As an anchor that always brings us back to the same port and constantly reminds us where we come from, the family is a unique place where each member grows there. Much more than the role of our parents, our brothers and sisters, from the eldest to the latter, also help us in our psychosocial development and in our education. We play together, we love each other, we hate each other and we jealous in the relationship we have with them.
In fact, fraternal rivalry is the consequence of an unconscious conquest of the territory of paternal and maternal love. Everyone is different, trying to look better than his fellows against his parents. But this rivalry sometimes leaves a duality in adulthood, because, in the end, brothers and sisters are born from the same belly. And it is this fundamental experience that makes it possible to be complementary and to be attached to one another as if our brother or sister was a part of ourselves.
However, some personality traits are more or less marked according to our rank in the siblings. Each rank has advantages and difficulties in the construction of oneself. But for a long time, the concept that siblings of a sibling are better exists and scientists have just proved it!
Here are five reasons why seniors are better than their brothers and sisters:
The eldest children in the family are more focused on loyalty, family traditions and they become more mature quickly
According to Jeffrey Kluger, the author of The Sibling Effect, older children are more respectful of the rules their parents dictate than their brothers and sisters, and they ensure that the younger ones understand and apply them.
Elder children follow the rules while their brothers and sisters are more rebellious
According to a 2003 study conducted by Belgian psychologists, the firstborns tend to be responsible, competitive and conform to the norm while the latter have to differentiate themselves and are more rebellious in order to assert themselves in their dissimilarity.
The first-born are naturally leaders, so they know more success in their professional career
Keeping their siblings allows seniors to naturally develop their leadership skills. They learn to be responsible and authoritative when necessary. They will therefore be more likely to succeed in their professional careers through these skills developed during childhood.
The eldest child is statistically smarter than his / her siblings
A Norwegian study in 2007 shows that older children have an IQ higher by 2.3 points compared to their siblings. This may be because children teach their siblings how to retain certain information and help them with their homework.
And finally, the elder children are a little nicer
A study dating from 2015 found that first-borns are more conscientious, more pleasant and less neurotic than children who come afterwards. Elders are generally better than their brothers and sisters!
Children born first are therefore endowed with a great deal of skill and are generally smarter.
However, each child, regardless of his or her place in the siblings, possesses intellectual abilities and qualities of his or her own. Children shape their personality in relation to their vision of the world, to the education and love of their parents.