the birth order theory essay

Silhouette of three boys from the side standing in line,

Does being the oldest or youngest sibling really shape your personality?

The psychological debate about sibling order has persisted for decades—but it might be time to break up with the popular theory.

Are you a responsible oldest child, an overlooked middle, or a free-wheeling baby? For those who adhere to the theory that birth order influences personality, the answer to that question may hold the key to who you are as a person. At parties, family dinners, and therapy sessions, people can use birth order as a kind of shorthand for personality traits—an only child’s selfishness, perhaps, or a middle child’s struggle for visibility.

But though your personal experiences may very well indicate that birth order forms the personalities around you, psychologists beg to differ. Here’s why it might be time to drop the stereotypes.

Origins of the psychological theory of birth order

The idea that birth order influences a child’s personality might be as old as people themselves. After all, various societies have long privileged—or overlooked—people based on where they stand in their family.

In many ancient societies, for example, the arrival of a first child—and thus a parent’s transition to the head of a family—often translated to a higher social status. It also gave rise to ceremonies like special baths for first-time mothers in Micronesia and the traditional pidyon haben ceremony in Judaism, during which a first-born son is “redeemed” by paying five silver coins to a priest.

( Siblings can have surprisingly different DNA ancestry. Here's why .)

Birth order has also long determined inheritance rights and royal lines of succession, as in the British monarchy which has long demanded a first-born “heir” and one or more “spares” as backups should something happen to the heir.

For Hungry Minds

But the psychological theory of birth order didn’t develop until the early 20th century, when psychologist Alfred Adler theorized that birth order influenced not just social status, but a child’s development and personality. Known as the father of individual psychology, Adler theorized that an individual’s “family constellation” results in predictable personality traits. “The position in the family leaves an indelible stamp upon the individual’s life style,” Adler wrote in 1931.

According to Adler, the birth of a sibling deprives oldest children of their parents’ undivided attention—and as a result they are neurotic, more prone to conservatism, and inclined to imitate their elders. Second children are competitive attention-grabbers, while youngest children are pampered and lazy. Finally, he theorized that people who grow up without siblings have a “mother complex” and are in rivalry with their father.

Famous for his international lectures, popular psychology texts, and psychotherapeutic techniques, Adler’s influence still resounds throughout the field of psychology—and as a result, generations of psychologists undertook research that attempted to prove his theory of birth order.

What the research actually says about birth order

Studies conducted since Adler’s time have found associations between birth order and everything from educational attainment to sexuality to middle children’s success in team sports.

Frank Sulloway, one of the theory’s most prominent modern advocates, looked at adults and their careers in the 1990s and 2000s to assess the influence of birth order. He found a tendency for conservative research among famous firstborn scientists, with more radical research, such as the theory of evolution and relativity, more common among famous scientists born later in their family order. He also found differences between military and political strategies among militant firstborns like Maximilien Robespierre and moderate, nonviolent methods among famous middle-borns.

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But the studies that most applicable to personality development look at the “big five” personality traits of openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. And more recent birth order studies throw cold water on the theory that your birth order can shape your personality.

( Not an extrovert or an introvert? There's a word for that .)

Rodica Damian, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Houston, conducted one of the largest such studies in 2015, using data from a longitudinal study of over 440,000 U.S. high school students. After controlling for socioeconomic status, sex, and age, the study showed that “the association between birth order and personality traits is as close to zero as you can get,” she says.

Another 2015 study underscored Damian’s findings: After analyzing three nationally representative samples from the U.S., Great Britain, and Germany, researchers wrote “we consistently found no birth-order effects on extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, or imagination.”

But both teams of researchers found evidence for one trait that would please firstborn children (and dismay their younger siblings): The studies each showed that firstborns were slightly more likely to have high verbal intelligence.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that firstborns are smarter or learn more easily, Damian says. More likely it’s because firstborns spend more time around adults in their early childhood—and she points out that in her study, the difference was a matter of a single IQ point.

Overall, the other study team wrote, “we must conclude that birth order does not have a lasting effect on broad personality traits outside of the intellectual domain.”

What really makes a personality?

As a scientist, Damian is cautious about claiming that any theory has been “disproven.” However, she says that modern research essentially debunks the theory that birth order affects personality—which she calls a “zombie theory” because it just won’t die. So why does the idea still enchant the public—and why do researchers continue to plumb the question? 

“Everybody has an opinion on it because everybody has a birth order, even only children,” says Damian. And part of the reason we just can’t quit birth order psychology may have to do with our own experiences that will always appear to support it. Older children will always seem to be more responsible and sophisticated than their younger siblings because they are more developmentally mature.

( How much does your name influence your future? It might surprise you .)

“Even though you see this and it's true, you don't have a magic lens to go back in time and observe the children at the [exact] same age,” Damian explains. It’s a “perfect confound,” she and her colleagues write—and it’s “one circumstance where personal experience will be wrong and the truth can only be discovered through good scientific reasoning and investigation.”

In truth, the science of personality development is anything but settled. Modern research using twin studies suggests that personality formation is about 40 percent due to genetics. The rest may be a matter of a complex combination of environment and cultural practices that help shape the disposition with which we’re born.

Though researchers can measure the “big five” personality traits, it’s harder to quantify the subjective experiences that shape our everyday lives and, perhaps, our personalities. Damian is currently studying the possible effects of people’s life narratives —the stories they tell themselves about their own experiences—on the people they become. But for much of the public, teasing out the complex web of nature and nurture is far less fun than teasing our siblings.

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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
v.112(46); 2015 Nov 17

Settling the debate on birth order and personality

Rodica ioana damian.

a Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204;

Brent W. Roberts

b Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, 61820

Author contributions: R.I.D. and B.W.R. wrote the paper.

Birth order is one of the most pervasive human experiences, which is universally thought to determine how intelligent, nice, responsible, sociable, emotionally stable, and open to new experiences we are ( 1 ). The debate over the effects of birth order on personality has spawned continuous interest for more than 100 y, both from the general public and from scientists. And yet, despite a consistent stream of research, results remained inconclusive and controversial. In the last year, two definitive papers have emerged to show that birth order has little or no substantive effect on personality. In the first paper, a huge sample was used to test the relation between birth order and personality in a between-family design, and the average effect was equal to a correlation of 0.02 ( 2 ). Now, in PNAS, Rohrer, Egloff, and Schmukle ( 3 ) investigate the link between birth order and personality in three large samples from Great Britain, the United States, and Germany, using both between- and within-family designs. The results show that birth order has null effects on personality across the board, with the exception of intelligence and self-reported intellect, where firstborns have slightly higher scores. When combined, the two studies provide definitive evidence that birth order has little or no substantive relation to personality trait development and a minuscule relation to the development of intelligence.

In the wake of these findings, one may ask why previous findings were inconclusive. To address this question, it is essential to understand the current state of research on birth order and personality, as well as the vital methodological contributions of the Rohrer et al. report ( 3 ).

Why Were Previous Studies of Birth Order Inconclusive?

Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have produced widely ranging estimates of the effects of birth order on personality traits, falling anywhere between a correlation of 0.40 ( 1 ) and 0 ( 4 ). One possible explanation for these inconsistent findings is the pervasive use of underpowered study designs using nonrepresentative population samples. Regarding the link between birth order and intelligence, the results are much more consistent, possibly because of the large representative samples used ( 5 , 6 ). The Rohrer et al. ( 3 ) study addresses the power issues by using three large representative samples from three different countries. This is notable, because only one previous study ( 2 ) had tested the effect of birth order on

Scientific evidence strongly suggests that birth order has little or no substantive relation to personality trait development and a minuscule relation to the development of intelligence.

personality in a large representative sample (in a between-family context). The Rohrer et al. ( 3 ) study replicates the latter findings, and extends them significantly by investigating cross-national patterns and by being the first study to ever explore within-family effects simultaneously with between-family effects in large representative samples. This study also replicates results on birth order and intelligence that have been previously found in large samples in both between- and within-family designs.

A second reason for the lack of consensus has to do with changing standards on what would be deemed the optimal method for testing birth-order effects on personality. Recently, some have argued that between-family designs were inadequate and that only within-family comparisons were up to the task of testing and revealing the role of birth order on personality. A between-family study design compares the personality traits and intelligence of a cross-section of unrelated people who have different birth ranks. In contrast, a within-family design compares the personality traits and intelligence of first- and laterborn siblings from the same family. Between-family designs have been criticized primarily for not being able to adequately control for between-family differences in sibship size, genetic differences, and specific family practices ( 7 ). Ignoring these sources of variance is likely to produce biased estimates of birth-order effects. For example, sibship size, which represents the total number of siblings present in the family, is an important confound because firstborns (vs. laterborns) are more likely to be “found” in low sibships. Because wealthier more educated parents tend to have fewer children, firstborns tend to be overrepresented among families of a high socioeconomic status, the latter being related to personality and intelligence ( 8 ). Thus, any serious attempt at testing the effects of birth order on personality in a between-family design should statistically control for sibship size, which the study by Rohrer et al. ( 3 ) does.

