CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" > <html> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://encarta.msn.com:80/encnet/features/columns/?article=birthordermain","20090212184635","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1234464395"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <title>Is Birth Order Destiny? - MSN Encarta</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8">  <meta http-equiv="pics-label" content="(pics-1.1 "http://www.rsac.org/ratingsv01.html" l gen true for "http://encarta.msn.com" r (n 0 s 0 v 0 l 0) "http://www.icra.org/ratingsv02.html" l gen true for "http://encarta.msn.com" r (cz 1 lz 1 nz 1 oz 1 vz 1))">  <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635js_/http://help.msn.com/!shared/helppane26.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript">  </script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635js_/http://encarta.msn.com/global.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635js_/http://encarta.msn.com/header.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635js_/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/Silverlight/Silverlight.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635js_/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/scripts/EncartaSilverlight.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635js_/http://ads1.msn.com/library/dap.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635cs_/http://encarta.msn.com/xStylesheets/pageshare.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635cs_/http://encarta.msn.com/xStylesheets/header.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635cs_/http://encarta.msn.com/xStylesheets/header_nonie.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" id="eot" href="/web/20090212184635cs_/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/?article=birthordermain"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" id="eotSpec" href="/web/20090212184635cs_/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/?article=birthordermain"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/feeds/rssfeed.aspx?type=dyk" title="Did You Know/Fun Fact"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/feeds/rssfeed.aspx?type=otdfeed" title="On This Day"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/feeds/rssfeed.aspx?type=learn" title="Never Stop Learning"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/feeds/rssfeed.aspx?type=mystpic" title="Mystery Picture"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/feeds/rssfeed.aspx?type=word" title="Word of the Day"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/feeds/rssfeed.aspx?type=quote" title="Quote of the Day"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/feeds/rssfeed.aspx?type=quizfeed" title="Quiz of the Day"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/web/20090212184635cs_/http://encarta.msn.com/xStylesheets/Department.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/web/20090212184635cs_/http://encarta.msn.com/xStylesheets/DeptColumns.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/web/20090212184635cs_/http://encarta.msn.com/xStylesheets/features.css"> </head> <body> <table width="771" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="771"> <div class="ench"> <div class="enchb"><div id="banner"> <div id="advertisement"> <script type="text/javascript"> dap("&PG=ENC9BI&AP=1390",728,90); </script> </div> </div>  <span style="display:none"> <script type="text/javascript">var s_account="msnportalencarta";</script> <script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635js_/http://stj.msn.com/br/om/js/s_code.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> s.linkInternalFilters='javascript:encarta.msn.com,encartasr.msn.com,encartaupdate.msn.com'; s.charset='UTF-8'; s.channel='Encarta'; s.server="encarta.msn.com"; s.prop1='Encarta'; s.prop2="en-us"; s.prop11="Free"; s.pageName="Features|Columns|Encarta"; s.prop3="Features"; s.prop4="Features|Columns"; s.prop22="False"; var s_code=s.t(); if(s_code)document.write(s_code); </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635js_/http://stj.msn.com/br/om/js/lt/lt.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <noscript> <img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635im_/http://msnportalencarta.112.2o7.net/b/ss/msnportalencarta/1/H.1--NS/0" width="1"/> </noscript> </span>  <div style="width:100%"><div class="b3c"><span class="b3l nob"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://g.msn.com/0nwenus0/AQ/00">MSN home</a></span><span class="b3l"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://hotmail.msn.com/">Mail</a></span><span class="b3l"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://g.msn.com/0nwenus0/AQ/01">My MSN</a></span><span class="b3l"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://login.live.com/login.srf?