[Frannyy]

I recently (briefly) read a few articles on birth order characteristics. A friend of mine was doing research on it for her Psychology major and although it is not as reliable as MBTI, I thought it was pretty interesting.....




Birth Order: Characteristics of First Born Children
Smarter? First born children may be smarter than youngest and middle children. First borns' IQ points are on average 3 points higher than their younger siblings; in fact, IQs tend to drop as more children are born in the family. This may be because parents spend more time with first borns, and first born children mentor their younger siblings and thus learn more. However, Aaron Wichman of Ohio State University found that it’s not birth order that affects intelligence, it’s family size (“Older Children Not Smarter Than Younger Sibs, Study Finds.”). Big families can’t offer the same advantages to all the kids that small families can – it’s genetics and the family environment that affects IQ more than birth order.
Better educated. First born children are more likely to go to college or university than youngest or middle children. If parents can afford to send one child to school, it’s more likely to be the first born. Families invest more in first born children than middle or youngest children.
Earn more money. First born children may earn more money and be more likely to hold a high-paying, white collar job. First borns are more likely to be surgeons, chairs in boardrooms, and hold MBAs.
Favorites. First born children are more likely enjoy resources (food, parental time, emotional nourishment, attention) than youngest children. It becomes a cycle: the more first borns are nurtured, the stronger they become – prompting parents to invest even more time, money, and attention.

Birth Order: Characteristics of Middle Children
More mysterious. Middle born children are more difficult to define because their identity growing up changed (from last born to middle child). This affects their personality and environment in unpredictable ways.
Peacekeepers. Middle born children may be more likely to keep peace in the family, to restore connections and relationships.
Less decisive. Middle children may take longer to choose a career than firstborn or later-borns. They may deliberately make opposite choices than firstborns; if the first born is a doctor, the middle child may choose to be a firefighter or policeman.
Less connected. Middle children may not be as attached to the family as first borns or later borns.

Birth Order: Characteristics of Last Born or Youngest Children
More adventurous. Last born or youngest children are more likely to be “loose cannons”, according to an article in Time magazine (“The Power of Birth Order”, Oct 29, 2007). Youngest children are more likely to be an artist, entrepreneur or adventurer – and more likely to participate in physically risky sports.
Funnier. Last born children are more likely to be comedians or satirists. They’ll be outrageous or funny as a power strategy in the family.
More agreeable. Younger children tend to get along in the world better – a trait known as “agreeableness” in the Big Five Personality Traits. Compared to first born children, last borns are less likely to provoke people.








The oldest child description reminds me a lot of xSxJ's or xxTJ's. I am an oldest child and most of my friends from high school were oldest children as well (mostly xSxJ's)...

while the middle children remind me of SP's (both of my younger middle siblings are SPs)

and the youngest reminded me of ExFx, which my youngest sibling is....



anyways, I was just curious to see what everyone's birth order was in relation to their personality type- open to all!

[Sela]

I'm the oldest. I have a younger sister that is 9½ years younger than I am (although I have no idea what her type is).

[marlborored]

2nd/3

1st born is a male INFJ
last born is uknown.

[Johnnyguitarman]

"Birth Order: Characteristics of First Born Children
Smarter? First born children may be smarter than youngest and middle children. First borns' IQ points are on average 3 points higher than their younger siblings; in fact, IQs tend to drop as more children are born in the family. This may be because parents spend more time with first borns, and first born children mentor their younger siblings and thus learn more. However, Aaron Wichman of Ohio State University found that it’s not birth order that affects intelligence, it’s family size (“Older Children Not Smarter Than Younger Sibs, Study Finds.”). Big families can’t offer the same advantages to all the kids that small families can – it’s genetics and the family environment that affects IQ more than birth order.
Better educated. First born children are more likely to go to college or university than youngest or middle children. If parents can afford to send one child to school, it’s more likely to be the first born. Families invest more in first born children than middle or youngest children.
Earn more money. First born children may earn more money and be more likely to hold a high-paying, white collar job." -snip-

That is true of me being first born in my family, i was the only one to go to university, got a science degree and worked for 20 years as a reasonably well paid scientist in the pharmaceutical Industry- now unemployed.

[AllyCatXandi]

I'm an ISTJ - the oldest of three sisters, and I believe the birth order information provided is fairly accurate.

I find that the middle child, however, seems to receive the most attention. Although this is probably due to her extroverted nature. She also seems more attached to the family than I am. It is true in my case that the two of us seek opposite professions, although it is she who wishes to become a doctor and me who aims to join the police.

As for my youngest sister, she is the most agreeable out of the three of us. But it is she who serves as the family peacekeeper rather than the middle child, who is the one disturbing the peace.

[niss]

Birth order does play a role in character development.However, I don't believe it has anything to do with your personality type.

Kevin Lehman has covered this topic very well in recent years.

One thing to remember is that a big enough gap between kids, and you have a new "oldest" child again.

EDIT:

I didn't answer the OP question! I am the oldest of four. Of course I am an ISTJ (without a doubt the only ISTJ of we siblings). I suspect that the other siblings types are all the same: BRAT

:D

[Sela]

One thing to remember is that a big enough gap between kids, and you have a new "oldest" child again.

I belive that to be true; as I mentioned before, my sister is 9½ years younger than me, and so for all intents and purposes, she is more or less an only child. To put it a different way, at the time I gave birth to my daughter (and already had my own life going on), she was only a little bit older than I was, when she was born herself (hope that made sense ... ???)

[Achi]

I'm the oldest of 7. The age gap is about 2 years between each of us.

[Sunflower]

I'm also the eldest. My younger sister is 2 years 7 months younger.

I followed the rules and she broke/ignored/wriggled out of/avoided just about all of them...

Not sure about her type... appears to be extrovert.
And she's definitely got more "understands feelings" than I do.

[Arutha28]

I suspect that the other siblings types are all the same: BRAT

:D

rotfl

I'm also the oldest child, I have two younger brothers. I'm an ISTJ (in case you can't be bothered looking beneath my username), but I'm not sure what types my brothers are.

My middle brother is a lot like me, he might even be an ISTJ, so we get along very well. One difference between us is that he has developed his artistic talents very well (music, art, drama). I haven't invested that much time in them (although I do love playing the keyboard), but I think that if I did, I'd also be good at them. He's perhaps the most introverted of the three of us though, and he doesn't like getting into confrontations.

My youngest brother is the trouble maker of the family, still we get along pretty well. When I was younger, he liked to get on my nerves, but now he's switched targets to the middle brother. Good for me, not so good for middle brother. He enjoys arguements (about a particular topic, not angry arguements) and has the annoying tendancy to continue to argue his point, even if he has realised that his original point was wrong (I don't mean that his point-of-view was wrong, but that he knows he had the facts wrong). To him, "winning the arguement" is the ultimate goal of arguing, whereas to me, the ultimate goal is to put forward my arguement, listen to theirs and judge which is "more correct" (both, one or none). It is this quirk in particular that makes him the trouble maker of the family.
Out of the three of us, he's the most sporty. He's really good at soccer (football) and generally enjoys playing and watching sports.



We have some traits in common:

• We're all introverts
• Especially good at Maths and Science subjects
• We have very similar interests
• We all appreciate our family, above all else (i think)

We are close in age, just an approximate 2 year gap between each of us. Generally we get along great.

Sorry for the somewhat lengthy post, just thought I'd add some extra info/insight into my family.