This is oldish news, but as a first born, I feel obligated to post. What do you Think. I posted a blurb of the story found on MSNBC.com.
The plight of the older sibling
First-born kids really do have it tougher, new research finds
Now, a new study has confirmed what first-borns like Joshua have always suspected: The oldest kid in the family really does bear the brunt of parental strictness, while the younger brothers and sisters generally coast on through.
“The folklore is that parents punish the older child more than the younger ones,” says Lingxin Hao, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University and an author of the study, published in the latest issue of the Economic Journal. “But it isn’t just folklore — this is a national pattern.” .....(then a few paragraphs down)
Parenting a perfectionist“We did become stricter with Joshua after Justin was born,” says Ken Jones, father to the Jones boys — Joshua is 13, and Justin is 11. “I think I was a bit rougher on Joshua. He had to do things more perfectly.”
As the Jones family, who lives in Corona, Calif., has found, and the new research confirms, being a little tougher on the oldest kid in the family often turns out a kid like Joshua — the stereotypical rule-abiding, responsible first-born.
The study showed that older siblings were much less likely to drop out of school or, in the case of girls, get pregnant, than the youngest in the family, perhaps because they’ve had a lifetime of being held to higher standards.
That stricter parenting style often shapes the first-born kid into a play-by-the rules perfectionist, so parents tend to rely more on their oldest child than the younger kids, says Kevin Leman, a Tucson, Ariz., psychologist and author of “The Birth Order Book.”
“When a job needs to get done, it’s the habit of the parent to call on the first-born, because they’re the most reliable and conscientious,” Leman says. But it's no accident that the oldest has become a responsible wonder child; it's the parenting strategy that made them that way.
To read the entire story, click HERE.
3 comments:
Personally, I think there is a study somewhere to back up any opinion that anyone has. That is my general outlook on studies and research.
I am the youngest and have only one sibling - an older sister. I think my parents were tougher on me because of what my sister did before me. Also, I think I am more the perfectionist type personality and without a doubt more independent. My sister is by no means irresponsible. But I would definitely argue that in our case, this study does not apply.
Ted and I have read the book and done a class about it. It is very interesting. We are both youngest children who personify the oldest. The siblings have grown more into it as they have become adults.
I think I am hardest on Kaitlyn. Ted thinks he is hardest on Brennan and Ethan is coming into his own as he is starting to show not so great behaviors. Ted thinks we parent this way because of gender and our own expectations of being that gender. I think I am trying to be age appropriate for each of them and so I am hardest on Kaitlyn, then Brennan, then Ethan. I don't know. I know I am not always successful at that, but that is my goal. I think Kaitlyn is very typical of a first born.
I'm with dkay. There's a study for everything!
I'm the youngest of four and I actually have a lot of firstborn characteristics. As well as younger. Guess you could say I'm all mixed up! :-)
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