Sibling Differences Boil Down to Birth Order

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Just as much as twins are very alike, sometimes siblings raised in the same home by the same parents can be complete opposites. Birth order has been used to explain and predict these personality differences, hobbies, grades in school, earning potential and much more. But can that be possible, and how can siblings be so different? First of all, birth order - firstborn, middle children, youngest - isn't the be-all, end-all that determines a child's later success in life, but birth order can help you deal with your kids more effectively. Before other children are born, firstborns have parents to themselves, and that often means there's more time to explain things to them and teach them. They're given greater responsibility, especially when other siblings come along, so they tend to grow up holding themselves to a high level of success.

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written by lisa_landen, April 03, 2012 04:14 pm

Is this the best you could do with this topic? There is actual, real research about birth order that you could cite and make a compelling and well-written article.

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written by alexia_carpenter, April 04, 2012 05:16 pm

I agree, this article is so vague and empty.

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written by WOM, April 09, 2012 11:44 am

I clicked through from cnn.com, and am very disappointed at this slim, short, useless "article."

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written by wendi, May 01, 2012 09:18 am

im preg w my 5th. so what about the parents who have more than 3.....

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written by antoniaacock, February 20, 2013 06:11 am

This is really just a big bunch of unvalidated crap. Studies show that youngest children may act out if ignored but generally are very intelligent having learned by observing their siblings. That is just one part of birth order difference......get a book, read up, then submit this article again. You will be surprised how birth order does effect our choices and our behaviors. Just like other personality issues this is a deep
and varied subject.

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written by Linda, April 29, 2013 06:53 pm

Throw an adopted middle kid into this picture & you have the family I grew up in. It totally changes everything about this birth order theory. I am the biological child of my parents & I am the oldest. My sister was adopted the day she was born. My brother is the biological child of my parents. He is 22 months older than my sister & 16 years younger than I am. He & I according to my mother have had the same personality since we were born. My sister is the complete opposite from my brother & me. I always thought our family would make a good doctoral theme for a grad student.

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written by Barnabas, May 12, 2013 06:33 pm

More birth-order bullcrap. The first time I heard this armchair fluff was from my 4th grade teacher as she read us some sort of Judy Blumish novel, and that was the only time I was ever fooled by it. If wearing nothing but hand-me-down cloths means you're a spoiled brat, & if DNA morphs as one has more kids & if younger inexperienced parents are more capable of love...then all this is might be true. Even so...why can't unimaginative journalists find something else to write about instead of paraphrasing a bunch of tired old psychobable we've all heard before?

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Sibling Differences Boil Down to Birth Order