When exploring studies and findings on birth order, I was intrigued on how well it reflected people I know. Psychologists and others have found some common characteristics and traits that go with each birth position. First borns tend to be responsible, conscientious, perfectionists, and natural leaders. Looking at the first borns I know I would agree with most of these traits. They seem logical since being they have to help their younger siblings they develop responsibility and leadership. Middle borns are harder to peg and vary more then other positions. What is pretty consistent is that middle borns (in a 3 sibling house) tend to be the exact opposite of their older sibling. Again I can relate, but on more of a personal level since my sister and I are very different. Apparently there is nothing that says middle children are the best, I'm still waiting on the research. Finally, last borns are the most sociable, finically irresponsible, and just want to have a good time.
All of these findings are obviously generalized and I do not mean to pigeon hole anyone, but it is very interesting that psychologists continue to replicate the results. This shows that there is some science behind birth order and it is not just coincidental. Birth order is quite interesting and I encourage anyone to look further into it as there is much more cool findings!
Middle is First
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How much of it is cultural or even generational and related to age? Some siblings have large age gaps and do not seem to match these findings. Also much older generations seem to shake this trend a little too. But I'd agree that in general there is a very interesting trend...I just wonder what other factors might also be at play.
I can definitely agree with you hear. Other findings have stated that firstborns have different traits but I think you hit the nail on the head here. I am the oldest of three with a younger brother and even younger sister. As they both are in their early teenage years I can definitely see similarities and differences emerging between our personalities. Though I have probably spent more time with my brother throughout the years and share many interests with him, I am starting to see differences in our overall personalities unfolding and am noticing more and more similarities between my sister and I, especially regarding our relationships with our parents and habits in school and social life. It will be interesting to see where our relationships end up once we are all adults.Good work!
I think that birth order is an interesting topic. Being an only child I don't really get to experience first hand what your findings describe but it makes sense to me. Maybe that is why this topic intrigues me, because I'm an only child. Now thinking about friends that have siblings and looking at their birth order I can see exactly what you are saying.
I haven't had a lot of personal examples to go off of, but the few families I have known to have three children follow these stereotypes perfectly! I have also noticed that even when there are two siblings they tend to follow the first born and third born stereotypes. It is crazy how some stereotypes can be so right on.
I am the oldest of 3 and i would definitely agree with your findings. A sense of responsibility is definite because I always end up being in charge of babysitting my two younger siblings. However, my sister may be a bit lazier than me, but we're actually really similar. But as you said, the middle sibling seems to vary much more in personality. The description for the youngest seems to be spot on for my younger brother though. He's the carefree sociable one, who seems to get babied a lot by my parents regardless of how old he's getting. Seems interesting how research continues to come up with these conclusions.