why you're not like your siblings

my siblings & I at Red Robin's for my brother's birthday, spring 2010

Do you have siblings? How similar are your personalities?

I have an older brother (5 years) and an older sister (3 1/2 years). I am not that similar in personalities to them! I've always felt bad about that - why am I not more of a "friend" with my siblings? Why are they more "friends" with each other?

Well, according to this article, this is not an unusual occurrence! In fact, there are actually three different theories that address this difference in sibling personalities issue.

The one that made the most sense to me was the third one listed - environment. It essentially argues that while siblings grow up as members of the same family, they experience family events at different ages, which affects them differently. This seems to make perfect sense for my siblings and me. My siblings are only a year and a half apart, so they process family events/life events in a similar manner, where as I process them differently since I'm a few years younger. For example: they ended up going to the same Catholic high school, while I chose to go to my city's public high school.


What do you guys think? Do any of the theories in the article apply to your family?