The second criticism brought to between-family designs is that they do not reflect the within-family dynamics put forward by the evolutionary niche-finding model, whereby each child is trying to find a niche that has not yet been filled, to receive maximum investment from the parents ( 9 ). The study by Rohrer et al. ( 3 ) also addresses this issue by supplementing their between-family design with a within-family design (using a subsample of siblings from the same datasets).

Although within-family designs of birth order may be considered superior to between-family designs because they can adequately control for some confounding factors and because they reflect the within-family dynamics put forward by the evolutionary model ( 7 ), they also pose some problems. First, within-family designs, as they are currently used, tend to introduce a perfect age confound ( 10 ). Specifically, studies so far have tested all siblings at the same time, which means the firstborn was always older than the laterborns at the time of assessment. Given what we know about personality development and maturation ( 11 ), it is very possible that the firstborn only appears to be more conscientious, for example, because of being older. The study by Rohrer et al. ( 3 ) is the first study to date to ever address this issue when employing a within-family design by using age-adjusted t -scores.

The second criticism brought to within-family studies of birth order and personality is that they may suffer from demand effects or social stereotypes that may inflate the correlations ( 12 ). This problem is enhanced by the fact that the existing within-family research on birth order and personality has been limited by its use of a single rater from each family ( 4 ). Specifically, the single rater compares oneself against one’s siblings, thus increasing the likelihood of perceiving a contrast. The study by Rohrer et al. ( 3 ) addresses this issue by using independent self-reports collected from each sibling. This is only the second study to ever use independent ratings in the within-family context, and the first to do so while using large representative samples.

Finally, Rohrer et al. ( 3 ) tested the robustness of their findings by conducting additional analyses. One important finding was that the results did not differ by gender, which is relevant because previous theories proposed that stronger effects may emerge among pairs of male siblings ( 13 ). Another important finding is that limiting the data to an age gap between siblings no larger than 5 y also did not change the results. This is important because previous theory ( 1 ) suggested that large age gaps make the effects disappear because there is no sibling competition within the family, but that strong effects should appear for age gaps smaller than 5 y. Rohrer et al. ( 3 ) did not find support for this idea, and their study is unique in its ability to test this hypothesis in a large sample.

In sum, by using large representative samples from three different countries, by assessing personality traits and intelligence in the same study, by using both between- and within-family designs, by using independent self-reports of personality in the within-family context, by taking into account important confounds (such as sibship size in the between-family context and age in the within-family context), and by testing the robustness of the findings in multiple additional analyses, this is the most methodologically sound birth order study to date ( 3 ). When combined with the prior study by Damian and Roberts ( 2 ), which was the largest test of birth order and personality relations, the conclusion is inescapable. Birth order is not an important factor for personality development.

Why Has Birth Order Persisted and Why Might it Still Persist as a Zombie Theory?

If science is truly self-correcting, we feel that the Rohrer et al. ( 3 ) study, when combined with the Damian and Roberts ( 2 ) study, should be the standard against which any new studies on birth order and personality are considered. The largest, most methodologically sophisticated studies in existence show little or no functional relation between birth order and personality. Newer data will have to provide evidence for much larger effects in equally large samples to counter the weight of the evidence.

We are not optimistic that opinions on the effect of birth order will change quickly for a variety of reasons. First, change in science happens slowly. It may take a few years for researchers to digest these findings. Second, some researchers will point out that some of the effects, though quite small in size, were still statistically significant. Although technically correct, this position fails theoretically because the idea of a birth-order effect on personality has always been proposed under the assumption that it could be seen within any given family. We know from past research that it is difficult for observers to detect personality differences that are smaller than one standard deviation in size ( 14 ). The largest birth-order effects we could find were on the order of a 10th of a standard deviation, with the average effect being equivalent to a 25th of a standard deviation. Even if the difference turns out to be statistically significant, it fails to reach a level that parents, relatives, siblings, or friends could notice. In that way, birth-order theory fails despite the statistically significant effects demonstrated in these large studies.

Third, and possibly most interestingly, birth order is an idea that will probably never go away entirely because of its perfect confounding with age. This means that almost everyone has direct experience in which they see older children, who are firstborn, acting and behaving differently than younger children, who are laterborn. Because people are susceptible to weighing anecdotal information more heavily than data-driven findings ( 15 ), there will always be a tendency to think that birth-order effects exist because they will be confused with age differences. The interesting aspect of this perfect confound is that this is one circumstance where personal experience will be wrong and the truth can only be discovered through good scientific reasoning and investigation. The problem in this case is that data-driven findings are seldom as compelling as personal experience.

In conclusion, scientific evidence strongly suggests that birth order has little or no substantive relation to personality trait development and a minuscule relation to the development of intelligence. We commend Rohrer et al. ( 3 ) for conducting the most thorough and methodologically sophisticated examination of the relation between birth order and personality to date. We hope, that the cumulative evidence on birth order and personality is now compelling enough that the idea does not simply become undead ( 16 ), but is clearly laid to rest as a viable explanation for the fascinating differences we see across people and siblings in the typical ways in which they feel, think, and behave.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

See companion article on page 14224 .

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How Does Birth Order Shape Your Personality?

Beware the stereotypes

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Yolanda Renteria, LPC, is a licensed therapist, somatic practitioner, national certified counselor, adjunct faculty professor, speaker specializing in the treatment of trauma and intergenerational trauma.

Verywell Mind / Getty Images

What Is Adler’s Birth Order Theory?

First-born child, middle child.

Impact on Relationships

Debunking Myths and Limitations

Birth order refers to the order a child is born in relation to their siblings, such as whether they are first-born, middle-born, or last-born. You’ve probably heard people joke about how the eldest child is the bossy one, the middle child is the peace-maker, and the youngest child is the irresponsible rebel—but is there any truth to these stereotypes?

Psychologists often look at how birth order can affect development, behavior patterns, and personality characteristics, and there is some evidence that birth order might play a role in certain aspects of personality .

At a Glance

Researchers often explore how birth order, including the differences in parental expectations and sibling dynamics, can affect development and character. According to some researchers, firstborns, middle children, youngest-children, and only child-children often exhibit distinctive characteristics that are strongly influenced by how birth order shapes parental and sibling behaviors.

Early in the 20th century, the Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler introduced the idea that birth order could impact development and personality. Adler, the founder of individual psychology, was heavily influenced by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud .

Key points of Adler's birth order theory were that firstborns were more likely to develop a strong sense of responsibility, middleborns a desire for attention, and lastborns a sense of adventure and rebellion.

Adler also notably introduced the concept of the " family constellation ." This idea emphasizes the dynamics that form between family members and how these interactions play a part in shaping individual development.

Adler's birth order theory suggests that firstborns get more attention and time from their parents. New parents are still learning about child-rearing, which means that they may be more rule-oriented, strict, cautious, and sometimes even neurotic .

They are often described as responsible leaders with Type A personalities , a phenomenon sometimes referred to as " oldest-child syndrome ."

"Older siblings, regardless of gender, often feel more deprived or envious since they have experienced having another child divert attention away from them at some point in their lives. They tend to be more success-oriented,” explains San Francisco therapist Dr. Avigail Lev.

Firstborn children are often described as:

High-achieving (or sometimes even over-achieving )
Structured and organized
Responsible

All this extra attention firstborns enjoy changes abruptly when younger siblings come along. When you become an older sibling, you suddenly have to share your parent's attention. You may feel that your parents have higher expectations for you and look to you to set an example for your younger siblings.

Consider the experiences of the oldest siblings, who are frequently tasked with caring for younger siblings. Because they are often expected to help fill the role of caregivers, they may be more nurturing, responsible, and motivated to excel.

Such traits are affected not only by birth order but also by how your position in the family affects your parent's expectations and your relationship with your younger siblings.

Research has found that firstborn kids tend to have more advanced cognitive development , which may also confer advantages when it comes to school readiness skills. However, it's important to remember that being the oldest child can also come with challenges, including carrying the weight of expectations and the burden of taking a caregiver role within the family.

Adler suggested that middle children tend to become the family’s peacemaker since they often have to mediate conflicts between older and younger siblings. Because they tend to be overshadowed by their eldest siblings, middle children may seek social attention outside of the family.

In families with three children, the youngest male sibling is likely to be more passive or easy-going.

Middleborns are often described as:

Independent
Peacemakers
People pleasers
Attention-seeking
Competitive

While they tend to be adaptable and independent, they can also have a rebellious streak that tends to emerge when they want to stand apart from their siblings.

" Middle child syndrome " is a term often used to describe the negative effects of being a middle child. Because middle kids are sometimes overlooked, they may engage in people-pleasing behaviors as adults as a way to garner attention and favor in their lives.

While research is limited, some studies have shown that middle kids are less likely to feel close to their mothers and are more likely to have problems with delinquency.

Some research suggests that middle children may be more sensitive to rejection . As a middle child, you may feel like you didn't get as much attention and were constantly in competition with your siblings. You may struggle with feelings of insecurity, fear of rejection, and poor self-confidence .

