Frank Jones Sulloway (born February 2, 1947) is an American

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the pre ...

. He is a visiting scholar at the Institute of Personality and Social Research at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

and a visiting professor in the Department of Psychology. After finishing secondary school at

Moses Brown School Moses Brown School is an independent Quaker school located in Providence, Rhode Island, offering pre-kindergarten through secondary school classes. It was founded in 1784 by Moses Brown, a Quaker abolitionist, and is one of the oldest prepara ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, Sulloway studied at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...

and later earned a PhD in the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...

at Harvard. He was a visiting scholar at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

. He is best known for his claim that

birth order Birth order refers to the order a child is born in their family; first-born and second-born are examples. Birth order is often believed to have a profound and lasting effect on psychological development. This assertion has been repeatedly challen ...

exerts large effects on personality, and the subsequent debates about this issue. In his 1996 book ''Born to Rebel'', Frank Sulloway suggested that birth order had powerful effects on the Big Five personality traits. He argued that firstborns were much more conscientious and socially dominant, less agreeable, and less open to new ideas compared to laterborns. However, critics such as Fred Townsend,

Toni Falbo Toni Falbo (born 1947) is a social psychologist known for her research on power dynamics in relationships, sibling status, and development of only children. She is a Professor of Educational Psychology and Faculty Research Affiliate of the Popula ...

, and

Judith Rich Harris Judith Rich Harris (February 10, 1938 – December 29, 2018) was an American psychology researcher and the author of '' The Nurture Assumption'', a book criticizing the belief that parents are the most important factor in child development, and pr ...

, argue against Sulloway's theories. A full issue of ''Politics and the Life Sciences'', dated September, 2000 but not published until 2004 due to legal threats from Sulloway, contains carefully and rigorously researched criticisms of Sulloway's theories and data. Subsequent large independent multi-cohort studies have revealed approximately zero-effect of birth order on personality. His grandfather was the tennis player and attorney Frank Sulloway (1883–1981).

Awards

*1980

Pfizer Award The Pfizer Award is awarded annually by the History of Science Society "in recognition of an outstanding book dealing with the history of science" Recipients * 1959 Marie Boas Hall, ''Robert Boyle and Seventeenth-Century Chemistry'' (New Yor ...

*1984

MacArthur Fellows Program The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

Books

* * *

References

External links

*
"Frank Sulloway", ''Charlie Rose''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sulloway, Frank 1947 births Living people American psychologists MacArthur Fellows Harvard College alumni Moses Brown School alumni