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=10&ct=1234464395&rver=4.0.1534.0&wp=LBI&wreply=http:%2F%2Fencarta.msn.com%2Fencnet%2Fsignin%2Fsigninmain.aspx%3Fsc%3D1%26cred%3D8%26tgt%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fencarta.msn.com%252fencnet%252ffeatures%252fcolumns%252fDefault.aspx%253farticle%253dbirthordermain&lc=1033&id=30352">Sign in</a></span></div><div class="cnc"><span class="cnbs"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/">encarta</a></span><span class="cnb"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://www.greetings.msn.com/">greeting cards</a></span><span id="morecnt" class="cnb"><a href="javascript:MoreClick();"><span class="mtxt">more</span><img id="moreimg" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/header/expand.gif" alt=""></a></span></div><div id="morelinks" class="mlc"><div class="mtc"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://mail.live.com/"><strong><img width="25" height="20" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635im_/http://tk2.stb.s-msn.com/i/B6/32E46DE281A68B9C33FC582D2569D.gif" alt="Hotmail">Hotmail</strong></a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=MSNTDLINK"><strong><img width="25" height="20" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635im_/http://tk2.stb.s-msn.com/i/48/86F1396496DFE1BAD68AB5F28409.gif" alt="Messenger">Messenger</strong></a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://my.msn.com/"><strong><img width="25" height="20" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635im_/http://tk2.stb.s-msn.com/i/48/6CDE404B4BFEC334D023E5422081E0.gif" alt="My MSN">My MSN</strong></a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://specials.msn.com/alphabet.aspx"><strong><img width="25" height="20" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635im_/http://tk2.stb.s-msn.com/i/78/7CE57843948D6DF13E79A2DE4E15C.gif" alt="MSN Directory">MSN Directory</strong></a> </div><div class="msc col5"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://travel.msn.com/default.aspx">Air Tickets/Travel</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://autos.msn.com/default.aspx">Autos</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://careers.msn.com/">Careers & Jobs</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://cityguides.msn.com/">City Guides</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://msn.match.com/index.aspx?TrackingID=516163&BannerID=543351 ">Dating & Personals</a> </div><div class="msc col5"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://msn.delish.com/">Food & Entertaining</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://games.msn.com/">Games</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://green.msn.com/">Green Living</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://health.msn.com/">Health & Fitness</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://astrocenter.astrology.msn.com/msn/DeptHoroscope.aspx?When=0&Af=-1000&VS">Horoscopes</a> </div><div class="msc col5"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/home.aspx?icid=money_invhome">Investing</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://lifestyle.msn.com/default.aspx">Lifestyle</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?wip=2&v=2&rtp=~&FORM=MSNH">Maps & Directions</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp">Money</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://movies.msn.com/">Movies</a> </div><div class="msc col5"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://music.msn.com/">Music</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/">News</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://realestate.msn.com/">Real Estate/Rentals</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://g.msn.com/0AD00036/931292.1??HCType=1&CID=931292&PG=SHPHDR">Shopping</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://msn.foxsports.com/?MSNHPHTN">Sports</a> </div><div class="msc col5"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://tech.msn.com/">Tech & Gadgets</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://tv.msn.com/">TV</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://weather.msn.com/">Weather</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://msn.whitepages.com/">White Pages</a> <br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://yellowpages.msn.com/">Yellow Pages</a> </div><div style="clear:left"></div></div></div><div class="hbdy"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://g.msn.com/0nwenus0/AQ/14"><img alt="Go to MSN Home" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635im_/http://stc.msn.com/br/gbl/lg/1/m/msft.gif"></a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/"><span class="snt">encarta<span class="snr">®</span></span></a><form name="searchFrm" class="sfrm" action="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/search.aspx" method="get"><input type="text" id="search_encarta" class="sinp" maxlength="255" name="q" title="Enter a question or keyword to search MSN Encarta" value=""><span class="esbc"><input id="searchButton" type="submit" class="esb" value="Search Encarta"></span><span class="wsbc"><input type="button" class="wsb" value="Web" onclick="WebSearch('https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://search.live.com/results.aspx', 'en-us');"></span></form></div> <div class="enc"><span class="enl nob"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/">Home</a></span><span class="enl"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/artcenter_/browse.html">Encyclopedia</a></span><span class="enl"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/dictionaryhome.aspx">Dictionary</a></span><span class="enl"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/mapcenter/map.aspx">Atlas</a></span><span class="enl"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/hubpages_K12Success/K12Success.html">K-12 Success</a></span><span