Experienced Elders

Arya Zarifi
California State University, Fullerton
Psych 331
Professor Stiles
March
th
, !"1#
$he order in %hich people are &orn in their fa'ilies 'ay have an effect on the
rest of their lives( Accordin) to Alfred Adler, this is the theory that has a variety of
outco'es &ased on ho% 'any children are in the fa'ily and at %hat point a person is
&orn into the fa'ily( *ein) an older child %ill )ive a person the characteristics of a
person in char)e, %hile &ein) a youn)er child %ill influence a person to co'pensate
for their a)e to overta+e the older child(
As the oldest child, accordin) to Adler, 'y characteristics are defined as
%antin) to &e in control of everythin)( ,e)ardless of havin) the need for po%er, the
oldest child %ill use their po%er to enrich the fa'ily and provide pro)ress( As the first
child, the individual %ill also &e cautionary to%ards other children that 'ay try to
overta+e the' at the top of the children of the fa'ily(
Personally, - feel that the description of 'y role as the first &orn child is
precise in that - do feel - a' a&ove 'y sister in ter's of 'aturity and experience, and
not .ust &ecause - a' four years older than her( -n 'y youn)er years, - also felt the
need to &e protective over 'y sister( /ne instance %as %hen %e %ere very youn)
%hen 'y sister %al+ed into an elevator 'y fa'ily had not %anted to ride( As the
doors of the elevator %ere closin), - %as the only one %ho 'ade an atte'pt to 0uic+ly
.u'p in and )ra& 'y sister( $his trait of &ein) a )uardian has carried on into the
present %here - a' constantly +eepin) an eye on 'y sister fro' a distance to 'a+e
sure she 'a+es correct decisions in life and learn to use lo)ic(
*ein) the first &orn child, - have definitely felt that 'y experiences have a lot
to do %ith the develop'ent of 'y personality( Every day is a learnin) experience for
'e in 'any different %ays( 1oin) &ac+ to 'y role of &ein) a protector of 'y sister, -
ta+e the +no%led)e that - learn every day and i'ple'ent it in %hat - teach her a&out
life( *esides the fact that - %as the first &orn child in 'y fa'ily, - do feel that there
are other factors that have caused 'y personality to flourish such as 'y surroundin)
environ'ents that - %as raised in( $he people that - surrounded 'yself %ith are
definitely a hu)e factor in the person - have &eco'e( $here is also the factor that is,
once a)ain, related to 'y daily experiences( $he experiences that - face allo% for 'e
to learn and add on to 'y personality( Even %hen 'ista+es are 'ade, - vie% the' as
learnin) experiences( $his does not even have anythin) to do %ith &irth order(
2hile &irth order is a very precise explanation for ho% certain people tend to
)ro%, it is not a finite 'eans in %hich an individual3s personality is shaped throu)hout
the years(