The Pecking Order Among Siblings
Social scientists have, for many years now, been telling us about the role birth order plays in making us who we are. In general, the first-born in families are the big achievers. So with that in mind, the New York Times recently ran a quiz listing the following high achieving (though not always charming) celebrities. For each, there was one of three choices—first born (F), middle (between first and last) (M) and last born (L).
If you would like to take the test, here’s the list.
Charles Darwin; Mother Theresa; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Dick Cheney; Betty Friedan; Mao; Picasso; Woody Allen; Andrew Carnegie; Michael Jordan; Sacha Baron Cohen; Martha Stewart; Stephen Hawking; Marie Curie; Katherine Hepburn; Rupert Murdoch.
And here are the answers, listed in the same order as the names
M; M; M; F; F; F; F; F; F; M; L; M; F; L; F; M.
In case you’re not a first-born, don't be disheartened. Being the first child in the family is not critical to success. And you can always take comfort in thinking about the following: Ben Franklin, youngest of 10 sons; Stephen Colbert -- youngest of 11 children; Dalai Lama-the fifth son in the family (but 11 more came after him) and of course, Joseph-the 11th son of Jacob.