class="enl"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/hubpages_HigherEdPrep/HigherEdPrep.html">College & Grad School</a></span><span class="enl"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.degreesandtraining.com/">Degrees & Training</a></span><span class="enl"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/quiz/">Quizzes</a></span><span id="smcnt" class="enl" onmouseout="CheckSiteMore(event)"><a href="javascript:SiteMoreClick();">More</a></span></div><div id="smlinks" class="smlc" onmouseout="CheckSiteMore(event)"> <div class="smch">Additional Reference Materials</div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/thesaurus__/thesaurus.html">Thesaurus</a><br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryHome.aspx?lextype=1">Translations</a><br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/mediacenter_/browse.html">Multimedia</a><br> <div class="smch">Other Resources</div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/guide_page_Education/Education.html">Education Resources</a><br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/homework/language.aspx">Foreign Language Help</a><br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/studyplanner/plansummary.aspx">Project Planner</a><br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/financialaid/">Scholarships & Financial Aid</a><br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/college/default.aspx?page=JobsInternships">Jobs & Internships</a><br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/education_1">Coffee Break</a><br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/author_askbillnye/Ask_Bill_Nye.html">Ask Bill Nye the Science Guy</a><br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/lists/">Top 10 Lists</a><br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/">Columns</a><br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/onthisday.aspx">On This Day</a><br><a href="javascript:DoHelp();">Help</a><br></div></div><div class="enb"><img width="1" height="2" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></div> </div> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="771" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td id="centralcontentcolumn" valign="top" width="471" height="100%"><table style="background-image:url(/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/features/col_lg_b2.jpg);background-repeat:no-repeat;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div><a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns"><div align="left" class="ContentAreaTitle">Columns</div></a></div><div class="IPArticle"><div class="TopImage"><a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/?page=marthahome"><img src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/othermedia/Column/hdsht_mb.jpg" width="110" height="75" alt="Martha Brockenbrough" border="0"></a></div><div class="ArticleTitle">Is Birth Order Destiny?</div> <div><span class="ByLine">by <a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/?page=marthahome">Martha Brockenbrough</a></span></div> <div class="Section"> <div class="SectionBody"><p>Birth order: By this, scientists are not referring to a birthing woman who yells, "Anesthesia, stat!" while in the throes of labor.</p> <p>Rather, it's the idea that your spot in the family has an influence on who you are--everything from your personality traits to your overall IQ. In other words, the eldest child in a given family should be expected to exhibit certain traits, the youngest child certain other traits, and so on. </p> <p>In fact, some people put such stock in birth order that they credit it--and the sibling rivalry it can lead to--for changing history. </p></div> </div> <div class="Section"> <div class="SectionBody"><p>Of course, other people credit astrology, the study of the heavenly bodies and their influence on human behavior, for doing the same thing. </p> <p>So is birth order like astrology? Or does it have actual, verifiable scientific merit? </p> <p>I lean toward the latter--at least to a certain degree.</p> <p>After all, as one of five kids, I'd like to know how many of my failures in life I can responsibly blame on my older brother, and whether this entitles me to a better present from him this year at Christmas.</p></div> </div> <div class="Section"> <div class="SectionBody"><p>And I'm far from the first to wonder such things. In my family alone, I'm probably the fourth, as my younger siblings are a little quicker on the uptake than I am.</p> <p>But seriously.</p> <p>People first started studying birth order in earnest more than 130 years ago, when a scholar named <a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761558485/Galton_Sir_Francis.html">Sir Francis Galton</a> wrote a book about 180 prominent scientists. Of the 99 men whose family data he had, almost half were first-born or only sons, suggesting that high achievement was linked with birth order.</p> <p>But the observation--that high achievers were very often oldest children--has been repeated by others over the years, using arguably better data.