Does birth order affect personality type?

Question

first born- serious, conscientious, directive, goal-oriented, aggressive, rule-conscious, exacting, conservative, organized, responsible, jealous, fearful, high achieving, competitive, high in self-esteem, and anxious.

middle born- natural mediators, avoid conflict, sense of not belonging, insecure, see life from a hopeless standpoint, like to go with the flow of things, an even-temper and a take it or leave it attitude.

youngest born-viewed as the party animal, the entertainer who is unafraid to test his or her luck. The youngest child is often babied or "pampered" more than the other siblings.

only child- may have characteristics of either the first born or the youngest child. they learn to be children on their own, they learn to depend on themselves, and they have no problem being loners.

twins- tend to have one dominant twin, who acts as the first born.

what are you? do you think it describes your personality correctly?

i was just going off of wikipedia's list. they said "may" a lot. so, some might match you and other's won't. but, i was referring to in general does it match you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_order

here's another list. that you could go off of.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/birthord.htm

lol. i know, links that's a shocker for me. i'm doing fine. thanks for asking. yay! 2 more hours! hope they fly by.

Answer 1

recently I believe it was some swedish scientist..had confirmed that order of birth dictates a lot in childern. they said in one instance that the younger kids have more of a tendency to be gay. ..might have been middle kid..either way i'm stoned right now and don't recall. but they said the first born is usuallyt he alpha and more out going etc. but according to these studies which were conducted over 20 years or so order of birth say's a lot. but i believe it had more so to do with gender. example. boy first..girl ..then another boy. so you measure the 2 boys against each other not the girl against the 2 boys..unless the 4th child is a girl then you measure the two girls.

Answer 2

Yes it does to a certain extent. Not all the Traits listed conform to reality. I am the seventh son, (the baby boy of the family). My sister is the youngest, and of course being a girl she has traits of the first born and actually all the others. Except for my middle brother; For some reason he never got hit, so I could see where "avoid conflict", would peg him.

Answer 3

I'm the youngest of 2. My older sister and I were adopted from different countries but I was adopted first. I'm most like the first born. My sister, who's only older by about 6 months, is exactly like the middle born child.

Answer 4

I'm the middle child, and everything except for the feeling of not belonging and seeing life from a hopeless standpoint are right. Same goes for my younger sister and older brother. freaky. With my friends who are twins, they have the aggressive dominant one and the other acts like the middle born.

Answer 5

I'm in 2 categories here. I was the last born in my parents marriage, but both were remarried when I was young and I got younger step and half siblings on my dad and stepmoms side. and I am the youngest on my mom and stepdads side. But I can see myself in both categories. I'm a party animal and unafraid to test my luck but I also like to avoid conflict and I just go with the flow.

Answer 6

The question is more akin to Nurture Vs. Nature. This is a debate that has been going on for ages and it is now quite obvious that the advocates of either end of the spectrum are WRONG....... We are DNA and we are thus constrained to a LARGE extent by our genes. But it is also part of our genetic code to adapt our actions depending on environmental enforcement. So to a certain extent one's character is not a blank slate nor is it etched in stone. Your character is an amalgamation of both your genes (DNA) and your environmental conditions. So the position of a child in the family can affect his/her character to a certain extent. Elements such as watching your older brother get punished for certain action will teach you not to do the action or at least to do it in a more covert way. Of course you have to have the initial ability to observe, evaluate, balance and learn from the experience. The list can go on for ever.

Answer 7

i think so .I am the baby of the family so I still get treated like I'm 6 years old by my male cousins and I am 32 years old they are just too darn protective. I AM a GROWN WOMAN and I tell them that at every family reunion etc. They nee ed to open there eyes . An what bad about it I am very mature acting since I was a teenager but they just will never let the Baby of the family grow up in their eyes.Heck I'm married and they still act like that .I think they have issues...LOL

Answer 8

I've had one of each of those (1,2 & 3) ...and the personality types fit pretty well....my middle son though moved up to first because my oldest son died, so that was good for him to move up & assume a new role in the fam. order..even tho it was tough to live through...my youngest is my daughter & she is smart, funny & extremely artsy & talented, but I'd say she's the most spoiled...my only girl.

I was first born & raised an only child but I do have a brother, only lived w/him for a few years though...weird reality we live through sometimes, isn't it??

good question - star 4 you !

Answer 9

Yay! Roxanne is posting links!

I'd say this is pretty accurate. I'm a first born (if you dont count my half brothers and sister) and I definitely contribute my "high achieving" because of it.. My little sister (full blood) is exactly how the youngest born is described. she is such a brat and doesn't mind taking big chances for little things.

Answer 10

I do believe that the order of your birth has something to do with your personality...not totally of course, but it does form some of your attitudes & behaviors. If you are interested in more reading on birth order, check out Dr Kevin Leman's books on Birth Order. They are very interesting!