HOW BIRTH ORDERAFFECTS PERSONALITY

Birth order can play a huge role in the type of personality your children will have. Let’s take a closer look at what this means.

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Differences between eldest children, middle children and youngest children have been debated countless times around the dinner table in homes all over the world. Each child earnestly speaks about how they have it the hardest, or how they’re the least understood. This is often disregarded as simply general disagreements between children, but it turns out that birth order has a genuine effect on the personalities of little ones.

The first major influence is that parents generally tend to treat their children differently based on their position in the family. Secondly, a child’s personality can be affected by their place in the hierarchy with their siblings. In order to address any imbalances in how children are treated, it’s best to become aware of these dynamics and to understand the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses that often go along with being in the position of eldest, middle or youngest child.

ELDEST CHILD

Let’s dive into why the first child develops the way they do.

Characteristics

Whether parents like to admit it or not, it’s usually the case that the firstborn child is raised in a way where many of the parenting decisions are improvised and instinctual at first. Some things will go well and others not so well. For those that don’t go so well, there’ll be a period of trying different approaches, repeating those that work and adjusting those that don’t. While this may sound pretty good, it can present a number of issues. The lack of consistency, coupled with a constant feeling of adjustments being made can be uncomfortable and not reassuring for little ones.