Younger siblings then have to compete for these limited parental resources and attention. But this comes at a cost because the parent is now unable to invest the same amount of resources in later-born offspring. From the evolutionary perspective, parents favour and invest (shelter and food) in their firstborn to increase their chances of survival and reproduction. There are two explanations that could justify this firstborn effect. But the “baby” of the family is more likely to take risks, rebel, show addictive behaviour and lack independence compared with their older siblings. These qualities are believed to make firstborns more successful. They are also more likely to have higher academic abilities and levels of intelligence than their younger siblings. As a result, they are more likely to become chief executives and senior managers, whereas later-born children, who love to take risks, often end up being self-employed.įirstborns tend to possess psychological characteristics related to leadership, including responsibility, creativity, obedience and dominance.
And the role of firstborn holds a particular fascination.Īccording to a recent Swedish study, firstborns have more favourable personality traits, including openness to new experiences, conscientiousness, extroversion, friendliness and greater emotional stability, than their later-born siblings. But Adler suggested that other factors play a role, too, such as family size, health, age, culture or the child’s sex.Īdler’s theories continue to hold sway and birth order is still an important area of study in psychology. In the opposite case, they may feel unwanted, disliked or even ignored.Īdding a child to the family has an impact on how a family operates. They depend on their family more than any other siblings and may demand that everything is done for them. The youngest child is often the most pampered in the family. As a result, the middle child may become easily angered and sensitive to criticism. Middle children are caught between their older and younger siblings, who may often leave them out or gang-up on them. Similarly, the oldest child receives most of the parents’ attention and is likely to feel responsible towards their younger siblings, which is reflected in their perfectionism, hard-working attitude and conscientiousness.Ī second-born child is constantly competing with their older sibling and trying to catch up with them. He believed that “every difficulty of development is caused by rivalry and lack of cooperation in the family”.Īccording to Adler, an only child never has to compete for their parents’ attention and is never “replaced” by other siblings. In the 1930s the Austrian psychotherapist Alfred Adler was the first to study birth order and its effect on personality. But is any of it true? And where did this idea come from in the first place? At least, that’s what received wisdom tells us. Summary: Are first born children really natural leaders? Researchers examine the “firstborn effect” and personality traits associated with birth order.Įverybody knows that firstborns are natural leaders, middle children are rebels and the baby of the family is spoiled yet confident.
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