Are you a first born? Middle child? Baby? Or even an only child?
Researchers have found that your Birth Order can have quite a big influence on your personality, profession, and general way of living.
We've probably all met an oldest child that was an over-achiever, a middle child that was very social, a youngest child that was totally unorganized or an only child that was spoiled.
But there is actually much more to this theory than you'd think!
Oldest Child
The first-born childs are always something special. They often get a lot of attention from their parents since it's their first child, and the parents experience everything for the first time.
That also means that the parents have a lot higher expectations for them!
Oldest siblings often want to live up to those expectations and are ambitious and motivated to achieve something.
These are character traits that can often be found in first-born children:
- Very ambitious, especially in academic aspects
- Sometimes Perfectionalists
- Very responsible, reliable, organized and mature
- Crave being approved by other people
- Strong leadership qualities
- Often choose a profession that their parents would expect/like them, or one that is similar to their parents' professions
- Cautious - They don't take lots of chances, rather choose a secure option
Middle Child
Middle Childs often don't get as much attention as their older or younger siblings. So a lot of the time, middle childs turn out to become very social and have a lot of friendships and connections outside of the family.
While they don't have to meet the high expectations of the first born, they also don't get the leniency of the youngest child. This results in being less ambitious than their older siblings. But they are also constantly competing with an older and a younger sibling!
There's one thing to note about middle childs: If the middle child has a different gender than the first-born, that kid will still almost be treated as a first-born because it's the first of that gender, which means that kid will generally get more attention (but also higher expectations).
These are character traits that can often be found in middle children:
- Social Butterfly, flexible
- Cooperative
- Sometimes rebellious
- Often into justice
- Easily make new friends
- People pleaser
- Good at negotiating and peace making
Youngest Child
Parents tend to be more lenient with their youngest kids and have a lot lower expectations, because they've already lived through everything with their first child.
The result is that the youngest children often grow up to be less responsible, thinking that someone else will take care of it or take the lead.
Also, they can be quite sensitive or spoiled at times, but also charming and likeable.
These are character traits that can often be found in youngest children:
- Often quite confident
- More creative than their older siblings
- Likeable, charming, well-developed social skills
- Less responsible and organized than older siblings
- Outgoing
- Fun-loving
- Sensitive, affectionate
- Adventurous
Another interesting fact about birth order is the following:
If the age gap between siblings is greater than 5 years, it's almost like the birth order starts again.
The child being born then will almost be treated like a first-born, getting lots of attention, and the parents will be extra protective over it.
Well, not everybody has a sibling. What about the only childs?
Only Child
Only Childs also have the burden of quite high expectations from their parents on them. But they don't have to fight over their parents' attention, unlike first-borns.
Kids are influenced a lot by their social environment at home, and if there are no other kids around, they tend to become more like their parents - organized and mature.
Also, only childs can often be spoiled because their parents treat them as their "princess/prince", trying to make their life as sweet as possible.
These are character traits that can often be found in only childs:
- Academically ambitious
- Creative
- Responsible, mature
- Likes to be in control
- Dislikes chaos
- Leaders
- Diligent
Let me know - do these personality traits apply to you?
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© Sirwinchester
The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are by Dr. Kevin Leman sums this up in more detail. Highly recommend this book.
I've heard about it, thanks for the suggestion! I'm sure it's a very interesting read
I have actually read it several times ..... good reference guide when you want to find out why people behave the way they do.
Isn't it crazy how accurate this is? We all grow up under different conditions, different family structures, social environment, country etc... but yet a lot of these things fit the described personality, only because of the birth order!
I guess humans are the same in many different aspects, although many people try to deny that!
those statistics about future jobs are so interesting! crazy that something as simple as birth order actually has so much influence over our lives!
I know right, especially the one with the austronauts!
I think everyone has experienced this before, but reading about it in detail is very interesting! The descriptions are very fitting for many people I know
Yes I think almost everyone can relate to this
the descriptions fit perfectly, especially for a lot of first borns that I know! they're all very organized, ambitious etc
the same goes for me too!
excellent view, make notes reflect, very good post like all his work, congratulations
thank you :)
great topic choice, I feel like birth order really does affect who we are. it's true in so many cases
I definitely know a lot of people where these traits apply!
I'm a youngest child and this totally applies to me!
I'm a middle child, and although I'm not really a peace maker I guess I'm pretty outgoing and make new friends easily
This is interesting, I have noticed this as well. Personalities tend to be similar depending on what their birth order was...
so crazy, it really applies in a lot of cases!
thx for sharing, very interesting read!!
I am definitely the eldest child, but I couldn't tell you if it is because of nature or nurture. While I feel like I've "broken in" my parents and made the path of childhood a lot easier and more fun for my younger siblings, I was also a tyrant because...well, I was the oldest and mom & dad put me in charge. hahaha.
I have 5 siblings and I am the youngest. I dont like to judge my character but from my point of view are these traits you mentioned pretty similar to mine.
I'm the youngest of five... where does that leave me? Not in a good place that's for sure. Enjoyed this article, thank you. I believe the traits are correct for each, but as parents have more children, the younger ones become more neglected, or was that just in my family? The stats on the third child, that is closest to me, art, writing, photography too, but not attention seeking (prefer to hide) or outgoing. You could call me a hermit :)
Very responsible, reliable, organized and mature Hahaha... erm nope ;)
Crave being approved by other people I used to be but grew out of it :D
Cautious - They don't take lots of chances, rather choose a secure option Again, no.
It's looking like I'm the exception to the rule where elder child is concerned :)
Anarchy! hehe Good post :) Thank you.
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