Lastborns, often referred to as the "babies" of the family, are often seen as spoiled and pampered compared to their older siblings. Because parents are more experienced at this point (and much busier), they often take a more laissez-faire approach to parenting .

Last-born children are sometimes described as:

Free-spirited
Manipulative
Self-centered
Risk-taking

Adler's theory suggests that the youngest children tend to be outgoing, sociable, and charming. While they often have more freedom to explore, they also often feel overshadowed by their elder siblings, referred to as " youngest child syndrome ."

Because parents are sometimes less strict and disciplined with last-borns, these kids may have fewer self-regulation skills.

"If the youngest of many children is female, she tends to be more coddled or cared for, leading to a greater reliance on others compared to her older siblings, especially in larger families," Lev suggests.

Only children are unique in that they never have to share their parents' attention and resources with a sibling. It can be very much like being a firstborn in many ways. These kids may be doted on by their caregivers, but never have younger siblings to interact with, which may have an impact on development.

Only children are often described as:

Perfectionistic
High-achieving
Imaginative
Self-reliant

Because they interact with adults so much, only children often seem very mature for their age. If you're an only child, you may feel more comfortable being alone and enjoy spending time in solitude pursuing you own creative ideas. You may like having control and, because of your parents' high expectations, have strong perfectionist tendencies .

How Birth Order Influences Relationships

Birth order may affect relationships in a wide variety of ways. For example, it may impact how you form connections with other people. It can also affect how you behave within these relationships.

Dr. Lev suggests that the effects of birth order can differ depending on gender.

"For instance, in a family with two female siblings, the younger one often appears more confident and empowered, while the older one is more achievement-focused and insecure," she explains.

She also suggests that there is often a notable rivalry between same-sex siblings versus that of mixed-gender siblings. Again, this effect can vary depending on gender. Where an older sister might be less secure and the younger sister more secure, the opposite is often true when it comes to older and younger brothers.

"This could be because older sisters often assume a motherly role, while older brothers might take on more of a bully role. As a result, younger brothers are generally more insecure, whereas younger sisters tend to be more confident than their older siblings," she explains.

Some other potential effects include:

Communication

Birth order can affect how you communicate with others, which can have a powerful impact on relationship dynamics.

Firstborns and only children are often seen as more direct, which others can sometimes interpret as bossy or controlling.
Middle children may be less confrontational and more likely to look for solutions that will accommodate everyone.
Lastborns, on the other hand, may rely more on their sense of humor and charm to guide their social interactions.

Relationship Roles

Birth order may also influence the roles that you take on in a relationship.

Firstborns, for example, may be more likely to take on a caregiver role. This can be nurturing and supportive, but it can sometimes make partners feel like they are being "parented."
Middle children are more likely to be flexible and take a more easygoing approach.
Lastborns may be more carefree and less rigid.

Expectations

What we expect from relationships can sometimes also be influenced by birth order.

Firstborns often have high expectations of themselves and others, sometimes leading to criticism when people fall short.
Middle children are more prone to seek balance in relationships and want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly and contributing equally.
Lastborns may place the burden of responsibility on their partner's shoulders while they take a more laissez-faire approach.

"Generally, older siblings are more likely to be in the scapegoat role, while the youngest siblings often have a more idealized view of the family," Lev explains.

Other Factors Play a Role

How birth order influences interpersonal relationships can also be influenced by other factors. Some of these include personality differences, parenting styles , the parents' relationship with one another, and even the birth order of the parents themselves.

While birth order theory holds a popular position in culture, much of the available evidence suggests that it likely only has a minimal impact on developmental outcomes. In other words, birth order is only one of many factors that affect how we grow and learn.

While some research suggests that there are some small personality differences between the oldest and youngest siblings, researchers have concluded that there are no significant differences in personality or cognitive abilities based on birth order.

Birth order doesn't exist in a vacuum. Genetics, socioeconomic status, family resources, health factors, parenting styles, and other environmental variables influence child development. Other family factors, such as age spacing between siblings, sibling gender, and the number of kids in a family, can also moderate the effects of birth order.

Adler’s birth order theory suggests that the order in which you are born into your family can have a lasting impact on your behavior, emotions, and relationships with other people. While there is some support indicating that birth order can affect people in small ways, keep in mind that it is just one part of the developmental puzzle.

Family dynamics are complex, which means that your relationships with both your parents and siblings are influenced by factors like genetics, environment, child temperament, and socioeconomic status.

In other words, there may be some truth to the idea that firstborns get more attention (and responsibility), that middleborns get less attention (and more independence), and that lastborns get more freedom (and less discipline). But the specific dynamics in your family might hinge more on things like resources and parenting styles than on whether you arrived first, middle, or last.

Individual aspects of your own personality are shaped by many things, but you may find it helpful to reflect on your own experiences in your family and consider the influence that birth order might have had.

Damian RI, Roberts BW. Settling the debate on birth order and personality . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 2015;112(46):14119-14120. doi:10.1073/pnas.1519064112

Luo R, Song L, Chiu I. A closer look at the birth order effect on early cognitive and school readiness development in diverse contexts . Frontiers in Psychology . 2022;13. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.871837

Salmon CA, Daly M. Birth order and familial sentiment . Evolution and Human Behavior . 1998;19(5):299-312. doi:10.1016/S1090-5138(98)00022-1

Cundiff PR. Ordered delinquency: the "effects" of birth order on delinquency . Pers Soc Psychol Bull . 2013;39(8):1017-1029. doi:10.1177/0146167213488215

Çabuker ND, Batık HESBÇMV. Does psychological birth order predict identity perceptions of individuals in emerging adulthood? International Online Journal of Educational Sciences. 2020;12(5):164–176.

Damian RI, Roberts BW. The associations of birth order with personality and intelligence in a representative sample of U.S. high school students . Journal of Research in Personality . 2015;58:96-105. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2015.05.005

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

The Reporter

New Evidence on the Impacts of Birth Order

What determines a child's success? We know that family matters — children from higher socioeconomic status families do better in school, get more education, and earn more.

However, even beyond that, there is substantial variation in success across children within families. This has led researchers to study factors that relate to within-family differences in children's outcomes. One that has attracted much interest is the role played by birth order, which varies systematically within families and is exogenously determined.

While economists have been interested in understanding human capital development for many decades, compelling economic research on birth order is more recent and has largely resulted from improved availability of data. Early work on birth order was hindered by the stringent data requirements necessary to convincingly identify the effects of birth order. Most importantly, one needs information on both family size and birth order. As there is only a third-born child in a family with at least three children, comparing third-borns to firstborns across families of different sizes will conflate the birth order effect with a family size effect, so one needs to be able to control for family size. Additionally, it is beneficial to have information on multiple children from the same family so that birth order effects can be estimated from within-family differences in child outcomes; otherwise, birth order effects will be conflated with other effects that vary systematically with birth order, such as cohort effects. Large Scandinavian register datasets that became available to researchers beginning in the late 1990s have enabled birth order research, as they contain population data on both family structure and a variety of child outcomes. Here, I describe my research with a number of coauthors, using these data to explore the effects of birth order on outcomes including human capital accumulation, earnings, development of cognitive and non-cognitive skills, and health.

Birth Order and Economic Success

Almost a half-century ago, economists including Gary Becker, H. Gregg Lewis, and Nigel Tomes created models of quality-quantity trade-offs in child-rearing and used these models to explore the role of family in children's success. They sought to explain an observed negative correlation between family income and family size: if child quality is a normal good, as income rises the family demands higher-quality children at the cost of lower family size. 1

However, this was a difficult model to test, as characteristics other than family income and child quality vary with family size. The introduction of natural experiments, combined with newly available large administrative datasets from Scandinavia, made testing such a model possible.

In my earliest work on the topic, Paul Devereux, Kjell Salvanes, and I took advantage of the Norwegian administrative dataset and set out to better understand this theoretical quantity-quality tradeoff. 2 It became clear that child "quality" was not a constant within a family — children within families were quite different, despite the model assumptions to the contrary. Indeed, we found that birth order could explain a large fraction of the family size differential in children's educational outcomes. Average educational attainment was lower in larger families largely because later-born children had lower average education, rather than because firstborns had lower education in large families than in small families. We found that firstborns had higher educational attainment than second-borns who in turn did better than third-borns, and so on. These results were robust to a variety of specifications; most importantly, we could compare outcomes of children within the same families.

To give a sense of the magnitude of these effects: The difference in educational attainment between the first child and the fifth child in a five-child family is roughly equal to the difference between the educational attainment of blacks and whites calculated from the 2000 Census. We augmented the education results by examining earnings, whether full-time employed, and whether one had a child as a teenager as additional outcome variables, and found strong evidence for birth order effects, particularly for women. Later-born women have lower earnings (whether employed full-time or not), are less likely to work full-time, and are more likely to have their first child as teenagers. In contrast, while later-born men have lower full-time earnings, they are not less likely to work full-time [Figure 1].

