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This study examined the relations between birth order and romantic relationship attitudes and styles. Birth order position (oldest, middle, youngest, only) was predicted to influence how participants behave and think in relationships. One hundred male and female college students answered survey questions on jealousy, attitudes toward love, love styles, attachment, and their own romantic relationships. The middle birth order position participants reported significantly higher jealousy ratings than the oldest birth order position participants, and the youngest birth order position participants reported significantly higher romantic ratings than the oldest birth order position participants. Other results reveal trends for a possible birth order effect in romantic relationship styles and attitudes.
Family relationships can have a strong impact on individuals' lives. People's siblings and parents can teach them ways to interact with others, how to deal with jealousy, how to share, how to love, and so forth. Unique family experiences and perspectives, such as birth order, have been theorized to shape people's personalities and foster certain traits more than others (Adler, 1927; Sulloway, 1996). Even though siblings are generally raised together, differences in birth order position may result in perspectives on life and relationships being quite different between siblings. When people seek romantic relationships as they grow up, might they have a tendency to transfer what they have learned in their family relationships to their romantic ones? Will a person's early family experiences impact their later attachment to a relationship partner? If a person has dealt with being jealous of siblings, are they more or less likely to be jealous in romantic relationships? Do personality traits associated with a particular birth order make a person more likely to develop a particular love style or attitude? Will a person be more or less attracted to someone who shares his or her birth order due to similarities or differences in personalities? The present study will attempt to answer these types of questions.
Alfred Adler (1927) initiated an interest in people's birth order and the impact it had on personality. It has been theorized that each birth order position carries with it a set of personality traits. Firstborn children are often viewed as leaders, who follow the rules (Adler, 1927; Gfroerer, Gfroerer, Curlette, White, & Kern, 2003; Stewart, 2004). Firstborns...