This birth order information explains how personality traits and lives are affected by being the first born, middle born, or last born child. Here's how family psychology affects everyday life...
Whether you're the oldest, youngest, or somewhere in the middle - your birth order or family placement can affect your life, personality traits, professional achievements, and personal relationships.
Personality Traits of First Born Children - Birth Order
- Smarter? First born children may be smarter than youngest and middle children. First borns' IQ points are on average 3 points higher than their younger siblings; in fact, IQs tend to drop as more children are born in the family. This may be because parents spend more time with first borns, and first born children mentor their younger siblings and thus learn more. However, Aaron Wichman of Ohio State University found that it’s not birth order that affects intelligence, it’s family size (from a research study called “Older Children Not Smarter Than Younger Sibs, Study Finds”). Big families can’t offer the same advantages to all the kids that small families can. It’s genetics and the family environment that affects IQ more than birth order.
- Better educated. First born children are more likely to go to college or university than youngest or middle children. If parents can afford to send one child to school, it’s more likely to be the first born. Families invest more in first born children than middle or youngest children.
- More money. First born children may earn more money and be more likely to hold a high-paying, white collar job. First borns are more likely to be surgeons, chairs in boardrooms, and hold MBAs.
- Favorites. First born children are more likely enjoy resources (food, parental time, emotional nourishment, attention) than youngest children. It becomes a cycle: the more first borns are nurtured, the stronger they become – prompting parents to invest even more time, money, and attention.
Personality Traits of Middle Children - Birth Order
- More mysterious. Middle born children are more difficult to define because their identity growing up changed (from last born to middle child). This affects their personality and environment in unpredictable ways.
- Peacekeepers. Middle born children may be more likely to keep peace in the family, to restore connections and relationships.
- Less decisive. Middle children may take longer to choose a career than firstborn or later-borns. They may deliberately make opposite choices than firstborns; if the first born is a doctor, the middle child may choose to be a firefighter or policeman.
- Less connected. Middle children may not be as attached to the family as first borns or later borns.
Personality Traits of Last Born or Youngest Children - Birth Order
- More adventurous. Last born or youngest children are more likely to be “loose cannons”, according to an article in Time magazine (“The Power of Birth Order”, Oct 29, 2007). Youngest children are more likely to be an artist, entrepreneur or adventurer – and more likely to participate in physically risky sports.
- Funnier. Last born children are more likely to be comedians or satirists. They’ll be outrageous or funny as a power strategy in the family.
- More agreeable. Younger children tend to get along in the world better – a trait known as “agreeableness” in the Big Five Personality Traits. Compared to first born children, last borns are less likely to provoke people.
These birth order personality characteristics and lifestyle traits are not set in stone; they’re affected by family size, the environment, circumstances, etc.. Even so, birth order does have a very real effect on your life and personality traits!
“Birth order, even on a rudimentary level, gives you a jump start on understanding each other,” says Cliff Isaacson, an Iowa-based psychotherapist and author of five books on birth order, including The Birth Order Effect for Couples. “Each place in the birth order has a unique thinking pattern, how he or she processes information.”
To learn more about family psychology, read Family Therapy for Anorexia - Treating Teen Eating Disorders.
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Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen - Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen is a full-time writer and blogger in Vancouver, BC, and the creator of the Quips and Tips blog series.
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