Birth Rank: Effects on Personality

Psychologists have long been aware that birth order generally creates certain personality traits.


Big brothers and sisters usually develop leadership tendencies early in life, mainly because of the responsibilities for younger siblings given to them by their parents. The danger, experts on family and child psychology report, is that if the older sibling takes that role to an extreme, he or she can become an overbearing and tyrannical adult. It has been found that, under normal circumstances, firstborns are usually the most strongly motivated toward achievement.

Other research suggests that firstborn children generally become more conservative than their siblings because they receive most of the parental discipline. Used to caring for others they are more likely to move toward such leadership professions as teaching and politics. Less social and flexible because they became accustomed in the very early years to acting alone, they may have difficulty making close friends.
By contrast, later children are more likely to be more relaxed and sociable and less inhibited than the eldest child because their parents were more relaxed. However, the later children are often less ambitious and are uncomfortable making decision for others, and will seek work that fits such needs. This may help explain why younger siblings tend to favor the creative fields such as music, art, or writing.

Later children often make good salespeople because persuasion may have been the only tool they had to counteract the power of the eldest. Younger children tend to remain forever “the baby”, enjoyable to be around, and inspiring compassion; but they can become over dependent on others.

When people understand how their birth order causes them to react, they do not find change so threatening. An understanding of birth order can sometimes help a marriage work. “Is there an ideal combination for marriage?” Both at work an in personal relationships, people seem to get along best when they repeat the patterns of childhood, which means that it helps to marry someone in a complementary position (first born child should marry to later child). In contrast, two people who were the eldest children can expect conflict.

“Is there any best position in the birth order?” There are benefits and disadvantages to all. However, go on, recognizing tendencies can enhance opportunities to make the most of positive traits and minimize negative ones.