The Seeds for Success are Planted Early
If birth order does in fact play a role in affecting personal levels of motivation, it has been shown that the greatest effect is felt during the first several years of a young person's life. The human brain grows most rapidly after the birth process, resulting in an imprinting period characterized by high amounts of learning and personality formation over a relatively short period of time (Argys et al. 2008). The following is a list of ways in which the early effects of birth order can play a role in the life of a young person and influence his or her distant future.
1. Most importantly, first born children receive much more parental attention than their younger siblings (Price 2006). From the time of their birth to the time that their nearest sibling is born, a parent's attention is virtually undivided for that one child. With so much attention and stimulation in critical years of biological imprinting and brain development, first born children will have inevitably experienced more general brain growth in their earliest years.
2. Studies have shown that parental expectations for the first born child are significantly higher as compared to each successive child born into the family (Argys et al. 2006). From behavior to academic guidance, parents want to make sure that they do things "the right way" especially with their first child. After that child turns out alright, the pressure to have more "successful" children significantly decreases.
3. Without yet having the added burden of additional children, parents oftentimes have more financial resources to spend upon their first born child. From expenses ranging from piano lessons to swim classes, the money can pay for services that add significant amounts of stimulation. This stimulation in turn aids in the early development of self-awareness and continues brain growth and development. However, it is important to note that this is not always the case, as some families may experience a significant increase in income during the child rearing years.
4. One of the most overlooked aspects in the development of a first born child is the amount of adult language that he or she encounters relative to his or her younger siblings (Zajonc 1976). With only one child, parents converse between themselves as they normally would alone. Following the birth of a second or third child, however, parents will be talking in a child-like matter to the older children in the family. The exposure to adult language as opposed to child-like language significant stimulates the first born's mind.
