“
What Is Oldest Child Syndrome? Oldest Child Syndrome is believed by some to be evidence of common characteristics that can be attributed to birth order. These traits of first-born children include a sense of entitlement, responsibility, and ambition.
First-borns aren't just healthier or smarter, but also they score higher on “emotional stability, persistence, social outgoingness, willingness to assume responsibility and ability to take initiative.” The researchers ruled out genetic factors; in fact, they uncovered evidence that later-born children might be ...
The firstborn
Stereotype: Natural leader, ambitious, responsible. Why it's true: The eldest, for a while, has no competition for time (or books or baby banter) with Mom and Dad. “There's a benefit to all of that undiluted attention.
The Youngest Child - “The Baby”
Just as with the oldest sibling, the youngest child often feels special and has a unique place in the family. They tend to be more rebellious and attention-seeking, creative, social, outgoing, and have a sense of openness.
A subsequent body of research, building over the years in the journal Evolution & Human Behavior, has delivered results in conflict with the 1995 paper, indicating that young children resemble both parents equally. Some studies have even found that newborns tend to resemble their mothers more than their fathers.
First-born children's thinking skills outperform their siblings because they receive more mental stimulation from their parents in their early years, research suggests. First borns score higher than their siblings in IQ tests as early as age one, the study has found.
According to Adler, the first born is more susceptible to depression because of high expectations of parents and suddenly losing the attention due to another sibling being born.
A new study shows that first-born children tend to be smarter than their siblings and second-born children are more likely to cause trouble. The University of Edinburgh study reported that the oldest child tends to have a higher IQ and thinking skills than their younger siblings.
And the middle kid – they just got, well, lost in the middle. A new study, titled Strategic Parenting, Birth Order and School Performance, by two U.S. economists says the eldest child in a family did indeed get tougher rules from parents – and higher marks because of it.
In concluding the study, co-author and psychologist at the University of Padova in Italy Paola Bressan noted that to the best of her knowledge, “no study has either replicated or supported” the findings from the 1995 study that stated babies resemble their fathers.
Firstborn children are thrust into a leadership role from the time they gain a younger sibling. That spells decades of at-home leadership experience, which, at times, could be plain bossiness. They like to be in charge. A few firstborns will have trouble delegating; they will not trust others to do the job well enough.
First borns are often more motivated to achieve than later borns. A greater percentage of first borns end up in the professions such as medicine and law. They go for jobs where determination, strong powers of concentration and discipline are valued. First borns are born into a pressured yet treasured position.
Firstborn children are more selfish and less co-operative than other youngsters, a study has found. It is thought that the arrival of a younger brother or sister has long-lasting impact on the eldest child's personality, leaving them wary of others and their motives.
According to the authors' theory, parents have an incentive to punish their first-born child if that child engages in risky behaviors in order to deter such behavior by younger siblings.
A 2015 study of U.S. high school students found no statistically significant association between birth order and intelligence or personality traits.
The survey concluded that parents tend to favour their youngest child over the elder. More than half of the parents quizzed said they preferred their youngest child, while only 26 per cent said that their favourite child was their eldest.
According to a survey conducted by British pollster YouGov, youngest siblings are most likely to believe that they are the funniest members of their families. Forty-six percent of younger siblings answered that they think they are the funniest versus just 36 percent of oldest siblings.
While the bond between all siblings is strong, the strongest bond of all may be the one between two sisters, according to several scientific studies. In 2010, Brigham Young University conducted a study of 395 families and found that having a sister positively influenced a young person's life.
"The survey finds that the majority of respondents believe that two children is the 'ideal' number for family happiness, but the majority of respondents also have two children.
Middle children are often the most successful sibling in their families, according to research.
Previous research has shown that later-born children aged 7–12 years in the US have been found to have a higher level of depression and anxiety (5). A population-based study in the UK has shown that later-born adolescents are more likely to have suicide attempts and psychiatric problems (6).
Research published in the Journal of Human Resources found that firstborn children outperform their younger siblings on cognitive tests starting from infancy — they are better set up for academic and intellectual success thanks to the type of parenting they experience.
— Moms won't admit to it. Families rarely talk about this, but research shows that many parents do, in fact, have a favorite and least favorite child. And more often than not, their kids are wrong about who is who.
Soz middle kids
You've probably heard it before and brushed it off if you're a second, third or fourth+ child - but it's true: the eldest sibling is the smartest, according to research. And there's not just one reason for it.