The writer that made me very interested in his writings was Frank J. Sulloway.The writing that interested me the most was Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics and Creative Lives (1996). Sulloway, a PhD scholar discusses how family dynamics affect personality development. Birth order is a topic that interests me because I am the youngest of three siblings, the two older siblings; being sisters. The order in which I was born, did affect my personality. By being the youngest, and the only male, made me a stronger person to voice my opinion when it counts in family matters. Among my friends, I am usually the leader, as I never get to play that part in my home. Sulloway wrote " they also usually have authority over younger siblings." (Sulloway 298) I am treated differently by my parents from the way they treat my sisters. Everything that my sisters did, my parents decided with extra caution. "First borns experience a different family environment than do later borns." (Sulloway 303) When it comes to me, since they have been through things twice before, nothing is never a big deal to them. An example of this is getting a drivers license. When my sisters each got their license, they had to wait a while before they got their first car, which they had to pay with their own money. When I got my license, my parents bought me my first car within a week of having my license. Sulloway’s analysis of birth order is correct. In his book, Born to Rebel, Frank Sulloway writes “the family, it turns out, is not a “shared environment” (Sulloway 1996) but rather a set of niches that provide siblings with different outlooks.” I believe in this statement, as we all trying to find a place in life were we all belong.
Works Cited
Sulloway, Frank J.1996. Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics and Creative Lives. New York
www.edge.org/3rdculture/harris
www.sulloway.org/borntorebel.html
