The Neglected Birth Order: Middleborns

Abstract

This study examines the self-esteem of middleborns compared with firstborns and lastborns. While most of the birth-order research concentrates on comparing firstborns with a general category of laterborns, the present research emphasizes an empirical and conceptual distinction for middleborns. The number, spacing, and sex of siblings of the middleborn are also closely examined. Data were obtained from a secondary analysis of a national sample of over 2, 200 adolescent males. The results suggest that middleborns have a significantly lower self-esteem than firstborns and lastborns and that the self-esteem of middleborns is significantly lower when the average spacing of their immediately adjacent siblings is two years compared with one year. Self-esteem of the middleborn male is significantly enhanced when his siblings are all female than when they are all male or mixed gender. The findings are explained according to a uniqueness theory, which suggests that firstborns and lastborns enjoy an inherent uniqueness in their birth order which facilitates status, recognition, and attention by parents and other siblings. There is no inherent uniqueness in the position of middleborn child, whose role in the family is consequently less well defined. This is reflected in the middleborn's overall self-assessment.