The Birth Order Book
The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are is a 1982 non-fiction book by Christian psychologist Kevin Leman on birth order and its potential influence on personality and development. An updated and revised version of the book was published in 1998 through Baker Publishing Group. Leman first began studying birth orders while a student at the University of Arizona, after noticing that several elements of personality were associated with a person's birth order rank. Synopsis. In the book, Leman details four types of personality based upon an individual's birth order : First Born, Only Child, Middle Child, and Last Born. Only Child types are considered to be a form of the First Born personality type, but "in triplicate". Reception. Reception for "The Birth Order Book" and the theories espoused in the book has been mixed, with some commenting that there are "many variables" that have an effect on the personality aside from birth order. In a 1995 article in the "Los Angeles Times", University of Texas professor Toni Falbo commented that the modern family dynamic is "quite complex" and that "[relying] too heavily on birth order for answers is a mistake  because families are much more complicated now" with the addition of step-siblings, half-siblings, and other various factors. In his 1996 book "Born to Rebel", Frank Sulloway suggested that birth order had powerful effects on the Big Five personality traits. He argued that firstborns were much more conscientious and socially dominant, less agreeable, and less open to new ideas compared with laterborns. However, critics such as Fred Townsend, Toni Falbo, and Judith Rich Harris argue against Sulloway's theories. A full issue of "Politics and the Life Sciences", dated September 2000 but not published until 2004 due to legal  threats from Sulloway, contains carefully and rigorously researched criticisms of Sulloway's theories and data. Subsequent large independent multi-cohort studies have revealed a statistically nil effect of birth order on personality.