<p>What are your opinions on this? Are younger siblings typically dumber and more spoiled than older siblings?</p>
<p>I started to think about this today, and I've noticed a HUGE difference in treatment and overall intelligence between me and my younger sibling. I've always felt like I'm a second priority for my parents -- they always try to give my younger sibling as many opportunities as possible (ECs, lessons, tutoring...) while leaving me to myself. Also, they buy tons of crap for him like clothes, games, electronics, etc. while I rarely get anything new. For example, I have a cell phone that belongs in an antique museum while my sibling gets a much better phone with free texting. </p>
<p>The thing is, he is, to put it frankly, an idiot. He gets Cs in school, tries to be badass by being obnoxious and getting into trouble, does drugs, and overall only cares about being "cool" in school. I'm no angel, but at least I don't like causing trouble and getting bad grades in school. However, he still seems to be my parents' favorite despite all these differences, and they always expect me to take care of him. </p>
<p>So yeah, what do you guys think?</p>
<p>I think there are a lot of people in your situation. This isn’t really strange or unique in any way. Your parents trust you to act the way you do, so they don’t shelter you by guiding you through everything in life. Like making sure you study or join ECs, that’s a compliment that they expect you to take care of things yourself. It’s all just about someone’s personality. There are plenty of older siblings that are more irresponsible and younger siblings that end up having to take care of everything. And I don’t think that younger siblings are necessarily dumber, there’s no proof for that.</p>
<p>I certainly think that my younger sibling is dumber, but as far as being spoiled goes, I think we’re about the same. But my parents do treat me like a second priority. They’re less worried about me and pay more attention to my sister’s grades. I hate how they expect me to take care of her, like helping her on homework and stuff.</p>
<p>Being the younger sibling, I feel that the second child benefits a lot from having an older brother/sister that tries stuff out first. That way, you are more informed and knowledgeable about things to come.</p>
<p>I have to admit that that’s true in my family. I think the reason that my brother is a little more spoiled is that my parents are trying to motivate him through getting him a tutor and giving him things. In fact, in elementary school I was behind in English, and they did things for me like making me play phonics. Then in middle school they made me get a french tutor. In high school on the other hand I kind of took off and they started disregarding me. They were proud but they didn’t go out of their way to do anything anymore. Now my younger brother is struggling as a freshmen and they’re getting him a tutor.</p>
<p>As a younger sibling, I have to disagree. I get better grades than my older sibling, but that’s not the result of being spoiled. Like a poster said above, the family goes through a certain experience with the older sibling, and when the family goes through it again with the younger sibling, they know more about the experience. For instance, my sister went through the “getting into college experience” last year, so now that it’s my turn, my parents are more knowledgable about getting in to college. Thus, it may seem that they are favoring me more, but they simply have a better idea of how to handle the situation.</p>
<p>My younger brother isn’t really dumber than me – he’s good at solving engineering-type problems, I’m not – but he’s ignorant… He just doesn’t have any desire to experience other cultures or mindsets. As far as being spoiled, he’s not really spoiled. Wait. I take that back. He got a pair of $450 soccer cleats, and he’s not even that great at soccer. My step-brother’s not bright, and he’s very spoiled, has never had to do the dishes, ever. The only chore he’s ever had to do is laundry, which he still doesn’t do. It seems like all of my family had these advantages though… They mooched off my parents after they dropped out, and did nothing. I’m the only one who’s in school and actually has to do anything, besides my one brother, who got the cleats (from my grandparents, but still). None of this is surprising though… My family hates me, ahah. It doesn’t matter what I do, I’ll always be the bad guy. Overall, yeah, I think younger siblings have it easier.</p>
<p>Totally agree sometimes I can’t even imagine how we are related</p>
<p>I’m the youngest child and I agree.</p>
<p>I’m the oldest of four and I’m definitely smarter than my younger siblings. That might be because my mother wasn’t working/taking care of four different kids when I was little and had time to spend with me and time to teach me to do things like read. She’d literally read to me for hours a day. I ended up loving reading and books while my two youngest siblings who spent their childhood watching spongebob (my mom never let me watch anything besides educational TV and even that was limited) are reasonably smart but not as above average as I was when I was their age.</p>
<p>I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed this! My younger brother is smart, but I was definitely smarter than him when I was his age. About being more spoiled, I definitely agree with that too.</p>
<p>I somewhat agree with this</p>
<p>I’m the younger sibling, but my sister would agree that I am smarter (though I don’t work quite as hard for grades to show it) and I’m spoiled far more.</p>
<p>I’m the youngest out of 2 children. My brother is a senior and I’m a sophomore. My brother makes rather mediocre grades (mostly Bs, sometimes Cs, and an occasional A), and I make all As. It’s not that my brother is dumb or anything, he just doesn’t care. However, I would still say that I’m smarter academically and logically. On the other side, he is more passionate and talented in the arts than I am (he’s an amazing guitarist, drummer, and dancer). We are both equally (and heavily) spoiled, but my parents praise me more because they appreciate academics more than the arts (typical asian parents). However, my brother is a lot better looking than I am so I guess it all evens out.</p>
<p>In short, I would say it depends on the family.</p>
<p>I would say the younger child is more spoiled. However, I observed that the younger child is usually smarter.</p>
<p>One thing I thought was interesting was that a study claimed that out of a family of 3 the youngest tends to be more creative, maybe holding a job as an artist or musician and many of the youngest siblings become athletes. It also said that the youngest was usually most likely to take for lack of a better word “risky” jobs or ones that don’t automatically provide large financial security, but are very interesting. I think that the study was implying that out of all the musicians or athletes of the world many are the youngest. I can’t remember what it said about the oldest and middle child, but it was an interesting take on the personalities and job holdings of a three child family dynamic.</p>
<p>I’m the youngest child and all of my brothers are dumb as rocks, so I would have to disagree. I’m definitely more spoiled, though.</p>
<p>I am the younger child and I would say I much more spoiled than the others, but I am the smarted one of us.</p>
<p>In my family:</p>
<p>The oldest (me) is probably the most ambitious/intellectual.</p>
<p>The middle two are the most social and gregarious. They are probably the “dumbest” in the way you’re thinking of it.</p>
<p>The youngest is the quietist, most down to earth and probably the most creative–smart but not as academically inclined as the oldest.</p>
<p>as far as being smart, I honestly think all my sisters and I are pretty comparable and “smart” thanks to our parents, and I’m the oldest.
However, I do think I have the most self-motivation out of my sisters.
Differing from most people here, I’d have to say that I’m probably more spoiled than my middle sister, though, because I’m the oldest, most responsible, I’m the closest to going away for college, blah, blah, blah
But my youngest sister is definitely babied! Hahaa, I think I get more because my parents trust me and are probably nostalgic because I’ve “grown up so fast” but my youngest sister is the one they fuss about the most.</p>