Does Your Birth Order Effect Your Personality?

Psychologists have come to a general consensus that you can predict certain traits about a person depending on their birth order. If you have heard of the “middle rebel child syndrome” you know exactly what we’re talking about and, to a certain extent, psychologists agree that the middle child stereotypes are in fact true. Read below to see how accurate the predictions are.

The Eldest Child – “The Controller” Because parents tend to pay more attention to their first child simply because they are their “first” the eldest child tends to be the most confident and has very high self esteem. Further, because they are likely forced to take care of their younger siblings, they tend to be the most responsible and willing to take on leadership roles. However, this combination of attention, confidence and responsibility likely manifests to some tyrant-like traits and a tendency to need to control every situation.

The Middle Child – “The Emotionally-Damaged Rebel” Because the first born tends to be controlling over their younger sibling, the middle child is likely to be the most angry and competitive (as they have always been compared to the eldest). Further, because parents tend to favour the eldest for being their first-born and favor their youngest for being the cute baby of the family, the middle child tends to feel the most neglected. This contributes to their heightened emotionality. Their anger and animosity toward their controlling sibling and neglecting parents (who they feel they can never be “good enough” for) causes them to act out. Lastly, because they feel a lack of attention from their family, middle children tend to be the most social as they interact with others outside of their family to compensate for their lack of attention. This is why middle children tend to have the most friends and the busiest social life.

The Youngest Child – “The Carefree Wild Child” Because parents tend to get tired of enforcing harsh rules on their first two children, they tend to be more lenient on their third/last child. This means the youngest child gets the most freedom and feels entitled to be able to do things in whichever manner pleases them. The eldest will protect their younger sibling but treat them more as a baby to have fun with rather than something they must control so the youngest child tends to not develop the same hostility the middle child does. The youngest child tends to have the best relationship with both siblings as well as the parents.