Many believe that the order you are born in affects your personality. By birth order I mean the oldest, middle, youngest or only child.
Seems pretty obvious right that this could affect your personality right? But others argue it may not have any impact on your personality, they believe it depends on family size and environment.
Here are themes researchers have found about birth order affecting personality as one grows and carries with them into adulthood:
The Eldest
The eldest child is the parents first born, and often takes on the leadership role. First born children have alone good amount of time with their parents, which leads to them being little adults.
When younger siblings come into play, they feel responsible to take care of them and show a good example.
As the leader of the pack, firstborns often tend to be:
- Reliable
- Conscientious
- Structured
- Cautious
- Controlling
- Achievers
However, if parents set unrealistic standards for their child that they cannot meet, the child may end up having opposite of the traits listed above.
The Middle Child
The middle child is often known as the peacekeeper, social butterfly, and very concerned with fairness.
Middle children are said to receive the least amount of attention for the family, which is not always true. Because middle children don’t have the power of the eldest or the youngest, they are good at negotiating and compromising.
Here are some qualities they often possess:
- People-pleasers
- Thrive on friendships and have large friendship circles
- A little rebellious
- Independent
- Peacemakers
The Youngest
The youngest of the bunch typically have more freedom than their siblings. At this point, parents usually know how to raise children and aren’t worried about watching your every move.
This freedom often leads to the baby of the family being independent.
- Fun-loving
- Outgoing
- Social
- Attention-seeking
- Self-centered
- Manipulative
- Followers rather than leaders
The Only Child
Since the only child is surrounded by only adults most of the time, they are often very mature. They are able to speak their mind openly and are very independent, because that is all they’ve ever known.
If you are an only child, you have many similar qualities to the first born, such as being responsible and resourceful.
Here are some of the personality traits they have:
- Very confident
- Mature for their age
- Responsible
- Leaders
- Perfectionists
- Conscientious
- Seek approval
There are definitely exceptions to this tradition family structure, such as having multiple middle children, large age gaps and blended families.
Do you believe your birth order affected your personality?
