Birth Order Poll

[author_by_night]

Okay, I've done a little poll based on birth order, a "study" I'm doing, so to speak - you'll see a few of these.

Please note that when I say "peers", I do not mean it in the school sense, but in the age group sense.

Do comment on anything you'd like - that's what this is for!

[Poll #762095]

Comments

[tipsytoe.livejournal.com]

Great poll, Amy. :)

Many have come up with this theory about the middle child, is this part of your aim?

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

More to see stereotypes in general. I've seen so documentaries and such on birth order, but I'd like the opinions of actual siblings, you know? And this was designed, I hope, so that options were picked instead of what "seemed" accurate.

[gloryforever.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see what sort of conclusions you get to, as my coworkers and I have a theory about the third child in a family (though with no psychologica background, merely based on observation of our students)

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Huh, interesting. Tell me the theory after!

[pickleprincess.livejournal.com]

I've always found these studies to be fascinating - perhaps we're just a cookie cutter family, but they've always seemed quite accurate. I'm the oldest of four, and the only girl, so I know a lot of stereotypes apply to me and I've found (grudgingly) that many of them are true. (I think sometimes I feel more like an only child just because the others are boys.) The funniest thing is really that my two youngest brothers are twins, and not only do they fit the general twin sterotype but they also seem to fit the birth order ones. Mark (who was born first) acts distinctly like a middle child and David (born seven minutes later) acts like the youngest. It's mostly weird because I highly doubt we've ever treated them much differently - the only distinction in age we ever make between them is when we do things from oldest to youngest. I don't know why, but I guess that was enough to set them apart.

Anyway, hope you find what you're looking for with this!

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) Yeah, I don't know any twins who act that way (though I do know two sets of twins), but I have cousins who are only a year apart, yet one acts like she is much older. However, I think with us cousns, we've sort of become like a birth order.

[gijane7702.livejournal.com]

Done for you, dolls!!

Lots of 'oldest' children in my little corner of the HP fandom...that shows something as well, no?

~C

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Hmm, interesting. I'm definitely noticing a bunch of "oldest" children.

[bratty-jedi.livejournal.com]

Interesting quiz. I have cousins who are sextuplets and I would love to see their answers to some of this. Of course, they're only four so we may need to give them a few years. Why is there no option for "youngest" on the last question?

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

There isn't an option for "youngest"?? Gah. I'm sorry.

[story645.livejournal.com]

OK, replace school with camp, cause my brother was the one getting in trouble at school. (Though I did light a fire once in the girls' bathroom.) I was a spoiled brat, never really over protected. And yeah, already said, replace religion for the strange hair and piercings, which wouldn't bug my family much.

Re: HP, it's less having to do with stereotypes, more that JK constructs her family dynamics in such a way (and her characters) that the issues work for the characters.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

With HP, I agree, but sometimes the twins still seem way too "cookie-cutter". Ah well - it was just an example anyhow. I do think JKR has constructed stuff very carefully.

[story645.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, but me and the twin can totally do the "on same wavelength" convo and carry it for a good while. I think that we don't see F&G enough for a full call, cause some twins really come across that way unless you get to know each part separately.

[farting-nora.livejournal.com]

It is complicated for me. I spent the first seven years of my life as the oldest (well, the first 2.5 were as the only...) Then when I was seven, I got two older stepbrothers, so I was the middle child. Then when I was 11 (or maybe 12) my stepmom died and my stepbrothers moved away. So I wend back to being the oldest.
For a few months it was just me and my natural sister, but then both my mom and my dad got remarried, and I got two younger stepsisters on each side. (thus remaining the oldest, but being older than more people, which I think makes a differance)

Then to make things even more confusing, I still see my stepbrothers a couple times a year, so I'll occassionally go back to being in the middle for short periods of time. (I still consider them my brothers, but I take the role of the oldest when they are gone)

My stepbrothers are twins who have very little on common aside from their looks, and have never done the "freaky twin thing".

I answered oldest to the first question. But I identify more with a middle child when I read stuff about birth order.

[jamc91.livejournal.com]

YOU CAN DO POLLS IN PLUS ACCOUNTS?!

That settles it, I'm getting one.

I did the poll, by the way. :) You seem to have forgotten 'Youngest' for the last question...

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the stupid thing. I even read over it. Gah.

[jamc91.livejournal.com]

Well, good thing I wouldn't have answered that anyway. :P

[lee-calafalas.livejournal.com]

this was really interesting!

[scionofgrace.livejournal.com]

I should add: I'm the second/middle child, but I was the only girl (and so got some special treatment), also, my older brother suffered cancer when I was eight/nine, which I know affects how these things work. And oddly enough, it was my older brother who was the rebel of the family.

Birth order has to have some effect on kids, but it's by no means a foolproof indicator.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your input!

I agree, birth order isn't foolproof. A lot of this purpose is to see how actual people compare to the ones educational psychologists apparently know.