Dr Emma Farrell

Morning, David.

Well, these stories are certainly very compelling, I'm sure.

We were just chatting about birth order and our birth order.

It's something that many families will talk about.

And it's an idea that goes back a long way.

So the first person to propose what's now known as birth order theory was an Austrian psychologist called Alfred Adler.

And over 100 years ago, he asked that question that many of us ask, which is,

How is it that children who are born into the same households, the same parents, same environment can be so different from each other?

And his theory was that it's the birth order and the kind of corresponding amount of time and attention that parents can offer that shape the child's personality.

And since then, researchers have been adding all sorts of characteristics to various birth order positions to try and support or develop this theory.

So, for example, as you mentioned, firstborns are often considered quite bossy, but they're also seen to be responsible, reliable, quite cautious people.

But yeah, I think bossy and controlling are words that are often bandied around.

Absolutely.

So many of these roles are just storylines that we often step into.

And so while it is true that eldest siblings do tend to be asked to look after younger siblings a little bit more, which is a very responsible position, really there isn't much to support this idea.

Yes.

So the middle child, the long forgotten, often ignored middle child.

Exactly.

And I think there's so much scope within being a middle child because it's not just one of the middle of three.

It can be of eight or of ten.