Birth Order and Cognitive Skills

One possible explanation for these differences is that cognitive ability varies systematically by birth order. In subsequent work, Devereux, Salvanes, and I examined the effect of birth order on IQ scores. 3

The psychology literature has long debated the role of birth order in determining children's IQs; this debate was seemingly resolved when, in 2000, J. L. Rodgers et al. published a paper in American Psychologist entitled "Resolving the Debate Over Birth Order, Family Size, and Intelligence" that referred to the apparent relationship between birth order and IQ as a "methodological illusion." 4 However, this work was limited due to the absence of large representative datasets necessary to identify these effects. We again used population register data from Norway to estimate this relationship.

To measure IQ, we used the outcomes of standardized cognitive tests administered to Norwegian men between the age of 18 and 20 when they enlist in the military. Consistent with our earlier findings on educational attainment but in contrast to the previous work in the literature, we found strong birth order effects on IQ that are present when we look within families. Later-born children have lower IQs, on average, and these differences are quite large. For example, the difference between firstborn and second-born average IQ is on the order of one-fifth of a standard deviation, or about three IQ points. This translates into approximately a 2 percent difference in annual earnings in adulthood.

The Effect of Birth Order on Non-Cognitive Skills

Personality is another factor that is posited to vary by birth order, a proposition that has been particularly difficult to assess in a compelling way due to the paucity of large datasets containing information on individual personality. In recent work on the topic, Erik Gronqvist, Bjorn Ockert, and I use Swedish administrative datasets to examine this issue. 5

In the economics literature, personality traits are often referred to as non-cognitive abilities and denote traits that can be distinguished from intelligence. 6 To measure "personality" (or non-cognitive skills), we use the outcome of a standardized psychological evaluation, conducted by a certified psychologist, that is performed on all Swedish men between the ages of 18 and 20 when they enlist in the military, and which is strongly related to success in the labor market. An individual is given a higher score if he is considered to be emotionally stable, persistent, socially outgoing, willing to assume responsibility, and able to take initiative. Similar to the results for cognitive skills, we find evidence of consistently lower scores in this measure for later-born children. Third-born children have non-cognitive abilities that are 0.2 standard deviations below firstborn children. Interestingly, boys with older brothers suffer almost twice as much in terms of these personality characteristics as boys with older sisters.

Importantly, we also demonstrate that these personality differences translate into differences in occupation choice by birth order. Firstborn children are significantly more likely to be employed and to work as top managers, while later-born children are more likely to be self-employed. More generally, firstborn children are more likely to be in occupations requiring sociability, leadership ability, conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, extraversion, and openness.

The Effect of Birth Order on Health

Finally, how do these differences translate into later health? In more recent work, Devereux, Salvanes, and I analyze the effect of birth order on health. 7 There is a sizable body of literature about the relationship between birth order and adult health; individual studies have typically examined only one or a small number of health outcomes and, in many cases, have used relatively small samples. Again, we use large nationally representative data from Norway to identify the relationship between birth order and health when individuals are in their 40s, where health is measured along a number of dimensions, including medical indicators, health behaviors, and overall life satisfaction.

The effects of birth order on health are less straightforward than other outcomes we have examined, as firstborns do better on some dimensions and worse on others. We find that the probability of having high blood pressure declines with birth order, and the largest gap is between first- and second-borns. Second-borns are about 3 percent less likely to have high blood pressure than firstborns; fifth-borns are about 7 percent less likely to have high blood pressure than firstborns. Given that 24 percent of this population has high blood pressure, this is quite a large difference. Firstborns are also more likely to be overweight and obese. Compared with second-borns, firstborns are 4 percent more likely to be overweight and 2 percent more likely to be obese. The equivalent differences between fifth-borns and firstborns are 10 percent and 5 percent. For context, 47 percent of the population is overweight and 10 percent is obese. Once again, the magnitudes are quite large.

However, later-borns are less likely to consider themselves to be in good health, and measures of mental health generally decline with birth order. Later-born children also exhibit worse health behaviors. The number of cigarettes smoked daily increases monotonically with birth order, suggesting that the higher prevalence of smoking by later-borns found among U.S. adolescents by Laura M. Argys et al. 8 may persist throughout adulthood and, hence, have important effects on health outcomes.

Possible Mechanisms

Why are adult outcomes likely to be affected by birth order? A host of potential explanations has been proposed across several academic disciplines.

A number of biological factors may explain birth order effects. These relate to changes in the womb environment or maternal immune system that occur over successive births. Beyond biology, parents could have other influences. Childhood inputs, especially in the first years of life, are considered crucial for skill formation. 9 Firstborn children have the full attention of parents, but as families grow the family environment is diluted and parental resources become scarcer. 10 In contrast, parents are more experienced and tend to have higher incomes when raising later-born children. In addition, for a given amount of resources, parents may treat firstborn children differently than second- or later-born children. Parents may use more strict parenting practices toward the firstborn, so as to gain a reputation for "toughness" necessary to induce good behavior among later-borns. 11

There are also theories that suggest that interactions among siblings can shape birth order effects. For example, based on evolutionary psychology, Frank J. Sulloway suggests that firstborns have an advantage in following the status quo, while later-borns — by having incentives to engage in investments aimed at differentiating themselves — become more sociable and unconventional in order to attract parental resources. 12

In each of these papers, we attempted to identify potential mechanisms for the patterns we observed. However, it is here we see the limitations of these large administrative datasets, as for the most part, we lack necessary detailed information on biological factors and on household dynamics when the children are young. However, we do have some evidence on the role of biological factors. Later-born children tend to have better birth outcomes as measured by factors such as birth weight. In our Swedish data, we took advantage of the fact that some children's biological birth order is different from their environmental birth order, due to the death of an older sibling or because their parent gave up a child for adoption. When we examine this subsample, we find that the birth order effect on occupational choice is entirely driven by the environmental birth order, again suggesting that biological factors may not be central.

Also in our Swedish study, we found that firstborn teenagers are more likely to read books, spend more time on homework, and spend less time watching TV or playing video games. Parents spend less time discussing school work with later-born children, suggesting there may be differences in parental time investments. Using Norwegian data, we found that smoking early in pregnancy is more prevalent for first pregnancies than for later ones. However, women are more likely to quit smoking during their first pregnancy than during later ones, and firstborns are more likely to be breastfed. These findings suggest that early investments may systematically benefit firstborns and help explain their generally better outcomes.

In the past two decades, with the increased accessibility of administrative datasets on large swaths of the population, economists and other researchers have been better able to identify the role of birth order in the outcomes of children. There is strong evidence of substantial differences by birth order across a range of outcomes. While I have described several of my own papers on the topic, a number of other researchers have also taken advantage of newly available datasets in Florida and Denmark to examine the role of birth order on other important outcomes, specifically juvenile delinquency and later criminal behavior. 13 Consistent with the work discussed here, later-born children experience higher rates of delinquency and criminal behavior; this is at least partly attributable to time investments of parents.

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Birth Order

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Destiny Cunic 3 &
Kevin Bennett 4

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Family constellation ; Family order ; Sibling order

The idea that the order in which a child is born within their family has influence over their development and personality.

Introduction

Birth order theory is the idea that the order in which a child is born within their family has influence over their development and personality. The theory was originally introduced by psychotherapist Alfred Adler in the 1920s (Eckstein and Kaufman 2012 ). Since Adler’s initial research, others have attempted to make contributions to the theory. However, research has resulted in inconsistent findings attributed to confounding factors that arise from the multifactorial context of family environment, thus, leaving birth order’s influence on development and personality a debated scientific topic.

Cognitive Development

Some studies suggest that cognitive development, such as intelligence, personality, and sexuality, can be affected by the order of an individual’s birth within their...

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Destiny Cunic

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Cunic, D., Bennett, K. (2020). Birth Order. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_678-1

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August 8, 2019

Does Birth Order Affect Personality?

Researchers examine the old adage that birth order plays a significant role in shaping who we are

By Corinna Hartmann & Sara Goudarzi

Kristy-Anne Glubish Getty Images

In spite of sharing genes and environments, siblings are often not as similar in nature as one might think. But where do the supposed differences come from? Alfred Adler, a 19th- and early 20th-century Austrian psychotherapist and founder of individual psychology, suspected that birth order leads to differences in siblings.

Adler considered firstborns to be neurotic, because they don’t have to share their parents for years and are essentially dethroned once a sibling comes along. He also considered oldest children dutiful and sometimes conservative. According to Adler, the youngest children are ambitious, while middle children are optimally positioned in the family and are characterized by emotional stability. Adler himself was the second of seven children.

American psychologist Frank J. Sulloway, who, in the mid-1990s, combed history books for leading figures who were firstborns and rebellious ones who were born later, saw a similar trend. Among the later borns, he found lateral thinkers and revolutionaries, such as Charles Darwin, Karl Marx and Mahatma Gandhi. Among firstborns, he discovered leaders such as Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini. His explanation? Every child occupies a certain niche within the family and then uses his or her own strategies to master life. Firstborn and single children had less reason to quarrel with the status quo and identify more strongly with the worldview of their fathers and mothers. Younger siblings are less sure of their parents’ view and therefore more often choose alternative paths in life.

