Being the oldest sibling and having a shy disposition isn’t an easy combination. Why? Oldest children are expected to be highest functioning and independent of all, to be more self-sufficient and mature than their younger sibs. They are continually frustrated with younger sibs soaking up their parents’ attention. Life rarely seems fair in their eyes, and they’re correct: it isn’t no matter how hard parents try. As a result, oldest kids have little choice but to get their emotional needs met outside their family with friends, peers, and organized groups. Anecdotally, there’s a reason why many of the CEOs and other high-achievers I’ve met tend to have been the oldest of the children in their families. They embraced independence early in their childhood (but almost all had higher social skills and that worked great) and they adopted an early world-view that they had to make it on their own. That built confidence. That build mastery.
But when the oldest also struggles with social anxiety or shyness, that can interfere with this progression to the outside world beyond the familiar comfort and safety of the immediate family. So while social anxiety stresses all kids, I think it’s hardest when first-born kids have it, because they get pushed quicker into the outside world without a role model in front of them to show them the ropes. Parents also are less experienced with their firstborn, so there’s more urgency and worrying communicated by parents. Anxiety is contagious. Many of the anxious kids I’ve worked with got a lot of that anxiety early on from their parents unintentionally.