</p></div> </div> <div class="Section"> <div class="InlineModule_R" style="width:165;"><div class="Module_3"><div class="Title_3">Also on Encarta</div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" class="BulletItem"><tr><td valign="top" class="DeptBullet"></td><td valign="top" class="BulletItem_3"><a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570026_6/Intelligence.html#p89">Birth order and intelligence</a></td></tr></table> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" class="BulletItem"><tr><td valign="top" class="DeptBullet"></td><td valign="top" class="BulletItem_3"><a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761560245/Eugenics.html">Sir Francis Galton's now-discredited "science" of eugenics</a></td></tr></table> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" class="BulletItem"><tr><td valign="top" class="DeptBullet"></td><td valign="top" class="BulletItem_3"><a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552380/Astrology.html">Have scientists rejected astrology?</a></td></tr></table> </div> </div> <div class="SectionBody"><p>For example, in <em><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://shopping.msn.com/results/shp/?text=The%20Birth%20Order%20Book%3A%20Why%20You%20Are%20the%20Way%20You%20Are,ptnrid=8,ptnrdata=24003">The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are</a></em> (2004), Dr. Kevin Leman notes that 21 of 23 of the first Americans in space were first-born males or only children. And space is not the only high office where oldest boys seem to have an advantage. More than half of United States presidents have been first-borns or first-born boys. While this might not seem so dramatic, it's a pretty significant finding historically, because families used to be bigger than they are today (the average American family has 1.86 children, according to the 2000 U.S. census). </p> <p>In addition to getting more than their share of trips to outer space and presidential photo ops, older children also generally have higher IQs than younger ones. Within individual families, this isn't necessarily the case. (So if my older brother is reading, he can wipe the smirk off his face.) But across families, older kids generally test higher.</p></div> </div> <div class="Section"> <div class="SectionBody">Researchers have noted that the more kids a family has, the lower each child's individual IQ tends to be. They give a few reasons for this: <ul> <li>Parents only have so much time, attention, and money</li> <li>The more kids they have, the more these things are divided</li> <li>First-borns initially get the entire parental-time pie--and assuming the parents' time and energy are well applied, they benefit statistically</li></ul></div> </div> <div class="Section"> <div class="SectionBody"><p>What's more, the ratio of grown-ups to kids decreases with each new baby. So the younger ones are surrounded by more juvenile language on average than the older kids.</p> <p>Some researchers think parental attention is the key to personality/birth-order differences. In his book <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://shopping.msn.com/prices/shp/?itemId=2727344,stext=Born%20to%20Rebel,ptnrId=8,ptnrData=24003"><em>Born to Rebel</em></a>, psychologist Frank Sulloway says competition for Mom and Dad's attention is the thing that really shapes our personalities and, in fact, has shaped history. </p> <p>Birth order, he argues, forces us into niches. We adapt our personalities as part of our strategy to curry favor with Mom and Dad. Older siblings might generally be a little brainier. But younger ones tend to become rebels. Sulloway studied political activists and, after adjusting for family size and social class, found that later-born activists were more radical than their first-born peers.</p></div> </div> <div class="Section"> <div class="SectionBody"><p>The upshot of his book is that sibling competition for parental attention can affect society as a whole in times of revolution. Thomas Jefferson, Karl Marx, and Fidel Castro were all younger siblings, for example. </p> <p>As compelling as this all is, it's also something we should probably take with a grain of salt. After all, there are other things that happen to us in life besides the addition of siblings to our families. A parent can die; a hurricane can leave us homeless; we can contract a life-threatening disease. Any one of these things will probably have more of an effect on our personalities than the presence of siblings.</p></div> </div> <div class="Section"> <div class="SectionBody"><p>And, birth order aside, people are born with certain temperaments that can affect how they respond to others. This is where birth order tends to be a bit astrology-like. Just as with horoscopes that are often general enough to apply to everyone, we tend to seize on the characteristics that fit our observations and overlook the ones that don't.</p> <p>A 2002 study bore this out. After interviewing 535 undergraduates, researchers concluded that personality differences related to birth order were "folklore," although IQ and achievement differences were widely supported by research.</p> <p>So yes: Birth order matters, somewhat. But so do other factors. So I hereby forgive my brother for being born first and getting more of Mom and Dad's attention when he was the only baby. Though I still wouldn't say no to a little consolation prize at Christmas.