Why is each person's personality so different? What makes someone act a certain way? Birth order has an effect on a person's personality; it is determined by sex, family position, and spacing in years. Every person in this world is part of the "birth order" syndrome. It affects for one, his or her whole life maybe it is time to shine some light on the issue.
             "Birth order is the result of children coping with their life situations" (Isaacson {1}). Each child has a different way to cope with family situations, because parents push the only or oldest children more than the younger ones each will act differently. According to Dr. Kevin Leman in his book, The Birth Order Book, the way parents treat their children is equally as important to their personality as environmental, physical, and mental characteristics. When determining true birth order, one must take into consideration when the person was born, his or her sex, and family situation. All of these forces work together to change and alter a person's personality. No matter how hard one tries to change it, their true personality will always come out in the end.
             Birth order not only affects one's personality, but it also has been proven that it affects the intelligence of an individual. "Earlier born children tend to score higher on tests of intelligence and aptitude than those born into the family later" (Lowery {2}). However, birth order or family position does not have any effect on one's intelligence, whether one is the first born or the last. It is mainly categorized because parents of an only or oldest child push them to be more academics than athletic or the outdoor type (Leman 288). The birth order effects are based on the majority of people who are categorized; findings do not pertain to every individual. As a society there are many beliefs on birth order and there are many people who study birth order&ap...