Oldest? Youngest? Middle? Here’s What Your Birth Order Says About You
Published by
Clare Whitfield
Last Updated
This article has been republished with full permission from PureWow
Are firstborn kids�really�destined to be more successful than their siblings?
Do all middle children have jealousy issues? If you’re the baby of the family,�are you as naturally hilarious as you think you are? According to research, there’s evidence to back up these clich�s. So relax, parents: Nature may triumph over nurture”�or at least steal its favorite toy just to watch it scream.
IF YOU’RE THE OLDEST”�
You’re likely a natural-born leader. Responsible, obedient and loyal,�you’re likelier to pursue higher education�than your younger sibs.�And up to�30 percent likelier�to land a management position like CEO (and with it, a higher salary) than later-born children. You may read at least an hour a day more than your younger siblings.�And have a higher IQ. Boom.
But hold up: What’s the reason behind all these apparent advantages? If you guessed “parental pressure,” you’d be right (as usual). A firstborn child’s “inexperienced, loving parents, often have very high expectations for him,”�writes one expert. Held to a higher standard and eager to please, “The firstborn child can end up feeling very pressured to succeed and become a perfectionist, often equating love with success.”
Middle children “are far less likely than their siblings to be in therapy, get divorced or be neurotic,” say the authors of�The Secret Power of Middle Children. Peacekeeping and empathetic, you are probably�a great team player.�But hey, Miss Independent: You can be a leader, too.
Abraham Lincoln, Bill Gates, Madonna and Martin Luther King Jr.? All middle children.�Patient, social and open to compromise, you are likely an excellent negotiator (see also that thing about being less likely to get divorced). On the flip side, there’s also a whole “syndrome” devoted to your overlooked place in the pecking order. Middles have a hard time saying no and “have lower self-esteem than other birth orders because of their lack of uniqueness and attention at home,” writes�expert Katrin Schumann. They’re also more likely to be arrested (!) than their siblings. And on a related note, moms of middles, gird your loins: “Middleborns are less likely to turn to their parents for help in an emergency.”
In short, you’re the life of the party. But “babies” of the family are often treated as helpless out of habit”�and frequently for far too long. As a result, youngest sibs are found to be the most�financially irresponsible. On the upside, you may be just as funny as�you think you are. Want indisputable evidence? Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, Eddie Murphy and Stephen Colbert are all the youngest kids in their families.
Clare Whitfield is the Editor of Stay at Home Mum and a recognised voice in practical home management for Australian families. Based in the northern suburbs of Sydney, she balances editorial leadership with life as a stay at home mum to two school age children. Her background in home economics and more than a decade of experience in recipe development, family budgeting, and household systems inform her work.
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