</p> </div> </div> <div class="Section"> </div> <div class="Section"> <div class="InlineModule_LR" style="width:100%;"><div class="Module_7"><div class="Title_7">Related Articles</div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" class="BulletItem"><tr><td valign="top" class="DeptBullet"></td><td valign="top" class="BulletItem_7"><a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/Columns/?Article=birthorderdueling">Famous dueling siblings</a></td></tr></table> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" class="BulletItem"><tr><td valign="top" class="DeptBullet"></td><td valign="top" class="BulletItem_7"><a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/Columns/?Article=birthorderoffice">Birth order at the office</a></td></tr></table> </div> </div> </div> <div class="Section"> <div class="InlineModule_LR" style="width:100%;"><div class="Module_2"><div class="Image_L_2"><a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/?page=marthahome"><img src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/othermedia/Column/hdsht_mb.jpg" width="110" height="75" alt="Martha Brockenbrough" border="0"></a></div> <div class="Body_2"><strong><a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/?page=marthahome">Martha Brockenbrough</a> </strong><strong>lives, writes, and plays in Seattle. She is the author of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://shopping.msn.com/prices/shp/?itemId=1794918,stext=It%20could%20happen%20to%20you,ptnrId=8,ptnrData=24003">"It Could Happen to You: Diary of a Pregnancy and Beyond"</a> and she produces the Web site for the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://spogg.org/">Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar</a>. </strong></div> </div> </div> </div> <table class="dothistable"> <tr> <td class="dothisfooter"> <table> <tr> <td class="dothisfooterimage"> <a href="javascript:emailThisLink('MSN Encarta Column: ' ,'Is Birth Order Destiny? ','I saw this on the MSN Encarta site and thought you might be interested:', '' );"><img align="absmiddle" width="20" height="20" alt="E-mail" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/artcenter/e-mail_this.gif"></a> </td> <td class="dothisfootertext"> <div class="blogthis"> <a href="javascript:emailThisLink('MSN Encarta Column: ','Is Birth Order Destiny? ','I saw this on the MSN Encarta site and thought you might be interested:','');">E-mail</a> </div> </td> <td class="dothisfooterimage"> <a href="javascript:blogThis('https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://spaces.live.com/');"><img align="absmiddle" width="20" height="20" alt="Blog this" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/artcenter/blog_this.gif"></a> </td> <td class="dothisfootertext"> <div class="blogthis"> <a href="javascript:blogThis('https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://spaces.live.com/');">Blog this</a> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table><div class="OvertureModule"></div><div class="IPBottomAd"></div></td></tr></table> </td> <td id="rightpromocolumn" valign="top" width="300" height="100%"><table bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="300" style="height:100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width="300" height="100%"> <table width="300" style="height:100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="promocolumn"> <tr> <td id="promoContentArea" valign="top" width="300"> <div class="ModAdDiv"> <div class="adtext">Advertisement</div> <img height="2" width="1" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""><br> <script type="text/javascript">dap("&PG=ENCMSC&AP=1089",300,250);</script> </div> <table width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr bgcolor="#e5e5e5"> <td valign="top" width="8" height="1"></td> <td valign="top" width="198" height="1"></td> <td valign="top" width="8" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" class="moduletitle" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="padding-left:8;filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(gradientType=1,startColorStr=#FFFFFF,endColorStr=#FFFFFF)"></td> </tr> <tr><td colspan="3" style="padding-left:8px;padding-right:4px"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="100%"><tr><td rowspan="4"></td><td></td><td rowspan="4"></td></tr><tr> <td height="9" width="100%"><img alt="" height="9" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr><tr><td class="moduletext" align="left" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/MessageBoards/boards.aspx"><img src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/othermedia/features/MB_module_270x70.jpg" alt="Encarta Message Boards (漏 Rubberball/Jupiterimages)" width="280" height="70" border="0"></a></td><td><img height="1" width="8" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><img height="8" width="1" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><img height="20" width="1" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td></tr></table></td></tr> </table> <table width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="10"><img height="1" width="10" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td> <td valign="top" width="198"><img height="1" width="198" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td> <td valign="top" width="10"><img height="1" width="10" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" class="moduletitle" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="padding-left:10;filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(gradientType=1,startColorStr=#FFFFFF,endColorStr=#FFFFFF)">Our Partners</td> </tr> <tr><td width="100%" height="9" colspan="3"><img alt="" height="9" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3"> <table style="border-color:red" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor=""> <tr> <td class="promomodule" align="left"></td> <td