The relationship between vocational preference and ordinal position has been extensively researched; some family psychologists, as well as sociologists, believe that birth order plays a role in choosing one’s career, and this has formed the basis of personality development theories (such as the Alderian Vocational Theory), which propose that birth order has a significant influence on vocational behavior. However, some researchers have come up with contradictory results, and this puts to question personality development theories linking birth order to career choice. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure; there is need to carry out further research on the matter. Despite the existence of conflicting findings, there is an overwhelming realm of research which points out an association between birth order and the choice of one’s career.
Interest on the link between birth order and career choice began as early as 1874, when Sir Francis Galton observed that firstborns and single sons were overrepresented at the Fellows of Royal Society. Years later, psychologists Sigmund Freud and Alfred Alder took a keen interest on the matter- something which led to the Alderian vocational theory. In his theory, Alder postulated that some family variables have a significant influence on career development and vocational behavior. This is a view which has been supported by several researchers, the most ardent being E. Watkins. In 1984, Watkins theorized that specific “interactional-environmental events” shape an individual’s choice of career depending on the birth order.
For instance, parents place unique privileges to children of designated ordinal position, and place different demands to children occupying different ordinal positions. Consequently, these interactional-environmental events shape an individual’s interpersonal work style, work-role behaviors, and work self concept. This is a view supported by career theories, which recognize the fact that some family variables (values and interpersonal relations) influence an individual’s career choice. Also, there are some empirical studies which supports this view- the most notable being Holland’s research carried out in 1997.
According to Holland, firstborns gravitate towards occupations which require mechanical, technical, and business competencies; they venture in positions that require them to show their leadership and persuasive skills. Holland also postulated that firstborns are less likely to get involved in tasks which require a high degree of interpersonal relations. On the contrary, Holland argued, later borns choose occupations which promote their artistic, musical, dramatic, and literally interests. Generally, they are involved in tasks which involve interpersonal relations. Holland’s research was later appraised by Leong et al, when the researchers found out that laterborn medical students (from their sample) scored higher (on artistic and realistic themes) than their firstborn counterparts. This gives further empirical evidence to support Alderian’s vocational theory, which postulates that individuals of different birth orders develop different vocational patterns based on the position within the family of origin.
Apart from the differences that birth order creates in vocational patterns, researchers have gone further to determine the effect of birth order on school performance- a factor which could possibly play a role in choosing one’s career. A research carried out in Sweden by Bitte Modin showed that performance of third grade students in arithmetic worsened steadily with rising birth order categories, with the researcher concluding that later born children are more likely than firstborns to encounter learning difficulties . Therefore, in a queer way, laterborns form a disadvantaged group, with lower I.Q compared to firstborns. The implications of these findings could be discussed with regard to three hypotheses: physiological hypothesis, socialization hypothesis and economic hypothesis.
Using the physiological hypothesis, the first borns are well nourished, and the ability of the mother to provide the fetus with adequate supply of nutrients reduces with successive births. Therefore, this could be the reason why many later borns fail to attend college compared o the firstborns. The economic hypothesis stipulates that firstborns have access to financial resources which make their education possible, and the financial resources diminish with successive births. Therefore, first borns end up in realistic, enterprising and conventional occupations. The socialization hypothesis posits that first borns are socialized to be aggressive, which explains why they end up in careers which require them to show leadership. However, according to research by Allen Bayer, these findings could be spurious.
Bayer found out that last borns have higher academic achievement compared to those in the intermediate ordinals, something which dispels the notion that last borns have lower I.Q. Bayer also pointed out that the economic hypothesis is not borne of any data, something which puts to question the validity of the hypothesis. Lastly, Bayer also pointed out that the socialization hypothesis is not specific on the personality variables associated with each birth position; another factor which questions the validity of the socialization hypothesis. Nonetheless, the research work pointing to a link between birth order and career choice is quite overwhelming, and this calls for further inquiry to appraise research work done on the issue thus far.
References
Bayer, A. E. (1966). Birth Order and College Attendance. Journal of Marriage and Family , 28
(4), 480-484.
Leong, F. T., Hartung, P. J., Goh, D., & Gaylor, M. (2001). Appraising Birth Order in Career
Assessment: Linkages to Holland's and Super's Models. Journal of Career Assessment , 9
(1), 25-39.
Lynch, R. M., & Lynch, J. (1980). Birth Order and Vocational Preference. Journal of
Experimental Education , 49 (1), 15-18.
Modin, B. (2002). Birth Order and Educational Career: A Study of School Perfomance and
Achived Education of Children Born in Early Twentieth Century Sweden. Journal of
Family History , 27 (1), 25-39.
