IMPACT OF BIRTH ORDER ON SELF ESTEEM

Contents

INTRODUCTION

Birth order plays an important role in life of every child as family is the first social system to which a child is exposed. Birth order can give you some important clues about your personality; your relationship with friends, co-workers, and loved ones; the kind of job you have; and how you handle problem solving.

THEORY OF EVOLUTION- CHARLES DARWIN.

Study of birth order started over centuries ago by Charles Darwin, the revolutionary biologist who proposed the theory of evolution based in natural selection, took a stance that birth order must impact how an organism travels through life. He felt that “Children do not inherit special genes for being firstborn or later born, only genes for engaging successfully in competition for parental investment”, and this is what leads to differing traits amongst siblings who have very similar genes. All because methods that work for the firstborn will eventually spawn counter strategies in the later-borne to promote their own success. The strong survive to pass of their genes and the weak do not; Darwin’s concept of natural selection at its simplest, and in layman’s terms this is the root of sibling rivalry. This idea may seem more applicable to giant tortoises than humans, but the notion has been seen as compelling enough to spark mountains of research into the effects of birth order on development.

Later this topic was carried on by Sir Francis Galton. He believed that humans have ability to improve. He concluded from his research that only first born child and only born child become famous and well known scientists. This statement was given on the basis of custom of ‘primogeniture’. According to this custom only first born child inherits family fortune. After this many scientist came in and followed the results of this research till Alfred Adler came and decided to take a deeper look deeper look into the relation of birth order and their personality.

Self esteem

Self-esteem reflects a person's overall emotional evaluation of his or her own worth. It is a judgment of oneself as well as an attitude toward the self. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame .Smith and Mackie define it by saying:

"The self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem is the positive or negative evaluations of the self, as in how we feel about it.”

Self-esteem is also known as the evaluative dimension of the self that includes feelings of worthiness, prides and discouragement.One's self-esteem is also closely associated with self-consciousness.

Birth order and self esteem: direct relation

Birth order and self esteem was first linked by Cooper smith (1967) in this small stream research. He has a point of view that birth order has effect on self esteem. Being first born slightly enhances the possibility of developing positive self esteem. Similarly, there is indication that child without sibling tends to have higher self esteem than those who have them. Although there is no casual relation between these two but general understanding is that due to first in all children, parents give more attention than those who arrive later.

The thoughts and actions of an individual are greatly influenced by child’s self esteem. The bulk of childhood development of self-esteem is done during childhood and adolescence. During this crucial time period, most influential persons are parents. Learning of self esteem is based on how others react, especially their parents it has been speculated that this could be explained either because new parents are overly anxious about their first child, or perhaps because when the second child is born, attention must be split between the two siblings. Later-born children do not receive as extensive attention as firstborns and often feel less appreciated. Therefore, later born Children often have lower self-esteem than first and only children (Wilson, 2002).

The study conducted on Effects of Birth Order upon Self-Esteem and Motivation in Middle-born by Zane A. Maus indicates that middle-born would have lower self-esteem than that of only children, first-borns. A statistical analysis of the data showed significant differences in self-esteem in middle-borns in comparison to only children and first-borns; however, the difference was not significant in comparison to last-borns. The results of the study indicate that birth order is a significant factor upon self-esteem in individuals, but is not necessarily a significant factor in motivation style.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Study of birth order started over a century ago by Sir Francis Galton. After him many scientist came in and followed the results of this research till Alfred Adler came and argued that birth order often can leave an indelible impression on the individual's style of life, which is a habitual way of dealing with the tasks of friendship, love, and work. On the basis of birth order Adler identified certain qualities of children.

The Firstborn Child: The Achiever

The eldest child will probably have more in common with other firstborns than their own brothers and sisters. Because they have had so much control and attention from their first-time parents, they tend to be over-responsible, well-behaved ,careful, Reliable, Conscientious, Structured, Cautious, Controlling, Achievers, Smaller versions of their own parents, Dominant in terms of relationships, Perfectionist.

