It definitely affected my life. My mother had 6 kids and I was the oldest. At age 6, I was watching out for a 4 year old and a 2 year old while mom took care of the baby. As I got older, mom always had a baby to take care of and I just got more I had to watch over. When it was time for school in the mornings, Mom would open the bedroom door and tell me to get everyone up. My mother placed me in a position of authority over my younger brothers and sisters and I was never a part of my brothers and sisters lives. They resented me my whole life because I was the one that was their authority figure while my mom remained friends with all of them. I have felt at times like a sacrifice for the good of the family. Mom passed a couple months ago but to this day, I still don't have the relationship with my brothers and sisters that they have with each other. It's like I was always on the other team.

I only had three older brothers until I was 7. Being the baby for a long time, I dealt with that over protectiveness and could get away with murder. But when my little brother was born, I was responsible for everything. I still am, especially because he's special needs. My mom used to be a lot more strict with all the kids but with my little brother, she's extremely lenient to the point where I have to enforce the discipline. I know I hate being responsible because I've had to be for a long time when I was so used to being taken care of by everybody so yeah I assume my birth order really affected me but not as much as my parents parenting styles did.

I was second, the one that took attention away feom my big brother. He was always wonderful to me, my best friend. when he was killed in Viet Nam, I was a leftover, a lonely leftover. I think that it is why I wanted at least three kids. Now I have three wonderful-grown up-kids, and they are great to each other. and great to me.

Only child. Oldest child on both sides of my family. So I really got spoiled with attention but not material things. Have gotten a lot better at accepting I don't need to be the center of attention.

Of course. I will give the example of Mejico family structure a couple centuries ago. The first daughter will never marry. Her job is to help raise the others... help the mother in the house while father is in the field... and take care of the parents when they get old. Never to be married. There is a beautiful movie about it based on a book... is called "like water for chocolate". I also saw the family of my buddies, all professionals, males and females, lawyers, doctors, nurses, policewoman, accountants except one that cooked for everybody in the family... us outside the family assumed she was the dumb one. The only one that didn't marry also.

Yes. I was younger than my brother by 11 years. He is still my hero, and yes, it did affect my choices in life.

There have been numerous studies done on this topic. I agree that birth order has a large impact on personality. I'm the eldest. I had more responsibility, and sooner, than my sister.
If she did something wrong, I got blamed and punished for not stopping her from doing it. I had more chores, and was expected to do better in school. There was a lot that made no rational sense, but that was the way it happened. But yes, it definitely had an impact on my personality and my life choices.

I have no idea and I have no way of comparing it too anything to come to any conclusion.

I was the oldest. I hated it though. Initially I was happy to hav a sister. But as we rew up I tended to get the blame for everything. I may be exaggerating a bit. But I always felt like I I should have had an older sibling and that I would have been happier if I did. Who knows though.

Not as I've read. I think there are other factors that affect personality much more

Also the eldest, 4 in 4.5 years so no time to be spoilt, though did many of the parenting type jobs, probably why I had no hesitation taking my kids as a single dad when the ex became unbearable. I say birth order is a big factor.

Some days I think ya others no

I am thirteen months older than my brother, and 6 years older than my sister. Being first I had to struggle harder with slightly over protective parents to gain freedom that was just automatic for them. Although, I didn't have the example and guidance and older sibling could have offered. I do have an irresponsible uncle who's only 7 years older. He got me into enough trouble to make up for that.

Yes, I am also the eldest child. I am 7 & 8 and 11 years older than my siblings. I took care of my siblings from the age of eleven to help my mother who went to school at night and worked during the day. I learned to cook and I helped them with their homework and changed diapers. Yes it has impacted who I am today. When I was sixteen and started to drive, I took them to school and the movies, shopping etc... I did everything for them. I practically raised them.

I dunno, I've never thought about it. I'm going away to think about it now.

I'm exactly in the middle.
That is supposed to make me a clown and negotiator since nobody is listening to me.
I was a clown because I copied my joking older brother, and I also liked to try to make my younger sister laugh.

The benefit of being the middle child is that I was invisible. I could get away with wild adventures on my horse, building tree houses 20 feet up in mango trees, etc.
But that could have been my parents' attitude about children, especially boys (they treated me like a default boy)...just let them play. Whatever-as long as they're outside. We're busy.

I was the eldest of three kids, one brother and a step sister. When my mother passed, I went from 8 year old to the caregiver. It absolutely affected my maturation rate.

Some days I think ya others no

A good question. I was the last of 3 children but grew up as an only child with no knowledge of my siblings.

I fit the most common traits of the middle child.

That's an interesting guestion. In my personal and professional opinion, first born girl children are most likely to be "The Responsible One." The one the rest of the family calls on for help and guidance. Certainly true of many of us.

In order I guess...
Yes. An older sister.
Youngest.
Not so much by birth order as much as family order. Let me explain that one though...
My older sister used to beat the hell out of me almost daily. When I was about twelve I'd finally had enough and put her in her place which led to me getting the crap kicked out of me by my step-father. Shortly after that my sister got a boyfriend who was a couple years older than her but not yet 18 and in a bad situation at home. My parents adopted him to get him out of the situation he was in. Needless to say that he was a pothead among other things. After that I kind of got shuffled off to the side. Ignored unless someone wanted something from me. My parents took in another troublemaker shortly after that was already over 21 but needed a place to stay so they moved him into my room and me into the small spare room, giving my sister and them pretty much the entire half of the house. (We lived in a duplex with the dividing wall cut out.) So seeing how important I was to my family I avoided trouble, did my school work and that was about it. Any time my parents left I would either try to go with them or go to a friends house because they would always have someone check up on the house and these idiots would always get caught with alcohol, pot and other things in plain sight when they walked in. My sister ended up getting home-schooled because she couldn't handle the drama of our little town. I ended up doing two years of her math work because of this along with my own work. She got a settlement from a childhood accident and bought a new blazer at 16 which she totaled a month later only to get another one. I didn't get my first car until I was 18 and had to buy it myself. She bought a house when she was 18 (it ended up getting seized in a drug bust.) My parents refused to cosign a student loan so I could go to college. She is mentally unstable and her kids end up getting shipped off to my mother for months at a time while she "fixes herself." I'm a parent of two boys that I wouldn't give up for the world living with my friend, his wife and their kid so we can afford to be a happy (if slightly dysfunctional) family.

YES, without question

I'm totally a middle child. In order and personality.

I was an only child until at the age of 56 I discoved my big sister. Our personalities were of course formed without knowing each other. It has been fascinating to work out which parts of us are nature and which are nurture.