width="9"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="promolink" align="left"><table border="0" style="border-color:green" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td align="left" valign="top" class="moduleBulletCell">• </td><td width="100%"><a class="modulelink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=by4zLLjCoxw&offerid=132628.10000007&type=3&subid=0" title="ApplyWise Online College Admissions Counseling">ApplyWise Online College Admissions Counseling</a></td><td width="9"></td></tr><tr> <td height="9" colspan="3" width="100%"><img alt="" height="9" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr></table><table border="0" style="border-color:green" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td align="left" valign="top" class="moduleBulletCell">• </td><td width="100%"><a class="modulelink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.englishtown.com/sp/brochure.aspx?ctr=us_sp&lng=sp&etag=E01917" title="Englishtown: Learn English online">Englishtown: Learn English online</a></td><td width="9"></td></tr><tr> <td height="9" colspan="3" width="100%"><img alt="" height="9" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr></table><table border="0" style="border-color:green" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td align="left" valign="top" class="moduleBulletCell">• </td><td width="100%"><a class="modulelink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://g.msn.com/0ENNAELF/rev_ourpartners" title="Test prep &amp; admissions">The Princeton Review</a></td><td width="9"></td></tr><tr> <td height="9" colspan="3" width="100%"><img alt="" height="9" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr></table><table border="0" style="border-color:green" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td align="left" valign="top" class="moduleBulletCell">• </td><td width="100%"><a class="modulelink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://www.tutor.com/default.aspx?utm_campaign=MSNENCAR&utm_source=MSNENLOG&utm_content=&utm_term=&utm_medium=wbst" title="Tutor.com: Live Help When You Get Stuck">Tutor.com: Live Help When You Get Stuck</a></td><td width="9"></td></tr></table></td> <td><img alt="" width="4" height="1" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td> </tr> </table> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" width="100%" height="20"><img alt="" height="20" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr> </table> <table width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="10"><img height="1" width="10" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td> <td valign="top" width="198"><img height="1" width="198" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td> <td valign="top" width="10"><img height="1" width="10" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" class="moduletitle" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="padding-left:10;filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(gradientType=1,startColorStr=#FFFFFF,endColorStr=#FFFFFF)">Also on MSN</td> </tr> <tr><td width="100%" height="9" colspan="3"><img alt="" height="9" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3"> <table style="border-color:red" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor=""> <tr> <td class="promomodule" align="left"></td> <td width="9"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="promolink" align="left"><table border="0" style="border-color:green" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td align="left" valign="top" class="moduleBulletCell">• </td><td width="100%"><a class="modulelink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/treasure-quest/treasure-quest.html?campaign=w01-104-ae-0010" title="">"Treasure Quest": recovering sunken loot on the Discovery Channel</a></td><td width="9"></td></tr><tr> <td height="9" colspan="3" width="100%"><img alt="" height="9" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr></table><table border="0" style="border-color:green" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td align="left" valign="top" class="moduleBulletCell">• </td><td width="100%"><a class="modulelink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://shopping.msn.com/content/shp/?ctID=402&ptnrid=8&ptnrdata=23998" title="">MSN Shopping: Best books for the season</a></td><td width="9"></td></tr><tr> <td height="9" colspan="3" width="100%"><img alt="" height="9" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr></table><table border="0" style="border-color:green" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td align="left" valign="top" class="moduleBulletCell">• </td><td width="100%"><a class="modulelink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=615&SiteId=cbmsnle4615&sc_extcmp=JS_615_learning1" title="">MSN Careers: Nail that job interview</a></td><td width="9"></td></tr><tr> <td height="9" colspan="3" width="100%"><img alt="" height="9" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr></table><table border="0" style="border-color:green" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td align="left" valign="top" class="moduleBulletCell">• </td><td width="100%"><a class="modulelink" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/" title="">Today's news on MSNBC</a></td><td width="9"></td></tr></table></td> <td><img alt="" width="4" height="1" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td> </tr> </table> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" width="100%" height="20"><img