Discover How Your Birth Order Impacts Your Personality

“ They say that no matter how old you become, when you are with your siblings, you revert back to childhood. ” – Karen White

Having a large family means that you always have somebody to lean on. You have the eldest who presumes as the wisest whom you could always seek advice, you have the ever-so-mischievous middle child that can be a great source of fun stories and the youngest who is most likely to be the chirpiest and one that you could strike up a great conservation with.

These are the common traits you would associate siblings according to their birth order. Birth order refers to the order a child is born in the family; first-born, second-born and the last child.

The study was made famous by Alfred Adler, an Austrian physicist. While his scientific research was met with many dispute by fellow psychologists, it’s always fun to see if the stereotypical traits matches the personality that we embody.

Check this out and see if anything hits too close to home!

#1 The First Child

If you’re the Abang or Kakak of the family, chances are you would be the highest achiever amongst the siblings. First-borns have this intense fear of failure. Because the first-born carry immense responsibilities to look after other younger siblings, they can be quick to take the lead and at times can be interpreted as bossy.

This behavior derives from the very nature of how first-borns are raised. As the first child, parents are extra careful and extremely attentive because well, it’s their first baby so they want to make sure they won’t mess up. This could be the reason why first-borns are so cautious, structured and at some levels, a perfectionist.

#2 The Middle Child

Ever heard of the middle child syndrome? It’s a phenomena that occurs to the middle-child whereby they would feel like they’re neglected and excluded. Although this is more pseudoscience than anything concrete.. I mean.. ask any middle-child they will nod in agreement. Because parents have had experience in handling the first child, they will be less attentive or on their toes with the second one. They often feel like they don’t belong as the eldest had been given the extra attention while the youngest will always be treated like the baby thus will be showered with love and care. So middle-child are always rebellious but at the same time a bit of a people-pleaser as a result of the lack of attention.

#3 Youngest Child

Youngest children are often outgoing and charming. Because their parents have now had many experiences with raising children, they tend to let things take its own course with the youngest child. They raise them with a much more calmer and lenient approach as they are not as tensed and worried about making mistakes since they are able to gauge how far things can go wrong with the other older children.

Being the youngest child also means that they will always be viewed as the baby of the family. The BABY. are generally the social butterfly of the family. With the lack of strength and wisdom as compared to the first-borns, they often compensate by having huge personalities. They are also prone to try new things as they know they won’t be held with as much accountability as compared to their older siblings.

#4 The Only Child

The only child have been said to be the “super-firstborns” because unlike having the spotlight focused on them for only a period of time, they have their parents exclusive attention at all times without any siblings to compete or to tend to. This can be both as blessing and a curse so to speak as they will carry all the support and expectations of their parents on their shoulder. This is why they can be very diligent and matured for their age.

While there are concerns that the only child will have trouble socialising due to not having siblings, that is not relevant anymore as we have Tik Tok, Twitter and Instagram. Opportunity to socialise is literally at the touch of a button.

So did any of these personalities matched you and your sibling’s traits. We’re pretty sure that to a certain extent it does. As a family, we love to celebrate our differences because in all honesty it makes the family more meriah.

BTW, It’s International Family Day today! For those of you who has no clue about the celebration, it’s actually a day that is observed every 15th May since 1993 to promote awareness on issues relating to families such as to increase the knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.

However, on a domestic level like between you and your family, it could be a day for you to cherish your family members and to celebrate the love that you have shared for each other throughout your lives. So why not strike up a conversation with your siblings today on this subject.

While we’re at the topic of families, watch this hilarious episode of Surely Malaysian where they break down 5 types of Malaysian parents and see if any of them is a mirror reflection of your own!