Birth order plays an important role in a person's personality. It might sound ridiculous, but most people's actions can be linked to the order in which they were born. Robert V. V. Hurst, a personality observer, proposed an interesting theory in his book, Life's Fingerprint, which states: "It is not just a coincidence that similar birth orders have similar personality traits... each successive child in a family tries to be different, and this difference is found in all families and crosses all cultural, racial and ethnic lines” (Hurst 5). siblings or personal mental standards. Firstborns' personalities are mostly influenced by parents and the high standards they set for themselves, so they strive for success and perfection in everything they do. Parents play an important role in a firstborn's life, as Hurst explains when he notes, “Because parents invest so much of their ego in the firstborn, they see this child's behavior personally” (31) This makes firstborns want to please their parents and explains why many firstborns excel in school and. they tend to have conservative beliefs (Hurst 29). Parents generally expect a lot from their eldest child. Their child is expected to participate in the family and be an example for younger siblings (Leman 92). This expectation creates a sense of responsibility and reliability found in many older children (Hurst 29). However, firstborns can be exploited and people rely on them to act responsibly at all times. The weight of responsibility and reliability placed on a firstborn adds to the amount of pressure he or she feels. This leads to unreasonably high standards that… middle of the paper… be rebellious yet sociable. Newborns are typically light-hearted and charming entertainers. The differences in personalities seen in different birth orders should be respected as all children are influenced by different things. Works Cited Gross, Dr.. "Success, the Peacemaker, and Group Life: How Birth Order Affects Personality." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, December 23, 2013. Web. May 12, 2014. .Hurst, the fingerprint of Robert VV's life. Mandeville: PBO Publishing. 2009. Print.Isaacson, Cliffard. “The five personalities”. Birth Order Plus - Introduction to birth order. NP and web. April 17, 2014 http://www.birthorderplus.com/birthorder/thirdborn.htm.Leman, Kevin. The new birth order booklet. 2nd. Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1998. Print.