7 Surprising Ways Birth Order Affects Us

Some researchers believe that your birth order, that is: whether you were born first, in the middle, or last, has some baring on who you grow up to be. Research has suggested there could be an impact on someone’s personality, their intelligence, or even how religious they are! There is debate in this area, and some studies find no significant differences due to birth order. However, here we will explore some of the positive findings research in this area has found!

Disclaimer: this evidence is all correlational, so does not imply causation. Also, they are generalizations, they may not apply to everyone! Enjoy!

1 – Middle-born children are the least religious, and the least conscientious.

Saroglou and Fiasse (2003) conducted a study where they got religiosity and personality ratings from both the child and the parent, and looked to see if birth order had any effect on these variables. They found, that compared to kids who were last or first born, those who were middle born were less religious, and less conscientious.