alt="" height="20" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr> </table> <table width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="10"><img height="1" width="10" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td> <td valign="top" width="198"><img height="1" width="198" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td> <td valign="top" width="10"><img height="1" width="10" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" class="moduletitle" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="padding-left:10;filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(gradientType=1,startColorStr=#FFFFFF,endColorStr=#FFFFFF)">MSN Shopping</td> </tr> <tr><td width="100%" height="9" colspan="3"><img alt="" height="9" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3">  <script type="text/javascript"> var fSucceed = false; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635js_/http://shopping.msn.com/i/ptnrContent.aspx?ptnrId=8&ptnrData=74269&mapKey=74269"> </script> <script type="text/javascript"> if (!fSucceed) { document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://shopping.msn.com/i/ptnrContent.aspx?ptnrId=8&ptnrData=74269&mapKey=74282" ><\/script>'); } </script> <script type="text/javascript"> if (!fSucceed) { document.write('<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://shopping.msn.com"><font size="1" family="Verdana">MSN Shopping<\/font><\/a>'); } </script>  </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" width="100%" height="20"><img alt="" height="20" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr> </table> <table width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr bgcolor="#e5e5e5"> <td valign="top" width="8" height="1"></td> <td valign="top" width="198" height="1"></td> <td valign="top" width="8" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" class="moduletitle" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="padding-left:8;filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(gradientType=1,startColorStr=#FFFFFF,endColorStr=#FFFFFF)"></td> </tr> <tr><td colspan="3" style="padding-left:8px;padding-right:4px"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="100%"><tr><td rowspan="4"></td><td></td><td rowspan="4"></td></tr><tr> <td height="9" width="100%"><img alt="" height="9" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td></tr><tr><td class="moduletext" align="left" valign="top"><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><a href="/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/feeds/RssCenter.aspx"><img src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/othermedia/Marketing/RSS_button_Aqua-whitetxt_280x31.jpg" alt="Encarta RSS Feeds" width="280" height="31" border="0"></a></td><td><img height="1" width="8" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><img height="8" width="1" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><img height="20" width="1" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif" alt=""></td></tr></table></td></tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <img alt="" src="/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/trans.gif"></td> </tr> </table></td></tr></table></td> </tr> </table> <table width="771" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="771">  <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr> <td><div id="foot"><ul id="legal"><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://g.msn.com/0nwenus0/AQ/20">MSN Privacy</a></li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://g.msn.com/0nwenus0/AQ/18">Legal</a></li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://g.msn.com/0nwenus0/AQ/19">Advertise</a></li><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/newsletter/default.aspx">Newsletter</a></li><li class="last"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/worldwide.aspx">Worldwide</a></li></ul><ul id="support"><li><a href="javascript:OnFeedbackClickHandler()">Feedback</a></li><li class="last"><a href="javascript:DoHelp();">Help</a></li></ul></div><div class="logocontright"><span class="copyright">© 2008 Microsoft</span><img alt="" class="logosep" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/footer/ms_logo_sep.jpg" align="absmiddle"><img alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635im_/http://encarta.msn.com/xImages/footer/ms_logo.gif" align="absmiddle"></div> <script type="text/javascript" language="Javascript"> function OnFeedbackClickHandler() { var count = 1; var p1=escape(document.location.href); var p2; try { do { count++; } while ( (count < 10) && (document.all[count].nodeName != "TITLE") ) if (count == 10) p2=""; else p2=escape(sublSpcs(document.all[count].innerText)); } catch(ex)//e.g. NS6+,Safari1.0 { p2=""; } window.open("https://web.archive.org/web/20090212184635/http://g.msn.com/0ENNAD/Feedback_ENUS" + "?P1=" + p1 + "&P2=" + p2); } function sublSpcs(s) { var re=/ /g; return s.replace(re,"_"); } </script></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="5"></td> </tr> </table> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> var userAgent = navigator.userAgent; if((userAgent.indexOf("MSIE 5.0") > 0) || ((userAgent.indexOf("MSIE 5") > 0) && (userAgent.indexOf("Mac") > 0))) { try { document.all.ovtrfrm.height = 400; } catch(err) {} } </script>  </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>