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Such categorizations are popular because they’re rather intuitive, and one can always find an example of the sensible big sister or the rebellious young brother in their circle of acquaintances. As such, Adler’s words still appear regularly in educational guides and continue to reverberate in the minds of parents.

Furthermore, some studies confirmed the idea that sibling position can shape personality. For example, a 1968 study showed that, compared with later borns, first borns are less likely to participate in dangerous sports because of fears of physical injury. And a 1980 study of 170 female and 142 male undergraduates showed lower anxiety and higher ego in firstborns, as measured by the Howarth Personality Questionnaire. At times, however, these investigations used questionable methods. For example, members of the same family were often asked to assess themselves in terms of extraversion, openness to experiences, conscientiousness, tolerance and neuroticism. The catch is these surveys were conducted at only one point in time. The older siblings were therefore not only born first but also simply older. It has long been known that adolescents become more conscientious as they age. This trend could account for a large part of the results. Another methodological flaw was that only one person judged his or her own personality and that of his or her siblings. This detail is important because self-perception and the perception of others can sometimes differ considerably. In addition, the test subjects may have subconsciously incorporated the cliché of dutiful older siblings and cosmopolitan later borns into their evaluation and could have thus brought about the expected result themselves.

Meanwhile scientists who analyzed large, transnational data and compared different families with each other have found the effect of sibling succession on personality disappears almost completely. Researchers led by psychologist Julia Rohrer of the University of Leipzig in Germany evaluated data from more than 20,000 interviewees from Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. They compared the personality profiles of siblings but also of people with different birth orders who had never met. The Leipzig psychologists did not discover any systematic differences in personality.

In such studies, researchers must be particularly cautious because, in addition to age, the size of one’s family is another factor that’s intertwined with sibling position. A child from a family of four has a 50 percent chance of being a firstborn; the more siblings, the lower the probability. For example, the fact that many astronauts are firstborns does not necessarily speak to the special qualities of those born first. It’s likely that many astronauts come from smaller families. To better understand these influences, Rohrer and her team controlled forthe number of siblings. That’s because when there are more of them, there are more later borns. So the researchers hypothesized later borns may more often appear in families of lower socioeconomic classes—which could account for differences between children of different-sized families.

The larger the sample, the more likely even very small effects will be detected. For example, in a 2015 study, which included 377,000 high school students, psychologist Rodica Damian and her colleague Brent W. Roberts, both then at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign discovered that firstborns tended to be more conscientious, extraverted and willing to lead. Contrary to expectations, they were also more tolerant and emotionally stable than adolescents with older siblings. Yet the differences were very small, and the researchers concluded that the importance that is generally attached to sibling position in shaping one’s character is exaggerated.

“It is quite possible that the position in the sibling sequence shapes the personality—but not in every family in the same way,” says Frank Spinath, a psychologist at Saarland University in Germany. “In other words, there may be an influence but not a systematic one. Nevertheless, other influences weigh more heavily when it comes to the differences in character of siblings. In addition to genes, the so-called undivided environment also plays a role. For siblings who grow up in the same family, this includes the respective circle of friends, for example.” Further, parents do not treat their children the same regardless of their birth rank. Studies show that parents react sensitively to the innate temperament of their offspring and adapt their upbringing accordingly.

Damian’s study also found that on average, firstborns enjoy a small IQ advantage over their younger siblings. Those born first also tend to complete their education with a higher degree and opt for traditionally prestigious careers, such as medicine or engineering.

How does this intellectual advantage come about? Adler may be right that the undivided attention given to the first child in early life promotes cognitive abilities. This advantage is already apparent by the age of two. Norwegian researchers Petter Kristensen and Tor Bjerkedal cleverly showed that the difference in intelligence is not linked to biological factors (some had suspected it might be related to physical conditions during pregnancy). They tested children whose older siblings had died early. The researchers’ assumption was that although these children were biologically younger siblings, they assumed the role of the firstborn in the family. Compared with other younger siblings, they achieved better results in intelligence tests.

Birth Order and Its Influence on Personality Essay

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Birth order is defined as a person’s rank by the sequence of birth among his or her siblings. Birth order is commonly believed to have a profound and lasting effect on psychological development.

Sulloway (1995, 1996), states that first-born siblings are expected to be rated higher on the characteristic trait of dominance whereas siblings who are younger or born later can be rated higher on the sociability aspect.

The concept of ‘birth-order’ considerably influencing the personality of a being is not a novel phenomenon. Way back in 1874, Sir Francis Galton (Galton, 1874) proposed that renowned male scientists had a greater possibility to be ‘first-borns’ in their family units rather than ‘later-born’ (Forer, 1969). Investigation and study have revealed that individuals who are born first are found in larger numbers in political office (Hudson, 1990). Zajonc, (2001) reveals that there are likely to be birth-order variation in the levels of intellect along with the ‘Big Five’ facets of character including extraversion, anxiety, meticulousness, amicability, and naivety to experience (Paulhus, Sulloway 1996, Trapnell & Chen 1999).

Sulloway (1996, 2001) has suggested a representation of family unit dynamics relating to the results of birth-order in the character and conduct, which has varied ‘‘causal mechanisms’’. In support of this, Sulloway proposes that whilst parental income is inadequate, the parents tend to focus the available resources more profoundly on a single child, usually the one who is born first. Furthermore, Sulloway infers that first-borns are better built and tougher than those born subsequently and thereby employ these competitive physical features tremendously to their benefit.

Further ‘causal mechanisms’ incorporate ‘de-identification’, where children seek to discriminate themselves from each other another with respect to significance, societal approach, individuality, and role demarcation when sometimes, brothers and sisters implement special characteristics in the families for example, “the rebel of the family”, or “the lamb of the family”, so as to lessen rivalry (Sulloway, 1996, 2001).

Then experimental verification to sustain this model of family dynamics has primarily originated from Sulloway’s (1996) ‘meta-analysis’ of one hundred and ninety six studies involving birth-order. Maintaining the hypothesis, first-born position affirmatively allied to meticulousness, anxiety, and assertiveness, whereas the category of later-born absolutely connected with amicability and ingenuousness to experience.

Sulloway further elucidated these results by proposing that first-borns have a greater propensity to accepted by parents and have great enthusiasm to fulfill parental hopes. Moreover, he states that, first-borns tend to be additionally forceful and envious so as to safeguard cherished parental assets. Sulloway further reveals that later-born children, in contrast, have a greater probability to be pleasant to facilitate the decrease of any potential hostile conflicts with their elder siblings.

Jefferson et al., (1998) too found outcomes corresponding to Sulloway’s calculations in a study conducted by him, permitting the friends, neighbors or co-workers to rate the participants instead of the participants evaluating themselves. Keeping in line with the earlier results, later-borns were recognized by their peers as displaying characteristics which were more friendly, pioneering and reliant than their first-born siblings.

Alfred Adler (1870-1937) who was an Austrian psychiatrist was among the foremost theorists proposing that birth order impacts the individuality of a person. He debated that the order in which a child is born has the potential to significantly alter the lifestyle of a person which involves several facets of the personality such as companionship, love, occupation and many other aspects of life. Adler proposes that when a second child is born, the firstborns are ‘dethroned’, thereby having the potential of influencing them permanently as younger siblings and single children are sometimes pampered.

Michael E. Lamb and Brian Sutton-Smith, elucidate the fact that relationships between siblings habitually remain for an entire life span in their book ‘Sibling Relationships: Their Nature and Significance across the Lifespan’ . They highlight the ‘lifespan’ term proposing that progress within relationships is an incessant process and birth-order affects the lifelong process of development of the personality of an individual (Jefferson et al.1998) and as such research has indicated that unification of persons with dissimilar birth orders tend to be steadier than those of persons of the same birth order (Leman 1998, Toman 1976).

A Greek study affirmed that among individuals at the low birth order there is an increased risk for divorce, and debated that this consequence was predominantly apparent among single children (Skalkidou 2000).

The reason why partners’ birth order is likely to impact matrimonial strength is due to the effect of birth position of either spouse which consequently affects the personality and its development process, thereby producing specific traits in individuals bringing variations in their compatibility to others.

First-borns are likely to be dominating individuals and the subsequent unification of two individuals of the same dominating order, presents a greater likelihood of a divide. The same rule would apply to the union of two last born individuals who are likely to have comparatively unsteady relationships (Leman 1998, Toman 1976).

The reasons why birth order of individuals has the potential of affecting divorce rates is primarily due to the fact that individuals may have specific traits in their personalities such as a poorer levels of risk avoidance which may perhaps influence marriage termination pace. Personalities are known to be affected by birth order because the relations of parents with children is diverse and is to a great extent impacted by the birth order of the siblings (Ernst and Angst 1983), as a result of which dissimilar birth orders can stimulate parents to socialize in dissimilar ways with their children.

