Birth Order: How your place changes you

Birth order is a fascinating subject and many studies have been conducted as to how the birth order of siblings effects the adults that we become.

Here are some interesting findings:

1. Firstborns are smarter

A 2007 study by Norwegian researchers compared intelligence tests of 250,000 people. Oldest children had an average IQ of 103, second children came in at 101, and third-borns were at 100. It found that the more older siblings one has, the lower one’s IQ.

2. Firstborn children are more likely to marry other firstborns

Joshua Hartshorne, of Harvard University, conducted a few different surveys. He discovered that firstborns tend to marry firstborns. In fact, he was able to summarize that in general, firstborns are more likely to associate with firstborns, middle-borns with middle-borns, last-borns with last-borns, and only children with only children.

3. Youngest siblings are more willing to take risks

American psychologists Frank Sulloway and Richard Zweigenhaft went searching for tendencies that develop according to place in a family. They found that the youngest siblings in a family are more likely to participate in high-risk activities than their older brothers and sisters.

4.  Firstborns are more likely to become leaders

Vistage, the world’s largest CEO organization, interviewed 1,582 CEOs about their birth orders: 43% were first-born, 33% were younger, only 23% were the youngest in their family. Perhaps oldest children get more undivided attention from their parents, and are able to develop into confident leaders.

5. Women born with twin brothers are less likely to marry

Virpi Lummaa of Sheffield University examined birth records in Finland. The study revealed that women with a male twin are 15% less likely to marry.

What do you think of these studies? What place are you in your family? Are any of these findings true for your family?