The Effect of Birth Order on Job Selection

The Effect of Birth Order on Job Selection

John Hall

PSY 210-20

Professor Sides

October 30, 2006

In the United States today, most individuals belong to several different social units that are structured, such as family, school, and the workplace. An individual’s placement and response within these units can be predicted by previous social interactions of themselves and others like them. The study of social interaction makes this predictability possible by defining different trends within distinct social groups (Curry, 2005, p. 4). Within a family, the structure is determined through birth order, which in turn develops social interactions that have profound effects on personality. The disposition that a person develops among siblings with respect to birth order crosses over from the social setting of the family to that of the workplace.

Within family dynamics, siblings have a penetrating influence on a person’s characteristics. Jeffery Kluger (2006) explains “from the time they are born, our brothers and sisters are our collaborators and co-conspirators, our role models and cautionary tales…our scolds, protectors, goads, tormentors, playmates, counselors, sources of envy, objects of pride” (p. 47). This sibling influence is enhanced by the fact that these relationships tend to be the longest throughout one’s lifetime (p. 48). In this long-term relationship, each individual involved takes a role that is ultimately influenced by birth order. The roles are generalized as the “firstborn,” “middle child,” and the “baby” (Leman, 1998, p. 7).

Psychologists have been examining these roles for over a century finding different trends that have much to do with one’s job selection and success (Sulloway, 1996, p. 55). Contemporary research also emphasizes the occupational effect of birth order. Because a family is often an individual’s first socialization, group interaction begins developing here. Whether one is born first or last, conflict will always arise among siblings. This is the result of the large amount of time that they spend with one another. According to a study published by Penn State University in 1996, by the age of 11, siblings spend 33% of their free time with one another, more than with parents, friends, or even alone (Kluger, 2006, p. 48). This conflict among young siblings is a hidden agenda for socializing, with points in negotiation and rule-making. Depending on the way they develop, these skills become valuable down the line at the workplace (p. 49). However, the field in which the workplace is a part of is statistically more determined by who is born first and last.

Each of the generalizations, “firstborn,” “middle child,” and the “baby,” maintain certain personality traits developed by family labeling and pressures as well as one’s self-image (Forer, 1976, p. 83). Personality tests from around the world continually group these traits under five broad dimensions: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. Extraverts are characterized as having large amounts of sociability with attributes such as warmth, friendliness, and gregariousness, while maintaining self-confidence and a high activity level. “Firstborns” generally fall into this category because throughout childhood they possess attributes of size, strength, and intelligence over their younger siblings (Sulloway, 1996, p. 68). With such charismatic attributes, “firstborns” are generally excellent leaders and achievers. For example, 56 percent of the United States presidents have been “firstborns” or “functional firstborns,” meaning they had an older sibling who died at a very young age (Leman, 1998, p. 85).

For example, according to Dr. Kevin Leman (1998), among these presidents was the “serious, studious, overachieving” Jimmy Carter, who worked his way up from governor of Georgia. On the other hand, there was Jimmy’s baby brother “Billy, who got his own share of the spotlight for his beer drinking and rude, off-the-cuff remarks, many of which were designed to embarrass his big brother” (p. 85). Billy’s actions are typical of the “baby,” who is normally overshadowed by the achievements of elder siblings, therefore needing to make a statement in any way possible. He is displaying the combined character traits of extraversion and neuroticism, both typically “firstborn,” but as this instance illustrates, stereotypes of birth order are not accurate all of the time.

Along with extraversion, “firstborns” often exhibit the character trait of conscientiousness,