Influence of birth order in understanding of the different scientists

According to Eisenman (1992), first-borns are extra apprehensive, superior accomplishers and more innovative, resulting their lives to be extremely dissimilar merely because of them being born as a first child in the family. This may attribute to the fact that a majority of parents tend to be excessively concerned for their first children, and also may possibly be more restraining with him or her than with children born later. It is this theory that elucidates the higher risk of divorce among marriages between first-borns, because restriction is certainly interrelated with an annulment threat (Jockin et al. 1996).

Moore et al. (1997), who researched thirty nine mothers and their first and second born children of two months of age, found that mothers tend to positively influence their second-born children as compared to the first-borns, consequently resulting in the second rank children to develop a more positive personality than the first born rank.

Obviously, this behavioral difference can affect the risk of divorce given the fact that positivism and negativity in emotions are directly correlated to potential divorce risks (Jockin et al. 1996).

We can thus safely conclude that birth-order does have effects on the individual personality development and the primary aspects of extraversion, friendliness and domination, vary in relation to birth-order (Jefferson et al.,1998).

Beer and Horn (2000), implemented an innovative approach by researching a sample of adopted children, and found a similarity in proved results emphasizing that first-reared children do have an elevated intensity of meticulousness. Behavioral patterns in individuals are firmly fashioned in childhood with the profound influence of parents and siblings and therefore are likely to affect marriage stability in the life of individuals. Children who are born first along with single children have a greater likelihood of developing particular characteristic qualities, including anxiety and aspiration, resulting a child who is a first born to develop a steadier relationship with a potential later-born having dominating aspects in the persona.

However, in the case of both the marital partners being first-borns, potentially implies a higher level of conflict given that both may reflect qualities of being stubborn or less compromising behaviors. For instance, if either partner is a first-born individual, and the other is a later-born, the resultant relationship is likely to be steadier in view of the “leader-follower” kind of union, where one partner is less dominating than the other, thereby reducing the chances of disagreement between them. In the dissimilar case of both the marital partners being later-born individuals, there may be an absence of a leader in the relationship, resulting in an unsatisfying relationship between the two.

Thus we see how there is an effect of birth order on divorce risk. It is evident that single children run a lower risk of dissolving their marriages. Marriages between two first-borns are the most unstable relationships, whereas marriages between two only children are the most stable.

Ever since the 1970s, the ‘confluence model’ of Robert Zajonc has been significant in elucidating one of the most important hypothesis to explicate why firstborn children or individuals habitually achieve better scores for their intellect and accomplishment tests than other children. According to the model, firstborn children early on in their lives, primarily have greater adult authority surrounding them and as a result, they spend their preliminary childhood years intermingling in a scholarly environment. This theory also proposes that firstborn children tend to be more intelligent than ‘only children’, because ‘single children’ cannot benefit from the ‘tutor effect’ of elder siblings teaching the younger ones.

According to recent researchers conducted and reported in the journal Science (June 2007), “the eldest children in families tend to develop slightly higher IQs than their younger siblings” (Harris, Judith Rich, 2006). These results could possibly be an outcome of the valuable quality time that parents tend to spend with their children who are born first rather than those who are born later. (Price, Joseph, 2008)

The discussion as to whether birth-order affects the personality development of an individual is in no way over and expectantly new researchers will explore fresh perspectives and means in the birth-order research.

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Galton, F. (1874). English men of science: Their nature and nurture. London: Macmillan.

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Hudson, V. M. (1990). Birth-order of world leaders: an exploratory analysis of effects on personality and behaviour. Political Psychology, 11, 583–601.

Jefferson, T. J., Herbst, J. H., & McCrae, R. R. (1998). Associations of birth-order and personality traits: evidence from self-reports and observer ratings. Journal of Research in Personality, 32, 498–509.

Lamb, M. E., Sutton-Smith, B. (1982). Sibling Relationships: Their Nature and Significance of the Lifespan. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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Birth Order Theory: Insights Into Your Personality

Personality can develop from various sources and influences in a child's life, including birth order. Studying personality and its formation has interested researchers, psychologists, and scientists for centuries. Enduring characteristics, traits, and behavior can shape each person's unique adjustment to life.

Birth order theory suggests that while personality is mainly unpredictable, specific general characteristics can be linked to a person's birth order in their family. Birth order refers to the rank of siblings in relation to age. It's thought that parents intentionally or unintentionally assign roles based on birth order, which may impact a child’s personality development.

In this article, we'll explore the theories and studies behind personality development, focusing on birth order theory.

Birth order theory: Why it matters

Theories on personality formation, adaptation, and environmental influences across cultures vary. The concept of birth order is often credited to Austrian psychoanalyst Alfred Adler in the early 1900s. He was one of the first to explore the idea that a person's place in their family tree could predict personality traits.

Adler believed that firstborn children typically have higher expectations placed upon them by parents and thus develop a greater sense of responsibility and ambition. He proposed that later-born siblings, on the other hand, were often treated more leniently by their parents compared to firstborns, leading them to become more rebellious and independent.

However, it is important to note that Adler's theories are not universally accepted, and a person's place in their family tree does not always dictate their personality traits. Ultimately, each person is unique and should be treated as such. Each person has strengths and weaknesses independent of their birth order.

What birth order theory is not

Birth-order personality traits are not necessarily present when a child is born into a family. For example, firstborn children are not necessarily born with niche or particular personality traits ingrained in their psyche. Instead, in birth order theory, Adler illustrates how family environments and dynamics can shape individual psychology during a child's formative years. Although every family is different, there are similarities in the interactions between parents and children and siblings.

The family's role in birth order personality traits

Birth order research and studies show several influences shaping personality in addition to birth order. Common factors include:

Biological: Children tend to inherit many traits and features from their parents. These can include intelligence, courage, and physical characteristics.
Social: By interacting with others in an individual's social circle, children learn behaviors and thought patterns from their experiences, like those in the education system and beyond.
Cultural: A child growing up within a culture consciously or unconsciously can adopt traits consistent with the culture's beliefs, ideas, and norms.
Physical Environment: An individual's surroundings often impact the development of personality. For example, the personalities of those growing up in a rural area may differ from those living in an urban environment.
Situational: As a child grows up, they face different situations, which may help them adapt and change their personality. These situations could include meeting new friends, experiencing trauma, or welcoming a new sibling.

When looking at these factors, we see family life can incorporate all of these. Since most children's lives are, at first, shaped by everything going on in the family, it makes sense that some psychologists have remained interested in birth order theory throughout the years since Adler first proposed his idea.

How birth order may affect personality

The following traits are general examples of how birth order differences and personality may be related. Of course, many other factors could impact the development of a child's personality; some of these reasons will be discussed further below.

These children tend to get much more attention from adults than a child with siblings does. This means many of their early interactions involve individuals significantly older than them. These interactions can make them feel like "tiny adults," and they can seem more mature than their peers with siblings. Traits may include:

Maturity for their age
Sensitivity
Use of adult language
Self-centeredness
A tendency to enjoy being the center of attention
Refusal to cooperate with others
A tendency to feel unfairly treated when not getting their way
A desire to be more like adults, so may not relate well with peers

First child

Since the firstborn child is used to being an only child until siblings come along, they may exhibit some of the characteristics of an only child. Also, the firstborn may have these birth order personality traits:

Achiever and leader
Feelings of superiority over other children
Difficulty when the second child is born, such as feeling unloved or neglected
A tendency to be controlling and focused on being correct about results
Use of good (or bad) behavior to regain parents' attention
A tendency to be bossy or authoritarian about rules
A desire to please others
Reliability

Second child

Second-born and middle children begin their lives with their parents' attention on the firstborn. Having an older sibling as a role model makes second-born and middle children try to catch up with older children. Adler believes the second child can be better adjusted. A second child may:

Be more competitive
Lack of the undivided attention of parents
Be a people pleaser
Be a peacemaker
Develop abilities the first child doesn't exhibit to gain attention
Be rebellious
Be independent and not need the support of others

Middle child

Many have heard of the "middle child syndrome" and the difficulties these children can present. They may become frustrated or resentful of the significant changes they experience early in life. Not only do they lose their "youngest child" status, but they also must compete for attention with older and later-born children.

Middle-born children in larger families are typically less competitive than single middle children. Their parents' attention can be spread thinner due to the dynamics of a bigger family. Middle children in bigger families may be more prone to use cooperation to get what they want. Middle children may demonstrate the following tendencies:

Can feel life is unfair
Can be even-tempered
May feel unloved or left out
May not have the rights and responsibilities of the oldest sibling or the privileges of the youngest
May be adaptable
Can be impatient
May be outgoing and rambunctious
May treat younger siblings more roughly
Can feel "squeezed" in the family environment

Youngest child

The "baby" of the family tends to get more attention from parents since the older siblings are developing and becoming more independent. Traits of the youngest child may include the following:

May be charming and outgoing
Can be an attention seeker
Behaves like the only child
Feels inferior, like everyone is bigger or more capable
Expects others to make decisions and take responsibility
May not be taken seriously
Can become "speedier" in development to catch up to other siblings

Other factors that may influence birth order personality

Each family is different and has unique dynamics. The subject of birth order positions alone will not determine the complexities of a person’s personality. Certain circumstances or measures may impact a child's personality as children and families develop and evolve. Across different families, children of the same birth order can show diverse personality differences, especially across a large representative sample.