According to Adler first born may experience adjustment problems when a family is expecting another child and the child might experience a sense of loss. By losing seat on the familial throne, he loses the special place that singularity holds. All of the attention that was exclusively yours must now be shared by him and his sibling. This may lead to sibling rivalry. On the other hand, younger siblings often idolize the first born, putting the first born in a position of leader of the children of the family.

The Middle Child: The Peacemaker

The middle child often feels left out.

In general, middle children tend to possess the following characteristics: People-pleasers, somewhat rebellious, Thrives on friendships, Has large social circle, Peacemaker, understanding, cooperative, flexible, Competitive, negotiating and navigating powers

It is here that middle child will find the attention likely lacking in family of origin. A middle child receives the least amount of attention from family and as a result, this family of his choice is compensation. Adler believed that the middle child feels squeezed out of a position of privilege and significance. The child is internally compelled to find peace within the family and may have trouble finding a place or become a fighter of injustice.

The Youngest Child: The Life of the Party

Youngest children tend to be the most free-spirited due to their parents' increasingly laissez-faire attitude towards parenting the second (or third, or fourth, or fifth...) time around. The baby of the family tends to be: Fun-loving, Uncomplicated, Manipulative, Outgoing, Attention-seeker, Self-centered, Independent. As Adler theorized that the youngest child is often babied or "pampered" more than the other siblings. This "pampering," according to Adler, is one of the worst behaviors a parent can bestow on a child. "Pampering" can lead to dependence, and selfishness as well as irresponsibility when the youngest enters adulthood.

The Lone Wolf: The Only Child

Being the only child is a unique position in a family. Without any siblings to compete with, the only child monopolizes his parents' attention and resources, not just for a short period of time like a firstborn, but forever. Only children have the burden of having all their parents' support and expectations on their shoulders. Only child have a lot in common with those who are first borns, as well as those who are the youngest in their families. Thus, only children tend to be: Mature for their age, Perfectionists, Conscientious, Diligent, Leaders, Verbal, resourceful, creative , confident, Independent.

Twins

Twins tend to have one dominate twin, who acts as the first born. However, this can sometimes not be the case. Because of twins' closeness, they tend to be a lot more confident; however, they often have trouble being alone and get lonely easily. When one twin gets married, this often causes separation problems with both twins, and sometimes leads to depression. Twins, especially identical twins, tend to be much closer than normal siblings. They might have identity problems. Stronger one may become the leader.

Ghost Child

Child born after the death of the first child may have a "ghost" in front of him. Mother may become over-protective or sometimes aggressive and careless. Child may exploit mother's over-concern for his well-being, or he may rebel, and protest the feeling of being compared to an idealized memory.

Adopted Child

Parents may be so thankful to have a child that they spoil him. They may try to compensate for the loss of his biological parents. The age at which the child is adopted is a key factor in which traits the child is most likely to exhibit. The younger the child is at adoption, the more time he will spend under the adoptive parents' care and adopt his position in the existing family tree. For instance, if a firstborn 1-year-old is adopted by a family with a 4-year-old child, the adopted child will likely fall into the role of the baby, despite the fact that he is biologically a firstborn child.

Schwab and Lundgren (1978) conducted two studies to check how self-esteem is related to birth order. The first study was conducted on 82 male and 82 female undergraduate students about their self-esteem and second study was same but examines possible differences between males and females. The results for both the studies showed that self- esteem was higher for first-born children, regardless of sex differences.

Falbo(1986) conducted a study in which he studied the relationship between children’s birth order and certain personality characteristics. While studying, he took 841 undergraduate males and 944 undergraduate females to complete several personality tests and instruments and a background questionnaire that included 16-item device. The 16 item device was specially held to measure the self-esteem of the participants. Falbo paid each participant three dollar as an incentive to complete his survey questionnaires. After completion of study Falbo draw a conclusion that the self esteem is relatively higher among the firstborns than later born children. He also found that firstborn children tend to take internal responsibility for their action and are competitive more than their younger siblings.

