Are you an older sibling? Did you feel unfairly treated compared to your brothers and sisters? Well, now you have science to back you up. According to Games Parents and Adolescents Play, a new sociology study published in The Economic Journal, the oldest kid in the family really does bear the brunt of parental strictness, while the younger brothers and sisters generally coast on through. [more inside]
posted by netbros on May 5, 2008 - 67 comments

According to a new study in Biology Letters (Royal Society journal), plants respond competitively when forced to share their pot with strangers of the same species, but when placed in a pot with their siblings are more accomodating. PDF, HTML.
posted by christopherious on Jun 17, 2007 - 41 comments

Paula Hitler: "He was still my brother."
posted by Second Account For Making Jokey Comments on Aug 25, 2006 - 53 comments

The New "Science" of Siblings An amusing article from Time magazine by Jeffrey Kluger which reports that your siblings have more influece on your personality than any other group-- parents, peers, spouses, children, etc. My ex-wife thinks I'm sarcastic, combative, insensitive, etc. Do I get to blame my brothers and sisters for this now? Another article on this issue "The Science of Siblings". Apparently, they could have made me more likely to be gay too.
posted by notmtwain on Jul 9, 2006 - 28 comments

Only Children have a different set of experiences than those with siblings. This take on a privileged young New Yorker made me reflect on my own only upbringing. On the one hand, it seems intuitively correct that birth order contributes to life experience, but it actually looks like a pretty soft science, akin to astrology. Parenting advice is available, but on a folk wisdom level. Will this subject go away in time, like the old view of left handedness as a sign of potential deviance? What impressions does the girl in the article make?
posted by rainbaby on Nov 12, 2004 - 30 comments

What is it about brothers and film? You've got the Hughes Brothers, the Cohen Brothers, the Polish Brothers, the Wachowski Brothers, the Farrelly Brothers, to name the best known. We also have the Weinstein Brothers, and numerous up-and-comers taking the fraternal route. What's behind this phenomenon? And where are the sisters?
posted by cell divide on Dec 6, 2001 - 26 comments