Blended or step-families

When two parents remarry, especially when children are in their formative years, the family of origin often goes through a period of disorientation and competition. For example, two firstborns in the new family may search for their "place" and may compete to keep their "firstborn status."

Differences in ages

When there is an age gap of three or more years between siblings, it is common for the birth orders to restart. In a family with many children, this could create birth order subgroups with varying birth order effects.

Health and mental issues

A child born with significant physical or neurodevelopmental disabilities can seem to remain in the "youngest" position regardless of birth order. It may impact the psychological birth order position of the other children.

Gender of siblings

Most psychological competition tends to occur between children of the same gender and similar ages. The competition, partly for parental attention , can start in childhood and move into young adulthood and beyond.

Death of a sibling

The impact of a child's death can be devastating for families. Some children may adapt by developing overindulgent tendencies. Also, a glorification of the deceased child can occur, whereby other siblings may never live up to the image of the deceased sibling. It can profoundly alter the birth order effect.

An adopted child often has special circumstances in the family dynamic. Having an adopted child may be seen as a special gift for parents with difficulties conceiving. These parents may have a greater tendency to spoil or overindulge the child. When an adopted child comes into an established family, they may find difficulties fitting into the dynamic.

Does a correlation between birth order and personality exist?

Multiple factors, including socioeconomic status, parental attitudes, gender roles, and social influences, can also shape an individual's personality. In a study of more than 20,000 participants, however, details revealed no significant effects of birth order of the Big Five personality traits: extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.

However, some research has linked higher intelligence to a family's older children. It could be because parents have more emotional and intellectual resources to give when fewer children are present in the home.

Gain additional insights into your personality in therapy

If you’d like to gain more insight into your personality or how your birth order shapes it, consider working with a mental health professional. With a therapist, you can explore how your early childhood experiences shape your current behavior and develop coping skills to help you navigate life’s challenges. Your therapist can also provide evidence-based strategies for managing challenging emotions and building healthy relationships.

If you are not interested in traditional in-person therapy, consider using online counseling through BetterHelp . Online therapy can be a convenient way to get mental health care. Research suggests that online treatment is as effective as in-person therapy and can often fit into your schedule more easily. You can speak with a therapist from your home or anywhere you have internet connection.

How does birth order affect the development of our personality?

According to Alfred Adler’s psychological theories, birth order affects personality development through its impacts on relationship dynamics, including both sibling relationships and parent-child interactions. Since a person’s family is almost always their first experience of connections with other people, it may shape the assumptions, habits, and strategies that individuals carry throughout their lives.

For example, Adler believed that eldest children were more prone to neuroticism. He thought that their experience of undivided parental attention in their early years, followed by the appearance of younger siblings who competed for attention, could lead to a sense of insecurity. On the other hand, he also believed firstborn children tended to form leadership skills early on due to the experience of teaching and protecting younger siblings.

There might also be biological effects of birth order. Some researchers have suggested that changes to a woman’s immune system following repeated births might have developmental impacts on the personalities of children born later. However, the evidence for this theory is currently very limited, and some research seems to contradict it .

In twins, birth order might appear to affect personality because the larger and healthier twin is often born first . This can mean that younger twins are more likely to have health and developmental problems, which may have long-term psychological impacts.

How does birth order affect socialization?

Birth order might affect socialization because of the different roles that siblings of different ages tend to assume within a family. The oldest child might feel a sense of responsibility for their younger siblings, causing them to develop a greater propensity for leadership. Youngest children, in contrast, might have to struggle for their independence when their older siblings get bossy. This could lead them to be more rebellious in later interactions. Middle children might find themselves taking on the role of mediators, causing them to develop strong interpersonal skills.

Is birth order an important factor in determining intelligence myth?

Some studies have found a possible birth order effect on intellectual achievement. A 2015 research paper reported that older children appeared to score slightly higher on measures of intelligence, as well as rating their own intelligence higher. Later borns tended to display slightly lower IQ along with lower intellectual confidence.

However, while the observed effect was statistically significant, it was quite small. There’s little evidence that birth order plays a major role in determining a person’s intelligence.

What are three arguments made to support that birth order does affect our personalities?

One common argument in favor of the idea that birth order can shape personality is that early childhood experiences are known to be important for many different long-term psychological outcomes, such as relationship attachment styles. Since the experiences of siblings may be different depending on their position in the family, it might make sense to expect them to be important in personality formation.

Another argument in favor of birth order effects is that parental attention may be important in forming cognitive abilities. Because children with fewer siblings receive more of their parents’ focus, they might have a slight advantage in building certain mental skills, which could in turn affect their personalities.

The third main argument supporting birth order personality effects is that this idea is backed by research. Although the birth order effects found so far have been small, many important shifts in scientific theories begin with the observation of seemingly minor phenomena.

Does birth order affect one's personality impression?

There’s currently not much evidence that birth order affects the kinds of personality traits that are most important in determining the impression an individual makes on others. Even in the study offering the strongest support for the effect of birth order on intelligence, researchers found no relationship between birth order and characteristics such as:

Agreeableness
Willingness to try new experiences
Extraversion
Emotional stability
Imagination
Conscientiousness

How can birth order impact a child's attitude and behavior?

Birth order might affect a child’s behavior through the differences in parental expectations for different family members. Parents may consciously or unconsciously assign older siblings to a leadership role, expecting them to care for and instruct their younger brothers or sisters. Younger children might receive less discipline because their parents are older or have less ability to monitor an individual’s behavior within a large family.

Predicting the exact outcomes of these kinds of expectations may be difficult, though. An eldest child expected to act as a teacher and protector for their siblings might embrace this role. However, if they’re given poor support from their parents or punished for their siblings’ misbehavior, it could lead to resentment and avoidance of responsibility.

Birth order might also play a role in determining mental health, which could have important behavioral effects. A 2021 study reported that later-born children appeared to have lower rates of mental disorders and higher rates of happiness and prosocial attitudes.

Some theories of birth order suggest that “psychological birth order” might matter more than actual birth order. In other words, a child’s perception of their place within the family might be the most important factor. It’s often said that if a child is born five years or more after their next-oldest sibling, their personality characteristics will be more similar to a firstborn.

Can birth order determine success or failure?

Despite the prevalence of stories in popular media about how many astronauts or Nobel Prize winners are firstborn children, birth order is unlikely to be a major factor in a person’s success or failure in life.

While many psychologists used to consider it very important, more recent studies with better methodological design have found little evidence for strong effects. Other elements, such as genetics, socioeconomic standing, developmental health, and life experiences, are likely to be substantially more important.

Does birth order seem like a good way to describe personality?

Many people use birth order as a shorthand for personality makeup, such as describing someone as a “typical middle child”. Yet many people have very different ideas about what this means in practice. For instance, some sources may describe oldest children as outgoing and independent, while others say that these people tend to be shy and cautious.

Because of these differences, and the lack of strong evidence in favor of birth order effects, these stereotypes may not be useful ways to describe someone’s personality.

Does birth order affect self-concept?

Some theories of birth order effects have suggested that a person’s family position might affect their self-concept. In these frameworks, older and only children were thought to have the highest self-esteem, while middle children were believed to have the lowest. Several studies in the 1980s and 1990s tested these theories in middle and high school students with mixed results. While some researchers reported significant birth order effects, others found that the evidence was weak and inconsistent.

More recent investigations have found little support for the idea that self-esteem is affected by birth order. There may not be enough evidence to definitively state that oldest, middle, and youngest children have different self-concept strengths.

Does birth order affect the behavior of children?

Birth order may have some effects on childhood behavior. Research on children aged 9-10 found the highest rates of cooperative, prosocial behavior among those who were latest in birth order. Eldest children seemed to be more prone to conduct problems and disruptive behavior. That said, these findings may need to be replicated before it’s possible to say definitively that birth order impacts behavior.

Defining Your Family Of Origin And How It Impacts You Medically reviewed by Audrey Kelly , LMFT
Six Family Types And Their Unique Dynamics Medically reviewed by Andrea Brant , LMHC
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The Theme of Birth Order in "The Fishermen"

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Birth Order Is Basically Meaningless

Any differences in personality are so small that they barely matter, new research says.

In the late 1920s, Alfred Adler, a colleague of Sigmund Freud’s, theorized that firstborns feel “dethroned” when a younger sibling comes along, making them neurotic and self-centered, but prone to leadership. The youngest would be spoiled, outgoing, and immature, while a middle child would be independent, rebellious, and relatively healthier. Of course, Adler was a middle child.

