How Birth Order Affects Your Life
Birth order affects your life, relationships, and job! Being the first-born, middle child, or youngest family member can change your health, personality, relationships, and career. Birth order research shows that certain personality traits are connected to birth order - which can change your goals (and how you achieve them!).
Before these birth order tips, here’s a quip from Shirley MacLaine:
“You think you have a handle on God, the Universe, and the Great White Light until you go home for Thanskgiving,” writes Shirley MacLaine in Dance While You Can. “In an hour, you realize how far you’ve got to go and who is the real turkey.”
Our parents and siblings change how we see ourselves, how we see life, and how we cope with stress. Dr Kevin Leman wrote the book on birth order – called, funnily enough, the The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are. Click on the book cover for more info about this birth order psychologist, or read on to learn how birth order affects your health, relationships, and career.
How Birth Order Affects Your Life
New research about birth order shows that it plays a significant role in developing personality traits, social skills, and even risk-taking behavior. Whether you’re born first, born last, or stuck somewhere in the middle – your birth order changes your perspective on your career, relationships, and even your risk for brain tumors!
Birth Order, Asthma, and Allergies
“We were not surprised that birth order had an effect on the development of the immune system, but were surprised that this interaction persisted at least through age ten,” says Wilfried Karmaus, M.D., of the University of South Carolina.
Karmaus and his researchers found that first-born children are at a higher risk of developing asthma and allergies because of different conditions in the womb. Genes act differently in first-born children; allergic reactions are programmed during pregnancy, and affect your health later in life.
Birth Order and Brain Tumors
Birth order research shows that the chances of developing a brain tumor are higher if you have four or more siblings. Andrea Altieri of the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg found that brain tumor rates are higher among those who have younger siblings. Later borns or youngest children are less likely to develop tumors. Altieri suggests that “infectious agents” cause the tumors; oldest children are more likely to be exposed to infections than younger siblings. Infections (or re-infections) in late childhood may contribute towards the formation of a brain tumor. This birth order research shows that birth order can affect brain development.
Birth Order and Your Career Aspirations
New insights about birth order are revealing that only children and first borns are more interested in intellectual careers. Later borns or youngest children tend towards artistic and outdoors-related jobs. Ohio State University professor Frederick Leong says, “Parents typically place different demands and have different expectations of children depending on their birth order.”
Only children are protected by their parents, which is why they may be more likely to pursue intellectual-cognitive careers versus outdoorsy or artistic ones. Plus, only children often enjoy more time and attention from parents, in comparison to kids with siblings. New insights about birth order show that parents tend to encourage only children and first borns towards more prestigious careers, such as medicine or law, which involves higher education and rigorous intellectual challenges.
Leong pointed out that first born or oldest children start out as only children. Their role in the family is changed after other kids are born, which makes a difference in personality development. This change in role makes it difficult to determine exactly how birth order affects their lives and personality.
According to these new insights about birth order, parents tend to relax as more children are born. If they only have one child, parents may have higher expectations. For instance, they worry if the child chooses to be a surfing instructor or poet because of career instability and financial income. By the fifth or sixth child, insights about birth order reveal that parents mind less about their children’s career choices (perhaps because they have less time and energy!).
Birth Order and Sibling Rivalry
Psychology student Julia Badger from the Aston University in Birmingham, UK researched birth order and academic performance. Academic sibling rivalry is more likely to affect last borns than middle or first borns. That is, youngest children may feel more pressure to excel at school. Regarding birth order, Badger also found that oldest children are more dutiful and responsible (not surprising, since they’re often asked to help around the house or take care of younger siblings).
Sibling rivalry, which is affected by birth order, also plays a huge role in developing adult relationships and healthy lifestyles.
Have you noticed that birth order has affected your life? I think I have traditional first-born traits, and I’m married to the youngest sibling of six who has traditional last-born traits! We complement each other perfectly, I think 
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