Has anyone ever come up to you and said “you must be the youngest in your family, I can tell” or “you’re definitely the eldest daughter”?
Your birth order might actually have a part to play in the way your personality is shaped, but the question is, to what extent?
Dr Julia Rohrer, a personality psychologist at the University of Leipzig spoke to the Science Weekly Podcast to explain how siblings shape the personalities we have.
She explained her own situation saying that she has a younger half sibling which would biologically make her the first born, but she also grew up with an older cousin and they were raised together.
Talking about how birth order might impact someone, she said: “The most influential one more recently is Frank Sulloway’s niche theory.
“It’s an evolutionary inspired idea that within the family the siblings are competing for resources, but also they must get along as they share genes so they have shared interests and so on.
“So the idea is that it’s a bit like it’s in the animal kingdom that there are different ways to specialise. So the first borns specialise in being like a surrogate parent, they are the big and the bossy ones.
“The younger siblings must find their other niches so that’s why they are more creative as they have to explore to find out how they fit into the family context.”
Alongside this, it was recently found by the University of California, Los Angeles-led research team that, in certain instances, first-born daughters tend to mature earlier, enabling them to help their mother rear younger siblings.
A University of California, Los Angeles-led research team found that, in certain instances, first-born daughters tend to mature earlier, enabling them to help their mother rear younger siblings.
A 2014 study found that eldest daughters are the most likely to succeed out of any sibling type, while a 2012 study found that those who are eldest-born are more likely to hold leadership roles.
So, there you have it — not only can birth impact your role in the family, it can also have an effect on your adult life.