Gates, Lineberger, Crockett, and Hubbard (1988) conducted a research on birth order and how it is related to self esteem and self concept. They used three different scales one of which was measuring level of self concept. Participants (children) were from 7 to 12 years old and were selected from public and private schools. From the results it was inferred that firstborn children scored high on self-concept than second born or youngest born children indicating that first born have high self esteem.

Furthermore, an additional study conducted by Zervas & Sherman (1994), reaffirms the previous findings. They surveyed 91 college students instead of parents and asked about relation of perceived parental favoritism and their self esteem. Results shown that those children who were identified as most favored has high level of self esteem and reason behind being favored is position in their birth order. 62% participants who took part in survey stated that favoritism has links with birth order and which has great impact on self esteem (Zervas & Sherman, 1994).

Shanahan, Crouter & Osgood (2008) conducted a seven year longitudinal study in which the mothers and fathers of 4^th or 5^thgrade children were given one-on-one home interviews to receive testimony as to whether the parents viewed this particular child differently in comparison to the rest of their children in the home. Factors such as maternal warmth, maternal conflict, and sibling relationships were all considered upon assessing the data. After concluding the study, Shanahan, Crouter, and Osgood stated that the results of the study indicated different treatment upon each of the children in the families and that the middle-born children tended to receive less maternal warmth and had more maternal conflicts than that of other siblings in the family (Shanahan, Crouter, & Osgood, 2008) These findings may suggest lower levels of self-esteem in middle-born children due to the lack of interest and care from the primary care givers in his or her life.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION

Birth-order- is the chronological order of sibling births in the family it’s also known as a person rank by age among his or her siblings.

Self-esteem- this is a feeling of self worth, a favorable impression about oneself. Having good self-esteem brings about an easier time handling conflicts and resisting negative pressure but low self-esteem brings about depression and leave without skills necessary to overcome challenges.

METHODOLOGY

HYPOTHESIS

Self esteem of first born is higher than later born.

RESEARCH QUESTION

How does birth order affect self-esteem? Is there a significant relation between self esteem and birth order.

PARTICIPANTS

The participants in our study include 30 randomly selected undergrad students of FATIMA JINNAH WOMEN UNIVERSITY and NUML UNIVERSITY. Sampling involved. Ten students each from different birth order such as ten first born, ten middle born and ten last born. Age group of students involved 18-28 years.

INSTRUMENT

Instrument used for this research is Rosenberg self esteem test 1965. This scale was developed by DR. Morris Rosenberg to measure self esteem in population. This scale is likert type and have ten items which are answered on a four point scale ranging from strongly agree o strongly disagree. The scale is believed to be uni-dimensional. Five of the items have positively worded statements and five have negatively worded ones. The scale measures state self-esteem by asking the respondents to reflect on their current feelings. The Rosenberg self-esteem scale is considered a reliable and valid quantitative tool for self-esteem assessment. It has internal consistency 0.77. Test retest ability for the two week interval was 0.85 showing that this test is highly reliable and valid. (Appendix A).

PROCEDURE

In this study questionnaire were distributed to 30 participants. Oral consent was taken from all of the participants and none of them had any issue on use of data for research. Once the questionnaire was given participants were asked to fill demographics first. Demographics involved their age, gender, birth order and total siblings. Time of starting was recorded and participants were encouraged if they will do it without their friend’s suggestions. Maximum time taken by every participant was five minutes. And it took 3 days to complete the data collection involving going to the location. Participants were encouraged to ask questions if they have any difficulty. Participants were informed about the purpose of research and answers to their every query were provided. No ethical barrier was breached during this research.

DATA ANALYSIS

Data was inserted in excel sheet where in every sheet data for first born, middle born and last born was entered. Sums for every participant was calculated as well as the mean of all participants were recorded. Certain Questions was entered as reverse scored i.e.

Scoring Patterns:

Items 1, 3, 4, 7, 10 were scored as

Strongly Disagree= 1 point,

Disagree = 2 points,

Agree=3 points,

Strongly Agree=4 points.

Items 2, 5, 6, 8, 9 are reverse scored.

Strongly Disagree= 4 point,

Disagree = 3 points,

Agree=2 points,

Strongly Agree=1 points.

