Do you believe that birth order does affect one's personality?

YOu've brought up a very interesting topic. However, being the youngest isn't the easiest in my case. Though I may be the baby of the family, I've been shouldering a lot of responsibilities that my siblings have escaped from doing. This is due to the fact that both my elder siblings wha are about 6 years gap from me, are away at work while I'm still schooling. My Sis is hardly around as her work requires her to jetset most of the time while my brother works at night as a night auditor. Thus, my parents hardly saw them except me. I am always the one to be doing the housework and all. When things doesn't get right, I am always the one to be blamed. When I do not do too well in school, I am always compared to my over-achieving siblings and really, I felt so insecured. To me,being the youngest is really torture.... I never liked being the youngest and I do not find the studies done on birth order is that accurate!! :

Yes birth order does affect the personality of a person.I m the first child of three in my family.And yes i too hav experinced insecurities as a child. I think that every child at some point of time feels this that their being born at any order has some or the other negative effects.Well they might think that they r loved less than their younger or older siblings.I m sure all will agree to this that they hav felt like this in their lives. But now that i m a mother of 2 i hav realised that its something that's natural.Even my elder son often complaines that i love his younger sister more than him.So i think that its bound to happen,even if we try to explain it to them that its not true and that i love them both equally.But he wont listen. But its also our duty as parents to try and explain it to them so that this feeling doesnt effect their morale and make them into a insecure person with lack of self-confidence.

I have to agree with you. I was the 3rd of 4 and we younger ones got blamed for things that the olders one did. They got to learn how to water ski but the youngers at 10 and 11 were told that we were to small or young. The oldest is a boy and he was treated special because back then to have a son was so special. Today he is worthless and refuses to work or take care of himself. I struggle with personality disorders due to abuse I took from my brother and my aunt who helped raise us. I decided that I would not have more that two children. I also wanted girls since I feared what happened to me. I have two wonderful and well educated daughters who I love with all my heart.

Yes, I do. I think that with the first child, parents expect a lot, they want to be the best parents, so forth. This leads the first born or only children to aim higher and do better at things. After the first, comes competition among the siblings, and no matter how many times parents say they treat their children the same, it doesn't happen. They expect different things out of each child.

I believe so. I believe also kids raised by others are also bad. My mom for example the "baby" tends to baby my youngest sister. I know lots of things affect how we act and such but truly I believe its true. The Birth Order Book (Author??) Is supposed to be good. I've read part of it and thats where I got the whole baby does baby thing.

i believe in that. i'm the first child of two and being the elder sibling, i feel that my parents expect more from me than my younger brother. i have this personality that i always see to it that i'm the standard-setter between me and my brother. he, then, is trying hard to surpass the standards. i think that eldest children tend to be the leader type of people.

It is hard for me to give examples, as there were only two childrn in our family. My brother & myself. I am threee years older than my brother. I have heard of the birth order being an indicator of how a child's personality will turn out. I was more confident as a child than my brother, & a lot more sociable.I have heard that the eldest child is usually more academic & more of an achiever, & that is the case with my brother & myself. Good discussion.

Good topic.... I am a bit bratty, spoiled...you know first born stuff...I was bossy with my three siblings when I was younger, but heck now I'm in my 50s and I don't do that anymore. I respect them as adults as I hope they respect me. My first husband was a MIDDLE CHILD...laid back. I had to hold a mirror to his nose to check to see if he was breathing sometimes. Second husband BABY of the family. Too bossy and pushy. BOYFRIEND now is the oldest...man do we have some good battles for control. I want to control me only and SO DOES HE! Thank you for this discussion.

Yes, I believe this. I believed it before I started taking psychology classes, but after I took a course on the theory of personalities, I felt much mroe strongly about it. Now when I meet my friends brothers and sisters it is interesting to me to theorize about how they got their wonderful personalities. I have noticed that I'm not really friends with any first born children -- except my sister, but then, she's much more than just a friend. I find first born children to be very long-winded and easily distracted while speaking. This really annoys me, as I am the second born and baby of the family. I think I had to be succinct growing up because if I wasn't my pint would never get across. Most of my friends are either the baby of the family or the middle child. I find them to be funnier and more fun in general. Plus, they usually don't nag as much as a first born would.

Hi, Kiddygurl, "Birth Order" is not yard-stick to justify the individual's style of life, DEALING WITH FRIENDSHIP, LOVE AND WORK. There are many factors involved that is while the child grow up in an environment and the way he/she has been educated. There is one more very important factor is "GENETICS". I have seen that my nephew used to behave like his grand-father. 10 years before my nephew birth, his grand father expired. 90% behaviour, life style, the way he talks to people were like his grand father. His grand father WAS good singer. At the age of 3 years MY NEPHEW got a prize for singing in a local function. Therefore "Birth order" is not root for individual's style of life, dealing with friendship, love and work.

As a middle child in my biological family I know birth order affects... I was the middle child and I felt like a slave... wikipedia describes being the middle child as Middleborn children have a diverse range of personalities. The habits of many middleborns are motivated by the fact that they have never been truly in the spotlight. The firstborn always seems to be achieving and pioneering ahead, while the younger sibling is secure in his or her niche as the entertainer of the family. The middle or second born child or children often have the sense of not belonging. They fight to receive attention from parents and others because they feel many times they are being ignored or dubbed off as being the same as another sibling. Being in the middle a child can feel insecure. Sometimes a middle child feels out of place because they are not over achievers and like to go with the flow of things. They are often believed to be natural mediators. They tend to have fewer pictures in the family photo album alone, compared to firstborns. They may avoid conflict. They may develop good social skills and have an easier time growing up with an other-centered point of view. It has been suggested that middleborn children are more likely to be entrepreneurs. Karen E. Klein, a Los Angeles-based writer, suggested that a middleborn's innate skills in diplomacy plus their flexibility in ideas make them more successful in entrepreneurship. They have an even-temper and a take it or leave it attitude. Alfred Adler (1964) believed that the middle child feels squeezed out of a position of privilege and significance. The child is internally compelled to find peace within the family and may have trouble finding a place or become a fighter of injustice. This sounds like 4 years of my life growing up

Hi there! I think that it is kinda true and I can say it out of observation. From my family, on my father and mother's side, and my husband's family too. We used to joke about second borns being the most emotional ones. That's because we saw that with my father, my sister and my husband. The eldest ones are most likely to be bossy and dominant. I guess it does play a role in how our personalities develop because it starts with our roles at home.

i think each individual's personality is affected by many aspects,the first is birth order,it is very like her parents, then education will have mainly factors to decide his individuals ,nomatter parents or teachers.the enviroment around her also have great influnce to it.it is really hard to decide what makes one's individual being.

yes i think it makes a difference. the second children i know tend to believe that their parents love them least. i think it might not be true from the parents' intention level. however, in practice i might be true. the first child always has the most photos. the most care when young, the most new clothes, the most toys. the last child always gets given into, the most pampering. the second child is told to set a good example for teh youngest. but gets bullied by the older one. so it's tough being the second.