Birth Order

     According to research, birth order does play a role in development. The firstborn will usually be slightly smarter than his siblings because a) he will hear more adult conversations and b) he has to teach the younger siblings. They also feel more of a need to be in control and will tend to have more traditional jobs. They tend to be more academically motivated and get better grades. However, the second-born will be more creative than intelligent. He will take riskier jobs than the firstborn. He will strive to be the opposite of the firstborn for attention, and so he may do much worse academically. They tend to be more spoiled and get away with more than the firstborn.

     Almost none of this research seems to apply to my life. My older brother and I are both academically motivated, but I will do independent research on a topic if it interests me. I would doubt that his three years of only-child-ness really made him smarter than me. In fact, he has admitted that I am smarter than him. I can be competitive and I do try to be better than him, but I don't think I do it for attention. I actually think that my brother will be the one to take the riskier jobs. He wants to be a biologist. He went to Australia for a semester abroad and just recently, he went skydiving. He is far more adventurous than I would consider myself to be. I think Zach likes to be in control to a certain degree, but then again, I think we all do. But I do not think that he feels the need to be in control at the expense of others.