Sum scores for all ten items. Keep scores on a continuous scale. Higher scores indicate higher self-esteem.

RESULTS

Data for each group was entered in different excel sheet. Sheet one included data of first born. The self esteem score for participants under first born were 30,29, 23, 29, 30, 33, 29, 28, 32, 34. Whereas the mean score of all participants was 29.7.

Similarly self esteem score for middle born were 26, 26, 30, 30, 25, 32, 26, 22, 37, 24 and for last born were 26, 26, 30, 24, 27, 23, 27, 31, 27, 21. The mean score for these two were 27.8 and 26.2 respectively.

Previous researches affirm that first born usually possess high self esteem rather than later born. Though the analysis of data indicated that middle-born had lower self-esteem than last-born, the results were not significant.

DISCUSSION:

Hypothesis of this research was to see if self esteem of first born is higher than middle born and last born. Statistical analysis of data showed that there is not much significant difference in self esteem of first middle and last born.

Although this research did not showed significant difference but many previous researches showed that self esteem and birth order have relation. Because new parents are too much insecure about their first child and give all attention and care to him. This could b one of the reasons that later born get less attention and has low self esteem because of it. Darwin gave concept of sibling rivalry which was later followed by Adler and many other scientists . According to Adlerian theory, middle-born will be at constant conflict with older siblings in order to dethrone them and to gain power while simultaneously being envious of younger siblings due to the attention they receive from their parents (Alfred Adler, 2011). This factor is likely to cause significantly lower levels of self-esteem as supported by previous research conducted by Kidwell (Kidwell, 1981, 1982). In addition this constant struggle will also cause the individual to become more motivated as supported by other previous research (Snell, Hargrove, Falbo, 1986). The current research on self-esteem supports the previously conducted research by stating that first-borns have slightly higher levels of self-esteem compared to any other position in the birth order

CONCLUSION

Birth order has always played a vital role in life of every child. Birth order gives the cues about personality and relationships with family as well as friends. Research on birth order started way back when Darwin stated that “Children do not inherit special genes for being firstborn or later born, only genes for engaging successfully in competition for parental investment”, and this is what leads to differing traits amongst siblings who have very similar genes. Later this research was followed by Adler who proposed theory of birth order and affiliate specific characteristics with every child. It was copper smith who for the first time worked on relation of self esteem and birth order. Thoughts and actions of child are greatly influence by child’s self esteem. During childhood, most influential people in child life are parents and learning of self esteem is based on how others react, especially their parents. The study conducted on Effects of Birth Order upon Self-Esteem and Motivation in Middle-born by Zane A. Maus indicates that middle-born would have lower self-esteem than that of only children, first-borns. Similarly researchers like Falbo(1986) ,Schwab and Lundgren (1978) ,Gates, Lineberger, Crockett, and Hubbard (1988) ,Shanahan, Crouter & Osgood (2008) later proved the link of self esteem with birth order. This research although did not proved any significant results about first born having high self esteem then later born but only if data would have been larger , it might be possible that difference between their self esteem score would be more visible.

RESEARCH LIMITATON

The research is done on the ordinal position much of the research done on birth order may not be pliable to use because the way in which a person’s perceive their birth order has more of an effect on their personalities then the actual ordinal birth order.

Another issue that comes up when looking at the research of birth order is that there is not much research out there that has been done in recent years. Most of the research that Explains birth order in depth was done many years back. The recent research is more on the effects of birth order on a achievement and carrier choices.

Study sample is very small and could not be generalized. And the study is done on the students of under grad if the same test would be taken from some other population f rural area results would be different.

Other factors that are ignored are family economic state, change of birth order because of death of any sibling and if the other factors other than birth order affecting self esteem such as being bullied or harassment of any kind.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

A Therapist knowing the experiences of an individual growing up in a specific order within their family can help the therapist utilize the client’s frame of reference and help the client see their childhood experiences in a different way. Knowing the birth order of the client can also help the therapist understand the client’s symptoms and to change the behavior of person in better way