Birth Order

I think psychology is fascinating. I've taken psychology classes in both high school and college, and I loved both of them. My love for it is a lot like my love for astronomy though. It's so cool, but there's no way I'm taking any classes beyond the introductory level. Sure, I could do it if I set my mind to it, but actually being those fields just isn't for me.

There are a lot of different things that my psychology classes taught me though, and I think about some of them a lot. One of those things is birth order and what that means for someone's personality. I know a lot of people who reject the idea that birth order affects anything. Personally, I think it does, but it can't tell you everything. Of course any given first-born, for instance, is going to be different, but I do think there are certain things a lot of first-borns are likely to have in common.

Personally, I'm a first-born (of three), and I relate a lot to the ideas surrounding first-borns. So much of it leaves me saying, "Yep. Sounds like me." And it's the same for my other siblings. My sister Regina is such a middle child. Seriously. Sure, not everything fits perfectly because we're individuals, but as a whole, I think it has merit.

There's also the idea that first-borns may be more intelligent though, and I can't really get behind that. I'd say my siblings and I are about equal on that, although we each have slightly different strengths. We all did well in school (for whatever that's worth when determining intelligence), and I wouldn't call any of us stupid. I have no idea how we would stack up against each other in an IQ test or anything, but I can't see any difference being a significant one.

I'm not saying I think birth order is a concrete determiner of absolutely anything, but it is fun to think about sometimes for me. Just seeing how it does or doesn't match up to me and my siblings is interesting to me.

What about you? Do you think you or your siblings fit with any stereotypes about your birth order at all?