I’m a middle child.

So was Susan B. Anthony. Barbara Walters, John F. Kennedy, Princess Diana and Bill Gates were middles too. (Of course, so were Lucretia Borger and Ted Bundy, but that is a discussion for another time.)

My status as a middle child has defined much of how I view the world — about the amount of attention I got, the love my parents gave me, how I stacked up against my older and younger siblings. None of it was to my liking, by the way.

If my dad were still alive, I could expect a phone call in response to the above statements where he would lovingly tell me I was “talking to hear myself talk.” He was a no-nonsense kind of guy who didn’t have a high opinion of psychological theory – or of complaints about not getting enough attention.

Austrian psychotherapist Alfred Adler was among the first to identify birth order as a factor in the formation of our personalities. According to Adler and other theorists, our place as first-born, youngest or middle child has an impact on how we interact with the world.

Only children? That’s a study in and of itself. While variables such as gender, spacing between siblings, number of children, blended families, etc. impact the results, our order in our family has consistently been linked to personality and behavior traits. 

So, could birth order just be another series of stereotypes or the ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy?

It depends on whom you ask. Research has largely supported the idea that where one falls in a family helps to shape us. Oldest children tend to be natural leaders. Youngest children are more dependent and disorganized. No one ever loves the middle child enough – just ask one of us middle children.

Research has examined the many political and historical leaders who were oldest children but always forgets to mention the not quite so successful characters who came after. Jimmy Carter had little brother Billy. Bill Clinton had Roger. John Kennedy, who by the death of his older brother Joe, likely moved into the “oldest” role as the oldest male, had Teddy. (Nobody partied like Teddy.) Sylvester Stallone was Rocky and Rambo. Younger brother Frank Stallone wrote the soundtrack for Staying Alive -- the worst movie sequel in the history of motion pictures (and directed by none other than big brother Sly). 

According to Dr. Kevin Leman of “The New Birth Order Book,” middle children are thought to be more social than our siblings. We tend to look to those relationships outside of our families for positive and social reinforcement. Leman and others assert that children in the middle learn pretty quickly that someone else is already getting the resources so we tend to look outside the family to have our needs met. As a result, our friendships and loyalty within those friendships is very important.

There is also the suggestion that those of us who live our lives in the middle identify with the “underdog” and as a result are overly sensitive to the injustices of the world. 

Think Jan Brady.  

Here’s a perfect example: I came back to work after a few days off and found that the Diet Cherry Cokes that I had put in the office refrigerator were gone. I had labeled them per office policy, but someone had helped him- or herself to my soda in my absence. A co-worker, overhearing my complaints, mentioned that her bag lunch had been taken the week before. When I suggested, in outrage, that we send out a memo, install a hidden camera and prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law, my colleagues walked away rolling their eyes. 

See? If something is wrong or unfair, those of us in the middle have a hard time looking the other way. 

So what’s with all this “middle” stuff anyway?

Well, I thought that introducing this new column on StateCollege.com with a glimpse into my middle child perspective might be a good jumping off point.

I bring to this new column my professional history of working in a variety of settings with people with disabilities. From that work experience, I joined the faculty at Penn State in a non-tenured position. I teach, advise students and have some administrative duties within my department at Penn State.

I’m also a local girl. My family moved to State College before I started kindergarten. I actually know the real words to the alma maters for both State College Area High School and Penn State. I married the man who was my date for the junior prom. We moved away for awhile but decided to come back to Happy Valley to raise our family.

That middle child in me, coupled with my local roots, means that I love State College – but I also know it could be better if we just fix those things that are wrong. I will write this column from the viewpoints of a parent, faculty member, community resident and middle child. 

Birth order is a funny thing. My husband and I watch our three children and are amazed at how their birth order has defined them – and sometimes how it hasn’t.

While there are scientists out there who argue that birth order is as scientifically appropriate as using horoscopes to manage our decisions, most will agree that our family exerts more influence on us than our friends, school, work or any other social institution. Where we (and I) land in order of birth may be one factor in our (my) development.

Now, about those Diet Cherry Cokes…