How has birth order shaped who you are? What do you see as the burdens and benefits of being a child in your birth position? – I have one older brother, so I’m the youngest. I feel like as the younger sibling I grew up a little bit smarter because of the fact I had an older sibling who I could follow for guidance. A burden would be things like hand-me-downs, making me do all the little things around the house, not being able to do things that my brother both could and couldn’t do. Getting “babied” could be seen as both good and bad, restrictions and not being heard out but also not having to put much effort/thought into things.
What in the article resonates most with your own experiences? Have you ever noticed patterns of behavior based on birth order in your own family? Ms. Pearson writes, “The stereotypes are familiar to many of us: Firstborn children are reliable and high-achieving; middle children are sociable and rebellious (and overlooked); and youngest children are charming and manipulative.” Do you think there is any truth to these stereotypes? Or are they meaningless generalizations — or even harmful? – I think there is definitely some truth to the stereotypes but it mostly differs from family to family. It could be seen as harmful as say the youngest being labeled “manipulative” might paint a picture of somebody they are not. Or for the oldest, “reliable” and “high achieving” might set unrealistic expectations that one can’t achieve.
The article describes the pitfalls of “eldest daughter syndrome.” Have you ever felt hemmed in or saddled by certain expectations because of your birth order? What would you like your siblings — and your parents — to know about what your particular position in the family is like? – My family says they see me as a bit smarter than my older brother, so they tend to expect a lot more from me when it comes to academics and our future. I feel like this undermines what my older brother can achieve but also sets an unfair expectation for me, where I have to be a high achiever to meet their goals.
How much stock should we put into the psychology of birth order? Is it an illuminating way to understand our families and ourselves? Or too broad to describe or predict an individual’s personality? – It’s definitely worth looking into the psychology of it because patterns can be seen. But they should not be there and set in stone to have an expectation. Everyone is different and these depictions can be very broad.
I have the same thing in my family but with the younger siblings.
I’m also the youngest out of my siblings, and I definitely learned a lot! Growing up, I was able to see them as an example, whether it was in school, socially, or even within our family.