Younger siblings are funnier
Is your little brother or sister the funniest person in the family? New research suggests that the youngest child is usually the funniest. Over 50% of younger siblings surveyed said it was easy to be humourous, compared with just a third of those who were firstborn. And just 11% of only children said they found it easy to make people laugh.
Experts hypothesize that younger children were more likely to feel the need to compete for parental attention, in a non-threatening, non-confrontational way: being funny.
I find this really interesting. I'm the older of two, and sometimes I think I'm pretty hilarious. But that, of course, is entirely subjective. My brother is pretty funny, and consistently so.
Tell me: how does it work in your family? Is your youngest indeed the funny one?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ginny 8-16-2006 @ 9:45AM
Yes, my youngest has the best sense of humor. She is only 4 and I can see it already. This AM when I dropped her off at school, I asked her to pull up her skirt, so she did...and not from the waist band. :o She cracks me up every day.
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Kellie 8-16-2006 @ 9:54AM
What a cool study. It is entirely true in my family. I am pretty funny, my middle brother is funnier than myself, and our youngest brother is hysterically funny. I don't know about the competition factor because we always say Zachary is the favorite because he is the baby.
Who knows. All I know is my baby brother is the funniest person I know.
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suburban misfit 8-16-2006 @ 10:38AM
I don't think it's the competition factor. I think they're just exposed to more because they're younger. They have the parents *and* the older siblings teaching them things, so they learn faster.
My youngest is naturally funny (meaning she doesn't have to try hard to be funny). My oldest tries really hard and doesn't always succeed! And my youngest has a much more sophisticated sense of humor. With my oldest, it's all fart jokes and slapstick (not that there's anything wrong with that, but it does get old after a while).
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rebecca 8-16-2006 @ 11:21AM
only children always get such a bad rep. i'm an only child and have been consistently told i'm one of the funniest people known by people i'm in contact with since i was in kindergarten.
guess i'm just one of those 11% of only children with a personality!
:)
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E.M.K. 8-16-2006 @ 11:39AM
ACtually, I'm the youngest of five children and it's adeffiently the fourth born in our family with all the humor. Matter of fact, my jokes just get me odd stares most of the time. >.< Oh well, you can't have everything.
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Mir 8-16-2006 @ 1:17PM
I'm the youngest and the funniest (supposedly), and my youngest is definitely the ham in the house. We joked for years that he could barely get a word in edgewise; I think it makes perfect sense that in order to get some attention (especially with a domineering older sibling), they have to be hilarious. (Or psychopathic. I prefer the former.)
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Rachel Mosteller 8-16-2006 @ 2:30PM
I'm the youngest and I know you think I'm funny.
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Jenny 8-16-2006 @ 3:06PM
I'm the oldest and I'm definitely the least funny. My sister and brother are both funnier. I'm not sure about my kids yet.
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thordora 8-16-2006 @ 3:37PM
Not only am I funnier, I'm CUTER, which is what REALLY matters. :P
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Amber 8-16-2006 @ 7:24PM
The youngest out of me and my siblings is actually the least funny. My sister, middle child, is the most funny but doesn't show it often and it's usually "poop" humor. Then I'm come in a close second with being cutesy funny or dry humor.
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LMD 8-16-2006 @ 8:34PM
I do not agree at all!!!! I run an improv comedy company. I am an only child. Yes, I do consider myself to be funny.
My late husband who was the co-founder was the oldest. He was hilarious!
My current boyfriend is the oldest 3 and he's the producer of my company. He's very funny. He has 2 siblings and neither of them have the funny gene.
My boyfriend's dad is the youngest of 4. He couldn't make a laughing hyena smile.
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