I Will post both files. You need to convert the APA file to MLA as well as convert the MLA file to APA.

Velasquez 1

Rosa Velasquez

Professor Nguyen

English 1A

2 June 2009

Personality and Birth Order: First-Borns and Later-Borns

Does birth order have any effect on personality? The naysayers, including psychologists Monica A. Seff, Viktor Gecas, and James H. Frey, argue that “research on birth order effects has been remarkably inconsistent and inconclusive with regard to various personality and behavioral outcomes.” MIT historian Frank Sulloway disagrees. In his book, Born to Rebel, he offers proof of the relationship between birth order and personality.

Researching the lives of historical figures, Sulloway observes that later-borns tend to champion liberal or unconventional ideas while first-borns do not: “Later-borns were more likely than first-borns were to support each of the 61 liberal causes … surveyed, from the Protestant Reformation to the American civil-rights movement” (qtd. In Cowley). Rule-breaking later-borns include Susan B. Anthony, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Charles Darwin. In contrast, first-borns defend the status quo (Sulloway 79). Naturalist Louis Agassiz fits this mold. The most influential naturalist of his day, first-born Agassiz staunchly opposed Darwin’s radical notions about biological change:

When Darwin proposed a revolutionary solution -- that all nature’s variety stems from a simple process that preserves useful variations and discards harmful ones – the authorities were appalled. “A scientific mistake, “ thundered Louis Agassiz, […] “untrue in its facts … and mischievous in its tendency.” (Cowley)

(Remainder of paper intentionally not included here. Please do not include this line in your conversion of this paper to APA format. Continue on to next page for conversion of Works Cited to References.).

Works Cited

Cowley, Geoffrey. “First Born, Later Born.” Newsweek 7 Oct. 1996, 65+. Academic Search Premier, Web. 16 July 2009

Seff, Monica A., Viktor Gecas, and James H. Frey. “Birth Order, Self Concept, and Participation in Dangerous Sports.” The Journal of Psychology 127.2 (1993): 221+. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 July 2009.

Sulloway, Frank J. Born to Rebel. New York: Pantheon, 1996. Print.

(Remainder of paper intentionally not included here. Please do not include this line in your conversion of this paper to APA format. Continue on to next page for conversion of Works Cited to References.).