We have heard many times that the oldest child in a family grows to be a responsible person while the youngest one is likely to be more frivolous than their siblings.
Though they seem to be mere stereotypes, turns out, birth order can actually shape the personality of kids.
Alfred Adler, a friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud, was the first person to propose the birth order theory which says that our birth order affects our personality development.
According to Adler, the first-born child is more conservative and power-oriented than the rest of the siblings because they usually have to assume some responsibilities of the younger siblings.
As a result, the firstborns turn up to be loving, caring, confident, and more willing to have kids of their own.
The middle children act as “pace-setter.” Their developmental pace is very high as they try to get ahead of their older siblings.
Consequently, they are ambitious and, sometimes, rarely selfish.
They often set impossible goals and meet with failures while trying to achieve them, and this is something which makes them very strong.
The youngest or the last-born child gets too much attention from their parents as well as older siblings, so they grow up to be less independent.
Like the middle children, they also strive to surpass their elders and, hence, end up being successful in their chosen careers.
They are sociable and somewhat irresponsible as well.
The only child who has no siblings to compete with or care for often competes with their fathers. They’re usually over-pampered from their parents so they expect the same behavior from other persons too.
Owing to their dependent and self-centered nature, they often find it hard to interact with their peers.
Adler’s theory suggests that the birth order also impacts the IQ level of of the children but it doesn’t go deep into the details.
Researchers are quite divided among themselves about this assumption; some believe that the birth order affects IQ while others outrightly negate it.
To solve the mystery once and for all, a team of scientists from two German universities carried out an extensive study, in which they compared siblings on the basis of their birth order.
More than 20,000 adults from the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany were evaluated in the study conducted by the University of Leipzig and the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz.
The team found that the older siblings performed better on intelligence tests. But the imagination and emotional stability of the participants were found independent of their birth order.
Another similar study, aimed at finding how the birth order affects personality traits, analyzed more than 377,000 US high school students.
The study found that kids who had no siblings were often nervous, besides being more social and outgoing. The youngest kids were also found to be more open and sociable.
Middle children were found to be more diligent and conscientious.
The firstborns were more dominant and honest. They were also found to be less resistant to stress as well as less sociable than their other siblings.
The study was undoubtedly an extensive one but its findings were criticized for a number of reasons.
Critics noted that it didn’t consider other important factors such as parents’ welfare, ethnicity, relationships, and education.
Birth order may have an impact on personality development, the upbringing children receive in their homes and their relationship with parents are far more important factors which shape their personality.
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