The idea that first-born children are smarter can be traced back to Francis Galton, a 19th-century scientist who worked in psychology, biology, and anthropology, among other fields. He noticed that a lot of his English scientist colleagues were first-born sons, and proposed that their intellectual success came from the resources and attention poured into them by their families. (First-born sons are the heirs, after all.)

The idea that birth order determines siblings' personality and intelligence remains entrenched in society, even as modern scientific findings on the matter have historically been inconsistent. But a couple of recent studies of large samples suggest that birth order does not matter when it comes to personality, and barely matters when it comes to intelligence.

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In a study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the University of Leipzig and Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, both in Germany, looked at more than 20,000 adults from the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, comparing siblings both within the same family, and people with the same birth order across families.

“All in all, we did not find any effect of birth order on extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, or imagination, a subdimension of openness,” the researchers write.

The evolutionary view of birth order effects is that siblings have to compete for their parents’ attention and favor, and they find different ways to do that. The oldest are physically stronger and mentally more developed than the younger siblings (at least while they’re all still children), so it behooves them to be aggressive (and bossy?). The later-born siblings need more help from others, and so become more extraverted.

None of this bore out in the PNAS study, but logically, if these effects existed, they should be more pronounced when the siblings are young and still living together, since the need to compete for parental attention wanes with age. (Hopefully.) But another study published this summer in the Journal of Research in Personality looked at 377,000 U.S. high-school students, and also found little evidence for personality differences based on birth order.

The researchers looked at the Big Five personality traits—openness, agreeableness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and extraversion—and predicted that “firstborns (versus laterborns) should be higher in Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and the dominance aspect of Extraversion, whereas laterborns should be higher in Agreeableness and the sociability aspect of Extraversion.”

Over this entire huge population, they found that firstborns did tend to be a little more conscientious and dominant, and less sociable, but also that they tended to be more agreeable and less neurotic (which goes against the stereotype). But the effect size of this finding was tiny—so tiny that if they hadn’t looked at hundreds of thousands of people, it wouldn’t have been significant at all. When it came to intelligence, firstborns did have an advantage—of one IQ point. As a comparison, another study found that some adolescents’ IQs changed by as much as 20 points within four years.

“Birth order is often invoked as an important variable to explain the development of personality and intelligence within and across families,” the researchers wrote in the high-school birth-order study. “We would have to say that, to the extent that these effect sizes are accurate estimates of the true effect, birth order does not seem to be an important consideration for understanding either the development of personality traits or the development of intelligence in the between-family context.”

Birth order is a bit like a horoscope, in that it presents you with vague enough traits that it’s easy to project them onto yourself. A firstborn might think, “I am a natural leader;” the youngest, “Everyone does love me;” the middle child, “I am a bit of a rebel, aren’t I?” For example, in a graduate thesis written at the University of Wisconsin, Stout, the counseling student Stacey Armitage found that the college students she interviewed generally saw themselves as fitting the Adlerian description of their birth-order role, though there were some qualities that everyone thought they had more than their siblings. Everyone thought they were the most rebellious, for example, and the most considerate.

People do love to sort themselves into categories, though, whether they’re scientifically sound or not. And any idea that’s permeated culture as much as birth order has is bound to have an effect on how people see themselves. Maybe the stereotypes about birth order have more to do with how people compare themselves to their siblings than how they actually are, on their own.

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COMMENTS

Examining the effects of birth order on personality
By contrast, the search for birth-order effects on personality has resulted in a vast body of inconsistent findings, as documented by reviews in the 1970s and 1980s (9, 10). Nearly 70 y after Adler's observations, Frank Sulloway revitalized the scientific debate by proposing his Family Niche Theory of birth-order effects in 1996 .
Does being the oldest or youngest sibling really shape your personality?
Frank Sulloway, one of the theory's most prominent modern advocates, looked at adults and their careers in the 1990s and 2000s to assess the influence of birth order.
Settling the debate on birth order and personality
In the last year, two definitive papers have emerged to show that birth order has little or no substantive effect on personality. In the first paper, a huge sample was used to test the relation between birth order and personality in a between-family design, and the average effect was equal to a correlation of 0.02 ( 2 ).
How Does Birth Order Shape Your Personality?
Adler, the founder of individual psychology, was heavily influenced by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Key points of Adler's birth order theory were that firstborns were more likely to develop a strong sense of responsibility, middleborns a desire for attention, and lastborns a sense of adventure and rebellion.
Settling the debate on birth order and personality
In the last year, two definitive papers have emerged to show that birth order has little or no substantive effect on personality. In the first paper, a huge sample was used to test the relation between birth order and personality in a between-family design, and the average effect was equal to a correlation of 0.02 .
Does Birth Order Impact Personality? I Psych Central
Alfred Adler's birth order theory suggests that your personality is affected by the order in which you were born in your family. We've all heard the clichés. You might tell someone who's ...
New Evidence on the Impacts of Birth Order
The psychology literature has long debated the role of birth order in determining children's IQs; this debate was seemingly resolved when, in 2000, J. L. Rodgers et al. published a paper in American Psychologist entitled "Resolving the Debate Over Birth Order, Family Size, and Intelligence" that referred to the apparent relationship between ...
Birth Order
Birth order theory is the idea that the order in which a child is born within their family has influence over their development and personality. The theory was originally introduced by psychotherapist Alfred Adler in the 1920s (Eckstein and Kaufman 2012 ). Since Adler's initial research, others have attempted to make contributions to the theory.
Does Birth Order Affect Personality?
For example, a 1968 study showed that, compared with later borns, first borns are less likely to participate in dangerous sports because of fears of physical injury. And a 1980 study of 170 female ...
The impact of psychological birth order on academic achievement and
Abstract Historically, research in the field of birth order yielded inconsistent and at times contro-versial results. Researchers have long been interested in the impact of birth order on both
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Birth order is defined as a person's rank by the sequence of birth among his or her siblings. Birth order is commonly believed to have a profound and lasting effect on psychological development. We will write a custom essay on your topic. Sulloway (1995, 1996), states that first-born siblings are expected to be rated higher on the ...
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Birth order does play a very important role in the developments and effects on a person's personality. A family's size, financial status, cultures and traditions also are contributing factors to consider. A child's gender and temper play a role of the birth order and the effects on personality. They may share many traits and may exhibit ...
Birth Order Essay
Birth Order, as in the order a child is born in their family, has been a popular topic for researchers and the general public for decades. Originally it was claimed that personality was determined by birth order and even now there are many stereotypes of the firstborn being mature and driven while the youngest child is often described as wild and rebellious (Bleske-Rechek and Kelley, 2013).
Birth Order Theory: Insights Into Your Personality
Birth order theory: Why it matters. Theories on personality formation, adaptation, and environmental influences across cultures vary. The concept of birth order is often credited to Austrian psychoanalyst Alfred Adler in the early 1900s. He was one of the first to explore the idea that a person's place in their family tree could predict personality traits.
Birth Order: What You Should Know
The Science of Birth Order. A researcher named Alfred Adler developed birth order theory in the 20th century. The theory claims that the order in which a child is born shapes their development and ...
Essays on Birth Order
The Essence of Birth Order Essays. Birth order essays explore the theory that an individual's personality traits, behaviors, and life choices can be influenced by their position among siblings in the family unit. These essays often analyze the roles of first-borns, middle children, last-borns, and only children, drawing on psychological ...
The Theme of Birth Order in "The Fishermen"
First acknowledged by Francis Galton in 1874, birth order remains a psychological theory within social sciences today. The theory itself states that the order of the birth of siblings establishes certain predetermined traits for each child.
Birth Order Theory
The theory of birth order holds an importance to the study of psychology as it has also been concluded that birth order can affect behavioural choices and metal process. The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether a child is born first, second, third or last is linked to the development of the child's personality and behavioural ...
Study: Birth Order Doesn't Affect Your Personality
But another study published this summer in the Journal of Research in Personality looked at 377,000 U.S. high-school students, and also found little evidence for personality differences based on ...
Examining the effects of birth order on personality
Nearly 70 y after Adler's observations, Frank Sulloway revitalized the scientific debate by proposing his Family Niche Theory of birth-order effects in 1996 ().On the basis of evolutionary considerations, he argued that adapting to divergent roles within the family system reduces competition and facilitates cooperation, potentially enhancing a sibship's fitness—thus, siblings are like ...
Sociology Essays
The birth order theory was first coined by Alfred Adler. This is a theory that often refers to the order of birth in which one was born in. He was the first to say that "not only the parents but also the siblings influence the child's behavior characteristics" (Leman, 2000). It is often believed that the order in which a child is born ...
The Birth Order Theory
Birth order is the order in which children in a family are born. The theory is that each child has a different personality and qualities due to their placement in the birth order. I believe my family fits in only a few of the categories of the birth order theory. The theory of only children being like first-born children is true for my family.
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The theory refers to the order of birth in which one was born in. It is sometimes believed that the order in which a child is born in plays a significant role in how the child will act in life. The birth order theory has four birth order personalities, first born, second born, the only child, and youngest. I grew up in a large family of five ...
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