This is very true in my family.

I'm the baby and I am seriously more independent then my sister.

The opposite is true in my family, my oldest brother is .. wait no I take it back, it's pretty true.

I am pretty sure this is not true in my family. I'm the oldest (of five kids), and as far as I can tell, I'm the most independent of all of us. But maybe I'm too close to it to say for sure...

There were 5 of us, now are four. My oldest sister was brilliant, and set an example the rest of us could never follow. My second oldest sister forged new territory socially and occupationally, so I'd say that's true. My middle brother.... ??? hard to say, he is independent to a fault, doesn't want, need or give anything to anybody (read into that what you will). I am the fixer of the family, always trying to make it better in every area of my life, sometimes at a great cost to myself. My baby brother is the least successful and has the greatest sense of entitlement, to put it mildly.

This is not true for me. I am the oldest of 4 girls and all 4 of us are unequally independent.

Meaning we all are, but I more than the other 3.

Depends on how you define independent.

If you mean refuse to listen to advice from my parents and learn EVERYTHING the hard way then yes my younger sister is more independent.

If you mean live out from under the decisions and influence of your parents while still listening to them and considering their advice then no I, the eldest, am the most independent.

Completely opposite for me, my older sister is much more independent, and adventurous. She travels alot, been backpacking in South America, and always does things her own way. Always did, I was always really dependent on others.

Lol.. Ouch..
Second born.. world traveled, never lived in one place more than a few years.. not married.. runs own business..

True for me!

-->and Meggysue, we had the same problem with our baby brother - didn't know how to do his own laundry, a vagabond, totally dependent on the kindness of others, BUT, just in the last two years (he's 30!) he is finally really shaping up. So there's maybe hope for your baby brother too.

We also get away with more. :-D

true and i have also noticed when there are 3 siblings of the same sex the first and third are close and the second perceived as different.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but my eyes and ears open. I doubt he even thinks he should change despite some pretty harsh wake-up calls. Thanks for the good wishes.

Not true in mine...quite the opposite really. My oldest brother is the most independent, middle brother is independent, but not as much as the oldest...then me, the baby...and well, I can be independent if I have to be, but I don't like to be..lol.

Maybe true for me and my sister, maybe not. We're both independent, just in different ways.

I see this very much in my cousins, though--oldest is married with 2 kids, lives 40 miles from home, youngest is getting married soon, lives 70 miles from home, while the youngest is married and happily living in Kuala Lompur.

In my husbands family, he's the middle child...And we're on the other side of the country from his entire family. Both siblings live close to home.

I wonder how they define first-borns. That seems obvious, but other studies have shown that children more than 6 years apart in age 'reboot' and act like first born children rather than the birth order predictibility.

As to this study, it makes total sense. How can you be independent when your parents are always relying upon/forcing you to care for your younger sibling? You can't just do what you want, as you are always being pulled back to be responsible for the younger ones (even if the younger gets in trouble, you should have been watching, so you're in trouble, too!).

*grumbles about baby brother*

All my sibs are independent, but then they are also in their 40's and married (or divorced) with kids...so they all have their own lives. However, as the youngest I have always been the most adventurous, we all grew up as world travelers, but they have all settled down while I continue to traipse across the globe...dragging my family with me. Why were we all world travelers? My Dad was a "youngest" too!

I would say all 4 of us girls are independent in my family. But I think that has to do with absent parents.

The "Prince" on the other hand has totally been dependent on his old baby sitter.

My oldest sister lives in the same county as my parents, in metro Atlanta, and visits them a few times a week. The middle sister lives a bit further away, and they visit once every week or two. The youngest, I live in Los Angeles, and visit every year, or so. The older kids are more financially successful, but I'm coming around. Plus, they've made very "safe" choices (marrying up), whereas I've struggled, but not compromised my dreams. So yes, I am now living out my dreams, which means, I'm sitting at a physics final exam I didn't prepare for, in my underwear.

My eldest sibling has utterly disassociated himself from the family - I don't think you can get much more independent than that.

But that's anecdotal.

The detail I think that's missing is that of subsequent children.

Being youngest, middle, one of 25, etc. can make a profound difference.

That sentence sounds fascinatingly scandalous.