~birth order trait~

Believe it or not, there is something that influences your personality even before you take your first breath. This is your birth order. Research shows that a person's birth order has a direct link with his or her personality. This site is dedicated to informing you on how your birth order has shaped you into who you are today, on how your birth order influences your education, and as a guide to both parents and educators on dealing with each specific birth order type.




First born children


Smarter?  First born children may be smarter than youngest and middle children. First borns' IQ points are on average 3 points higher than their younger siblings; in fact, IQs tend to drop as more children are born in the family. This may be because parents spend more time with first borns, and first born children mentor their younger siblings and thus learn more. However, Aaron Wichman of Ohio State University found that it’s not birth order that affects intelligence, it’s family size (from a research study called “Older Children Not Smarter Than Younger Sibs, Study Finds”). Big families can’t offer the same advantages to all the kids that small families can. It’s genetics and the family environment that affects IQ more than birth order.


Better educated. First born children are more likely to go to college or university than youngest or middle children. If parents can afford to send one child to school, it’s more likely to be the first born. Families invest more in first born children than middle or youngest children.


More money.  First born children may earn more money and be more likely to hold a high-paying, white collar job. First borns are more likely to be surgeons, chairs in boardrooms, and hold MBAs.


Favorites.  First born children are more likely enjoy resources (food, parental time, emotional nourishment, attention) than youngest children. It becomes a cycle: the more first borns are nurtured, the stronger they become – prompting parents to invest even more time, money, and attention.

Personality trait of middle children


More mysterious. Middle born children are more difficult to define because their identity growing up changed (from last born to middle child). This affects their personality and environment in unpredictable ways.


Peacekeepers. Middle born children may be more likely to keep peace in the family, to restore connections and relationships.


Less decisive. Middle children may take longer to choose a career than firstborn or later-borns. They may deliberately make opposite choices than firstborns; if the first born is a doctor, the middle child may choose to be a firefighter or policeman.


Less connected. Middle children may not be as attached to the family as first borns or later borns.

Personality Traits of Last Born or Youngest Children


More adventurous. Last born or youngest children are more likely to be “loose cannons”, according to an article in Time magazine (“The Power of Birth Order”, Oct 29, 2007). Youngest children are more likely to be an artist, entrepreneur or adventurer – and more likely to participate in physically risky sports.


Funnier. Last born children are more likely to be comedians or satirists. They’ll be outrageous or funny as a power strategy in the family.


More agreeable. Younger children tend to get along in the world better, a trait known as “agreeableness”. Compared to first born children, last borns are less likely to provoke people.

These birth order personality characteristics and lifestyle traits are not set in stone; they’re affected by family size, the environment, circumstances, etc.. Even so, birth order DOES have a very real effect on your life and personality traits!


Birth order, even on a rudimentary level, gives you a jump start on understanding each other,” says Cliff Isaacson, an Iowa-based psychotherapist and author of five books on birth order, including The Birth Order Effect for Couples. “Each place in the birth order has a unique thinking pattern, how he or she processes information.”