lead to stereotypes that have weak scientific evidence.
According to Prof Ronny, if examined more deeply, in reality birth order is a complex interaction of various environmental factors and is not an absolute determinant of a child’s personality. There are other more prominent factors that determine a child’s personality, namely genetic factors.
“It cannot be denied that birth order is related to the environment given such as attention, affection facilities, parenting methods, all of which are incorporated into complex environmental factors and will combine with genetic factors to form the nature and personality of the child,” said Prof Ronny.
Similar to Adler’s theory, Frank Sulloway’s theory that birth order influences personality through sibling rivalry and the need to assert oneself – leading to different traits in firstborns and youngest children – can also be explained in the same way.
“Traits and personality are more influenced by genetic factors rather than birth order because based on various research results genetic factors have been shown to play an important role in the development of traits such as extroversion, neuroticism and openness,” concluded Prof Ronny.
About Prof Dr Ir Ronny Rachman Noor, MRur.Sc.
Prof Ronny Rachman Noor was born in Banjarmasin on February 10, 1961 and is a Professor in the field of Genetics and Animal Breeding at the Faculty of Animal Science of IPB. He took his undergraduate education at IPB, then continued his master and doctoral studies at the University of New England, Australia, and participated in various post-doctoral programs in Japan and Germany in the fields of genetics and DNA technology.
He is active in research, writing more than 192 scientific articles and thousands of popular articles, as well as writing various books in the fields of genetics and agriculture. Prof Ronny has also served as Dean of the Faculty of Animal Science, Vice Chairman of LPPM IPB, and Education and Culture Attaché at the KBRI Canberra. He received various awards including the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of New England and was a visiting lecturer at the Swedish Agricultural University and Adjunct Professor at UNE Australia. (IAAS/LAN)
