Name: 你是長子嗎？最小的？出生順序的刻板印象是真的嗎？| 你是長子嗎？ (Are you the eldest child? Youngest? Are birth order stereotypes true? | BBC Ideas)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:35:29.000Z
Duration: 4 min 2 s
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How birth order affects our personalities fascinates many of us,

程度副詞

and it's not just at Christmas time when we're

arguing over why the elder sibling has to peel potatoes

the middle child has no gravy with their lunch.

you've probably absorbed these stereotypes from birth order theory.

our position in our family affects our personality characteristics,

our IQ, and even our life success and that these last long into adulthood.

Now at this point I should probably let you know

that I am the youngest of four, but I absolutely promise you

that that will not bias in any way whatsoever

the information I'm about to give you now.

One of the most influential characters in this story

was Alfred Adler - an Austrian physician and psychotherapist.

He wanted to try and understand why children

who were raised in the same family seem to have different personalities.

Now at this point I should mention that Alfred Adler

was actually a middle child - the second of seven children.

In 1927, Adler theorised that birth order affected personality hugely

because parents treated children differently

according to whether they were the eldest or the youngest.

He also believed that parents comparing siblings

Since then, researchers have added to this list

Here are just some of them - they might ring a few bells.

thought to be a people pleaser, responsible, reliable, cautious

has been thought to be given a lot of parental attention

they can often feel neglected or dethroned.

Famous older children include Winston Churchill and JK Rowling.

The middle child is thought to be often left out, ignored,

They tend to adapt their personality to fit in

with perhaps what the older child has already taken away

Famous middle children include Bill Gates and Madonna.

The youngest child is often thought of as being self-centred, manipulative,

and to maintain independence and seem different from their siblings.

Famous younger children include Cameron Diaz and Mahatma Gandhi.

And if you don't have siblings then don't feel left out

because Adler had something to say about the personality characteristics

Only children are often thought to be self-centred, independent,

As they have no older or younger siblings

they often take on the personality characteristics

of either the eldest child or the youngest child.

Famous only children include Daniel Radcliffe and Leonardo da Vinci.

In 1996, American psychologist Frank Sulloway

theorised that these differences may be due

to Darwin's theory of competition and survival.

Within every family, every child has to compete

for parental attention and investment in order to survive.

taking on the responsible role of looking after the younger siblings

they have to develop a different way of being in that family

and enhance cooperation within the family -

so chances of survival for everyone are increased.

Over time, results of further studies have been inconsistent.

Some have totally backed up Adler's theory,

Some studies have shown there are differences

but that these are not meaningful and others have shown that actually

any differences found are due to study design.

For example, how many siblings are in a family

but pinning down exactly what impact it has, if any,

I still think the youngest child is by far superior.

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你是長子嗎？最小的？出生順序的刻板印象是真的嗎？| 你是長子嗎？ (Are you the eldest child? Youngest? Are birth order stereotypes true? | BBC Ideas)

perspective

fascinating

impact

tend