CLASS 15

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CLASS 15
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How to tell that you are not moms favorite
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Social Development
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Birth Order and Personality
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Alfred Adler (1870-1937)

• Inferiority complex
• Compensation
• Birth order

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The Old ResearchAchievement MotivationDependen
cyPopularity
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Ernst Angst (1983)

• Complete review of research
• Effects are weak and scattered
• Result birth order ideas fell into disrepute

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Sulloway (1996) bookBorn to Rebel
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His Theory of Sibling Competition

• Exploited two new developments
• in modern psychology
• 1. Evolutionary psychology
• 2. The Big Five

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Family dynamics

• All children want parental approval
• We want to fit into the family somewhere
• i.e., we try to find our niche

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First borns

• Have first choice
• Pick the most approved behaviors
• Study and behave yourself
• Explains their higher school achievement

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• Also advantaged by size and strength
• Therefore dominate other siblings
• Identify with power and authority
• Later continue to seek high status

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• But as others grow, so does insecurity of
  first-borns
• Continue to be concerned about maintaining status
  hierarchies
• In short, they are conservative

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LATER BORNS

• Disadvantaged in two ways
• 1. STANDARD ROLE IS TAKEN
• Therefore, need to be innovative, flexible
• Continue to try new approaches to life
• ie open to experience

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• 2. THEY ARE UNDERPRIVILEGED
• Constant striving for equal privileges
• Later they identify with downtrodden and reject
  hierarchies
• As adults, they are politically liberal

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Two Sources of Data

• Historical research
• Contemporary personality surveys

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Historical Research

• Famous families
• Children more different than one would expect
• Achieve in different ways

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Some first borns

• Most American presidents
• Most British Prime Ministers

Stephen Harper
Hillary Clinton
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Some Later borns

• Joan of Arc
• Karl Marx
• Lenin
• Jefferson
• Rousseau
• Virginia Wolf
• Darwin

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Personality Surveys

• FBs more conservative, conscientious
• LBs more liberal and open to experience
• But depends on the method

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Qualifications to theory

• Genetics more important
• Only children
• Interactions with
• Temperament
• Gender

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Critique

• Do these effects extend outside the home ?
• Emerge later under stress ?

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Critique

• Effects depend on methodology
• A. Between-family data weak to non-existent
• B. Within-family data strong and replicable

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Writing Assignment 2

• Write 150-250 words comparing two people you
  know
• One who swears a lot vs. one who does not
• OR
• One who says like a lot vs. one who does not
• USE BIG FIVE, INTELLIGENCE, AGE, ETC.

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Submit to following email address

• paulhus.sec.8.2_at_gmail.com
• OR
• paulhus.sec.9.2_at_gmail.com