There has been lots of research, and plenty of extensive studies done on "The Birth Order Effect". However, being a true " first-born", I instinctively wanted to do all this myself. (it's in our character I later found out, to want to do things ourselves since we don't trust anyone but us to do the best job) So off I went, looking up other people's studies and taking my own notes on them. But then I started to wonder. All these studies were done years ago, the greatest of all them done in the 20s. Now-a-days, divorce rates are so high, and so many people have broken and blended families...I wondered if "The Birth Order Effect" still applies.
             I decided to do a little study of my own. I sent out a survey to 20 teenagers randomly chosen from my contact list. Most were friends from around here, but some went out to a few camp friends from around the world. All in all, I had a pretty wide variety of teens from all over. They were simple questions, asking about the state they usually kept their room in, whether they had trouble with due dates, if they were patient, etc. What I found wasn't all that surprising. It pretty much lined up with what Alder had found back in the early 20th century as well as what many other researchers had found. Their studies showed that first-born's were natural leaders, picky, precise, punctual, organized, competent, and high achievers. Middle-born's were usually people-pleasers that hate confrontation, are calm, down-to-earth, and make good mediators and negotiors. Last-born's were said to have strong people skills, love to entertain, and make others feel at home. They are extroverts that are energized by the presence of other people, and are not afraid to take risks. Only children are in a category all of their own, not having any siblings at all to grow up with. Only-born children are said to be task oriented, well organized, highly dependable, keen on facts, ideas and details, and comfortable with responsi...