The New Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are

Based on the premise that birth order powerfully influences one's personality, one's marital partner, and one's parenting style, this book presents personal anecdotes, testimonials, and descriptions of well-known individuals or individuals seen in counseling to illustrate the impact of birth order. The book also presents practical ways to take advantage of one's birth order in personal relationships and in the business world. Topics discussed include the following: (1) birth order variables, such as spacing, parental relationships, adoptions, deaths, parents' birth order, and blended families; (2) strengths and weaknesses related to the typical traits of first-borns, only children, middle-born children, and last-born children; (3) problems related to perfectionism, including moving from perfectionism toward excellence; (4) using information on birth order effectively in business, focusing on sales; (5) the impact of birth order on marital relationships, using birth order information in counseling, and describing various combinations of birth orders; (6) life style choices; (7) meeting the special parenting needs of children with different birth orders; and (8) using reality discipline with any birth order child. Included throughout the book are several self-assessment questionnaires related to birth order. Two appendices list the U.S. presidents and their birth order, and present a review of Frank Sulloway's 1996 book, "Born to Rebel: Birth Order Family Dynamics and Creative Lives." (KB)