If you grew up with siblings, you may have heard that birth order has a lot to do with personality. If you grew up to then have kids yourself, you now know that it’s probably true! Well, we no longer have to wonder or use our experience because science may just provide us with the answer we are looking for.

A new study shows that birth order likely has an impact on your behavior!

The study was conducted by MIT’s Sloan School, and it took an interesting approach. Essentially, the study followed different families that had two boys, some in Florida and others in Denmark. Over the months and years, they asked questions and observed differences in behavior between the older boy and the younger one.

This is why your middle child probably gets in trouble more.

Part of the research showed that the younger of the two boys were significantly more likely to be disciplined! In fact, the second child of the two brothers was 20-40% more likely to be sat in the principal’s office at school or to experience discipline by a teacher. That’s a pretty significant statistic!

Even more, the second child is also more likely to have an encounter with the law or criminal justice system.

If you are a parent of boys, this data may finally give you proof that what you are feeling isn’t just you, it’s probably normal! While that doesn’t mean that it’s a good thing to have your kids in the principal’s office or in trouble with the law, it does give some piece of mind that it isn’t simply your fault, end of story.

If you have daughters, however, things may be different.

The MIT study was super cool, but it didn’t measure anything in regard to your daughters. In that regard, there is still more science and data collection that could be valuable for girl-parents all over the world.

What causes this strange occurrence in boys?

Well, it isn’t exactly clear, but there are some findings that could be important to know. First, birth order is A factor, not THE factor. They explain:

“The data allow us to examine a range of potential mechanisms, and the evidence rules out differences in health at birth and the quality of schools chosen for children. We do find that parental time investment measured by time out of the labor force is higher for first-borns at ages 2-4, suggesting that the arrival of a second-born child extends early-childhood parental investments for first-borns.”

Essentially, an engaged parent means a less troublesome kid, which we all probably knew already. The data simply shows that it’s more statistically likely for a second child to have less time with parents in early childhood.

What should parents do?

Although this isn’t necessarily parenting advice, the study shows that engagement with your kids when they are young will set them up for a life of success. In fact, this is something that is shown in data from all sorts of studies. If you are having your first OR second kid, make sure you love on them as much as you can!

It’s hard to be a parent, but you can do it!

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Source: MIT SLOAN SCHOOL, EMPOWERED PARENTS, NPR