Naina_Marbus
Active member
Does birth order affect personality?
Psychologists say that birth order affects all aspects of a child's personality.
Studies on the influence of birth order clearly show U.S. presidents and science Nobel Laureates
were found to be overwhelmingly first-borns, as were 21 of the first 23 NASA astronauts.
First Born: Over half of U.S presidents were firstborns. They tend to be reliable, conscientious and perfectionists who don't like surprises. Firstborns may be aggressive, but are also compliant people pleasers.
Middle Child: These kids are the most difficult to pin down. They are guaranteed to be opposite of their older sibling, but that difference can manifest in a variety of ways. Middle children often feel like their older brother gets all the glory while the younger brother escapes all discipline. Because the middle child feels that the world pays him less attention, he tends to be secretive; he does not openly share his thoughts or feelings. Middle children may not feel they have a special place in the family so friends and peer groups become much more important.
Last Born: These are babies of the family, are social and outgoing, financially irresponsible of all birth orders. They just want to have a good time. While lastborns may be charming, they also have the potential to be manipulative, spoiled or babied to the point of helplessness. The last born is the one who will probably still have a pet name although he's 29 and has a masters degree.
Exceptions: Some variables can affect the above descriptions. For instance, if there are several years between the first and second child, the second child will have some characteristics of a firstborn. Or, if the firstborn is a girl and the second a boy, the son will have some first-born characteristics because he is the family's first male offspring.
Children are all different and have to be parented in different ways.
Parenting The First Born: Your child already feels the need to be perfect in every way. "Improving" tasks your firstborn attempts on his/her own will only increase the pressure he/she places on himself/herself. Firstborns often feel that parents don't pay much attention to them because they're always concentrating on the younger ones in the family. Make a special effort to have the first born join you and your spouse in going out alone for a treat, or to run some kind of special errand. Don't pile on responsibilities: Older children often feel as though they do much more work around the house than their younger siblings. Share the duties and errands as soon as young children are capable. And, stay away from making your first born the family's instant baby sitter. Check with his schedule, just as you would an outside babysitter.
Parenting The Middle Child : Remember that middle children tend to avoid sharing how they really feel. Although it's important to set aside time to talk to all of your children, it's particularly important to make this happen with the middle child because he is least likely to insist on his fair share of time. Make him feel special by allowing him to make choices such as who gets to play ball first or what the family will eat for snacks. This will help alleviate feelings of always being overshadowed by older and younger siblings. Update the Family Album: This may sound silly but it truly is important. There tend to be a billion photos of the firstborn and about six of the next child. To a child flipping through the family album, this is a sure sign that he's not loved as much. Be sure to have photos of the middle child alone, not always paired with the older sibling.
Parenting The Last Born: Stick to rules: The saying "he gets away with murder" is based in reality. Statistics show the lastborn is least likely to be disciplined and the least likely to have to toe the mark the way the older children did. You can be sure your older children are watching you closely! Hand Out Responsibility: Lastborns often wind up with less to do around the house for two reasons. One, they are pros at ducking out of work. And two, they are so little and "helpless" that the rest of the family decides it's easier to do the work themselves. You want to raise a confident, self-reliant child so don't promote this helpless image.
Firstborns are perfectionists their whole lives. If you are a firstborn parent, you may set standards that are difficult for your child to reach. This makes you frustrated and your children unhappy.
Some recent studies found measurable effects on both IQ and personality. Family size could affect personalities. More children mean that parental resources (money, time and attention) are spread out more thinly. Family size is also associated with social factors, such as ethnicity, education and wealth. In 2007 Norwegian epidemiologists Petter Kristensen and Tor Bjerkedal published work showing that the first-borns tend to have slightly higher IQ than their siblings. The sheer size of the study (about 250,000 Norwegian conscripts) and the rigorous controls for family size make this study especially convincing.
Scientific American 2010 Birth-order
CBS News 2009 Personality Traits
Please see next post for the links.
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