New study disputes the birth order theory that later-born are “born to rebel”

Those born later in a family may not be “born to rebel,” as posited by some researchers. A new study published in Personality and Individual Differences found later-born individuals are not more likely to have tattoos, and although they do test higher in measures of risk-taking and sensation seeking, they did not demonstrate a higher need for uniqueness. The study did not find good evidence for the “born to rebel” hypothesis, leaving another birth order theory open to critique. The “born to rebel” hypothesis, developed by Frank Sulloway in 1996, suggests that later-born children tend to develo...